Sunday, January 29, 2012

Allergies

face facecar

Sean's body reacted today from head to toe after eating 3 peaches. He's eaten plenty of peaches before, but not since summer. He even ate peach purée as a baby. Loves peaches. He's disappointed he wont be able to eat them anymore. We spent the afternoon at The Montreal Children's Hospital. He now has an epipen jr. (a few of them actually) and we will go for further testing with an allergist. I am so glad they don't take allergies lightly - we were seen right away and he was monitored for a few hours. The staff, as always, were fantastic. His bottom lip swelled up and so did around his eyes, besides the hives all over his body. At one point he said his eyes were burning before we left to the hospital. No more peaches for him. In the above pictures, on the left is when it first started and then how bad his face got in the car before we left to the hospital. I took pictures, (also of his body, which I won't show here) to show at the hospital, because I gave him a dose of Benadryl before we left the house. He wanted to rip off his skin scratching, so I gave him Benadryl. The hospital told me it was the right thing to do, that they are glad I did. Apparently allergies can come out at any point, even if it's something you've eaten before.

observation

He was a good patient up until the last hour. Every five minutes it was "Can we go home now?". I told him I didn't want to be there as much as he didn't, but we had to make sure he was okay. At least peaches aren't found in most things, and at least things aren't manufactured in a facility that "may contain peaches" like nuts are. I will read packages a lot more closely now. We got a script for 5 epipens, one for the house, one for my parents house, one for daycare, one for my purse and one for his school bag/hockey bag. That's all the places the doc today told us to put one. We watched a video on how to administer the epipen, but I am not a stranger to one, I had one for years when I had an allergy to peanuts, which I outgrew. I was told that we might have to wait up to 2 months to see an allergist at the Children's Hospital, but I will find out more when I call during business hours (tomorrow). Once we know exactly what he's allergic to for certain, I will get him a medical alert bracelet.

prescription

3 peaches off season = 3.81$
3 hours parking at the Montreal Children's Hospital = 9$
5 epipens to cover all bases= 438.75$
Insurance that covers epipens = Priceless.

7 comments:

Girl Knits said...

Oh my! Hope he is okay now. Allergies are really scary. Glad that he was seen by the doctors quickly, that's always a relief.

He's a trooper!

Zonda said...

Poor guy!! It's frightening how allergies can just occur like that. Glad he's ok now! My son had a similar reaction to an ear infection medicine that he had before too.

Yay for good insurance though!!

Anonymous said...

Ohhh, I know exactly how this feels! My daughter is severlely allergic to blueberries and has had an epipen since she was less than a year old, seeing Sean's face full of hives brings back memories for sure. I feel so bad for him! My daughter really liked the Aveeno oatmeal bath for the itch and dryness of the skin. Will Sean's daycare make him wear the epi-pen? Because of the school policies, my daughter has to wear her epi-pen when she is in school. The epi-pen Canada website has some nice cases in case he does, but you could probably make one yourself.

Lindsay

Mitali Ruths said...

Glad Sean is okay! He looks like such a grown boy! It's so funny, because I've never seen him in person, but I've watched him grow up in pictures. Playing hockey! My goodness! I know first-hand how awful it is to have to be at MCH now during the winter. I'm so glad you have a lot of Epipens now. And hope he doesn't have another scary reaction.

Anonymous said...

Oh dear! Poor Sean! I'm so glad he's okay. Peaches! Who would have thought! I once had an allergic reaction to strawberries when I was little (after eating my way through an entire patch!), but I can eat them in moderation again. Thank goodness. I love fruit! :)

Dawn said...

Ugh that sucks, big time! Hives are not fun especially for a 5 year old!

g-girl said...

glad to hear he is okay now and that you are now armed with epi pens. once you see the allergist, how quickly will he/she be able to tell you what sean's allergies are? hopefully he'll outgrow his allergies like you did with peanuts.