Bye Bye Peanuts
After this incident, Skip and I made an appointment to take Little M to the allergist. Today was her appointment, and let me tell you, it was also one of my toughest days as a mom. After filling out ten pages if medical information at home, we headed in to our 11:00 appointment. They quickly ushered us into the back and we met with the doctor. We went over the story of Little M's exposure to the peanut butter and the doctor checked her over quickly. {side note...Little M *hates* the doctor and screams during the entire exam every.single.time we go to the doctor. So I knew today wasn't going to be pleasant for her or I}
Next we went into the testing room. The nurse explained that they would prick her back with several small needles containing traces of different possible food allergy triggers and then we had to keep Little M on her stomach for 20 minutes {was she kidding?!?!?!?!} We took Little M's shirt off {she had already started screaming at this point} and I laid down on the exam table with her lying on her stomach on top of me. I had to use all my strength to hold her down and try and comfort her as the nurse pricked her. Little M just screamed even more and her tears ran down my neck. I teared up and really had to control myself from sobbing as well. Once the nurse was done, Skip and I spent the next 20 minutes alternating holding her....while the poor thing screamed the entire time.
Longest 20 minutes of my life later, the doctor came back in to go over the results. Little M is indeed severely allergic to peanuts, but thankfully that was it! We are also, however, supposed to avoid pine nuts, shellfish, and sesame seeds, because they are related to peanuts.
We then left the doctor's office armed with lots of pamphlets about a 'peanut-free' diet and a prescription for one of these:
Next we went into the testing room. The nurse explained that they would prick her back with several small needles containing traces of different possible food allergy triggers and then we had to keep Little M on her stomach for 20 minutes {was she kidding?!?!?!?!} We took Little M's shirt off {she had already started screaming at this point} and I laid down on the exam table with her lying on her stomach on top of me. I had to use all my strength to hold her down and try and comfort her as the nurse pricked her. Little M just screamed even more and her tears ran down my neck. I teared up and really had to control myself from sobbing as well. Once the nurse was done, Skip and I spent the next 20 minutes alternating holding her....while the poor thing screamed the entire time.
Longest 20 minutes of my life later, the doctor came back in to go over the results. Little M is indeed severely allergic to peanuts, but thankfully that was it! We are also, however, supposed to avoid pine nuts, shellfish, and sesame seeds, because they are related to peanuts.
We then left the doctor's office armed with lots of pamphlets about a 'peanut-free' diet and a prescription for one of these:
Yes, we are now an epi-pen household. The nurse showed us how to use it, and we have a 'training pen' to use to train all of our family members and anyone who will ever watch Little M. Scary stuff as a mom, let me tell you.
Poor Little M fell asleep in the car on the way home and proceeded to nap for 3 hours. Once she woke up we took her out and treated her to her new favorite movie
I know Little M is still very young and won't remember this traumatic day, but as her mom it was just so painful to watch her go through it, and not be able to take the pain away. I am glad though that we have figured this out earlier than later. And while the doctor said that there is a 20% chance she could outgrow it, I am a preparing for a peanut-free, epi-pen life.
Oh my gosh! First, I am glad you guys were able to take care of this quickly even though the whole experienced sucked. Good luck with the new diet and I am sure all of your family members will be very ready to be trained on how to help Little M in case something happens.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry you went and little M went through this - I know it must have been awful.. When my youngest was almost 3 we were in the emergency room for several hours and all the tests. I can still see four nurses holding her down to give her a catheter (I had tears going down my face) and my baby was chanting through her tears - I want to go home... I want to go home.. that was ten years ago and I still can feel the anxiety of that time.. Thankfully she has completely forgotten it.
ReplyDeleteWhat doesn't kill us as moms right? love to you
Kelly
I've Become My Mother
:( Poor Little M and poor Mommy! That sounds horrible! Absolutely awful. I hate that you had to go through that. She won't remember but I hate that you will. :( At least she got a movie out of it! :)
ReplyDeleteMy brother has a peanut allergy as well. My Mom caught it when he was younger and he did outgrow it and then it came back. He packs around the epi pens everywhere he goes and we all just pass them around when he's with one of us. It gets easier as they get older and are more able to understand what it is and what they can and can't eat.
I was an epi-pen kiddo...scary for sure, but at least you know!!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Dash 1 is severely allergic to eggs and peanuts {treenuts, hazlenuts all those nut things} so we are a several epi pen household. if you have any questions or anything just let me know! Did they do a RAST test to let you know her blood levels? That can be helpful in knowing what her reaction could be and how quickly it could happen. Also we carry those ready to go Benadryl tubes in the epi pen case just in case as well.
ReplyDeletegood luck!
Wow, how traumatic! I would have been crying as well. I'm sorry your little one had to go through that but at least now you know what to avoid.
ReplyDeleteOh no! I'm so sorry you had to go through the allergy testing with your little girl. I remember going through that as a child (I was around 4 years old) and how traumatic it was and I know it's usually tougher on the parents than the children! It's a good thing you found out about her allergy early on, though, so you can adjust her diet accordingly. And I'm sure it makes you feel safer to have an epi-pen handy.
ReplyDelete