In our house right now...
Kevin is still snoozin! Having a rare sleep in day, totally deserved!
Katelyn is hunkered down in her room, no doubt chatting with 5 friends on facebook or watching Brady Bunch on youtube.
Maggie is listening to showtunes on youtube...current music is from Mama Mia :)
Jackson is brushing up on his ninja skills watching Power Rangers Samurai.
Preston is playing with the MOST annoying toy ever made, an electronic fork lift. Making everyone else in the room mad because it is SO loud! LOL
And I am sitting on my tush, finishing my coffee, thinking of ALL the things I want to get done today...Things that in reality, will take me days or even weeks to complete! LOL
On a total side note, I am SO excited to meet up with a childhood best friend on Monday! We haven't actually SEEN each other for probably well over 13 years! I cant wait! :)
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Food Allergy Awareness Week...
The week of May 8th to May 14th is considered Food Allergy Awareness Week. So, I thought I would share a little about our experience with food allergies.
In April of 2009, Jackson ( then 4), Preston ( then 1) and I were visiting at my In-Law's house. Grandma Green decided to snack on some cashews and Jackson asked for one. He put the cashew in his mouth and started to chew and immediately went to the trash can and began spitting it out. He kept complaining that it was 'hot'. We knew there was no reason that it should be hot, but gave him a drink of water and went on. Probably less than 10 minutes later, I had to leave the house to meet the girls getting off of the school bus at home, 6 miles away. No sooner than I walked in the door, the phone rang. It was my Father-in-Law telling me that Jacksons mouth was swollen and his eyes were really swollen, he wanted to know what to do. Lets just say that Grandpa Green is a 'country boy' and is definitely NOT one to run to the doctor, so when he told me that Jackson looked bad, I knew that this was serious! I decided to have him bring Jackson to me, since an ambulance would have to drive past my house to get to his.
By the time Grandpa got here with Jackson, he was becoming lethargic. Drooling and having trouble breathing. We immediately headed straight to the ambulance building. I called them from the car letting them know we were on our way. By this time about 20 minutes had passed since he had put the cashew in his mouth. Keep in mind that he didn't even swallow the nut!!! The ambulance crew immediately went to work on him, administering epinephrine and monitoring his vitals. When we initially got in the ambulance his eyes were swelled almost completely shut and the rest of his face was so swollen he looked unrecognizable. Within 5 minutes of the epi-shot, his swelling was probably down by 1/2.
As per standard procedure, we took a ride to the emergency room to be monitored. Once there, they started him on steroids to help prevent further reactions and we waited for the doctor to come in. By this time we knew without a doubt that the cashew was the cause of the reaction, but of course, the doc has to be the one to confirm those things. He explained that to have such a severe reaction to an initial exposure was definitely NOT a good thing and that we would need to be sure that he did not eat any foods that could have possibly come in contact with cashews.
Of course, things are not ever that simple. We soon learned that all tree nuts are typically processed in the same facilities, so ANY type of nut was out of the question. As well as other things like baked goods, ice creams, and some packaged meals that were processed in the same facility as products containing tree nuts.
We finally got in to see a Pediatric Allergist in July of 2009. They do a few things to confirm and monitor food allergies. First is the skin prick test. They put a tiny dot of the allergen on the tip of a sharp 'pin'. Then they poke those pins with the allergens on them on the kids back and wait to see which pricks react. Luckily Jackson only reacted to cashews. Then they take blood to check levels of IgE in the blood. This way they can see if the numbers are going up or down each year. An indication that the child is possibly outgrowing the allergy.
So almost one year to the day after his initial reaction to cashews, Jackson ate one bite of pistachio pudding at Preschool. Immediately his eyes swelled up and the teacher called me. Luckily we got things under control with benadryl, but I requested that pistachio be retested that July and sure enough he is now also allergic to pistachio.
The main reason for this blog post, I guess, is obviously to raise awareness. Food allergies are REAL! We as parents deal with obstacles and worries every single day over our children. People offering them food without asking, not taking request seriously when asked to wash their hands after eating something that is an allergen. People grumbling about being inconvenienced! This illness is NOT a walk in the park. It is NOT something to be taken lightly. I hope to do my part, in my community and school district to help keep these kids safe every day!
Jackson did not ask for this, yet it is something that he will likely live with for the rest of his life! Breaks a Mama's heart!
In April of 2009, Jackson ( then 4), Preston ( then 1) and I were visiting at my In-Law's house. Grandma Green decided to snack on some cashews and Jackson asked for one. He put the cashew in his mouth and started to chew and immediately went to the trash can and began spitting it out. He kept complaining that it was 'hot'. We knew there was no reason that it should be hot, but gave him a drink of water and went on. Probably less than 10 minutes later, I had to leave the house to meet the girls getting off of the school bus at home, 6 miles away. No sooner than I walked in the door, the phone rang. It was my Father-in-Law telling me that Jacksons mouth was swollen and his eyes were really swollen, he wanted to know what to do. Lets just say that Grandpa Green is a 'country boy' and is definitely NOT one to run to the doctor, so when he told me that Jackson looked bad, I knew that this was serious! I decided to have him bring Jackson to me, since an ambulance would have to drive past my house to get to his.
By the time Grandpa got here with Jackson, he was becoming lethargic. Drooling and having trouble breathing. We immediately headed straight to the ambulance building. I called them from the car letting them know we were on our way. By this time about 20 minutes had passed since he had put the cashew in his mouth. Keep in mind that he didn't even swallow the nut!!! The ambulance crew immediately went to work on him, administering epinephrine and monitoring his vitals. When we initially got in the ambulance his eyes were swelled almost completely shut and the rest of his face was so swollen he looked unrecognizable. Within 5 minutes of the epi-shot, his swelling was probably down by 1/2.
As per standard procedure, we took a ride to the emergency room to be monitored. Once there, they started him on steroids to help prevent further reactions and we waited for the doctor to come in. By this time we knew without a doubt that the cashew was the cause of the reaction, but of course, the doc has to be the one to confirm those things. He explained that to have such a severe reaction to an initial exposure was definitely NOT a good thing and that we would need to be sure that he did not eat any foods that could have possibly come in contact with cashews.
Of course, things are not ever that simple. We soon learned that all tree nuts are typically processed in the same facilities, so ANY type of nut was out of the question. As well as other things like baked goods, ice creams, and some packaged meals that were processed in the same facility as products containing tree nuts.
We finally got in to see a Pediatric Allergist in July of 2009. They do a few things to confirm and monitor food allergies. First is the skin prick test. They put a tiny dot of the allergen on the tip of a sharp 'pin'. Then they poke those pins with the allergens on them on the kids back and wait to see which pricks react. Luckily Jackson only reacted to cashews. Then they take blood to check levels of IgE in the blood. This way they can see if the numbers are going up or down each year. An indication that the child is possibly outgrowing the allergy.
So almost one year to the day after his initial reaction to cashews, Jackson ate one bite of pistachio pudding at Preschool. Immediately his eyes swelled up and the teacher called me. Luckily we got things under control with benadryl, but I requested that pistachio be retested that July and sure enough he is now also allergic to pistachio.
Jackson did not ask for this, yet it is something that he will likely live with for the rest of his life! Breaks a Mama's heart!
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