It was December 2014. Our family had just finished celebrating the Christmas holiday, and I was enjoying a few days off with my littles. E was 5 and in the middle of kindergarten and C was 2. My mom, grandmother, C, and I decided to treat our selves to a manicure and pedicure in the next town. The day had been fun, and we were heading home for dinner. C told me she was hungry, so I handed her a package of peanut butter crackers. Now this wasn't unusual. I'm a busy mom. Peanut butter sandwiches and crackers were staples in our home. In fact, my littles had PB & J Sandwiches for dinner the night before.
On the ride home, we chatted and laughed. However, I noticed that C was very quiet. I recall thinking that it was very late for her to be napping. But when I looked over at her, a very different picture presented itself. My little girl was covered in whelps. I watched the whelps spread across her in a matter of a minute. Her eyes morphed into swollen lumps that didn't even resemble eye sockets. Her lips took on a very bluish hint. She was gasping for air. God is good, and when this happened we were within a mile of a hospital and emergency room.
The emergency room doctors saved C with their quick thinking. What caused this? Will it happen again? Everyone in my family (because by this time, my entire family was at the ER) had so many questions.
As I ran into the er carrying my limp child, I remember handing her to a nurse saying she's not breathing, something was wrong. They asked me what she had ate last. I told them peanut butter crackeres but that it couldn't be that. She ate it all the time. Additionally, we had allergy testing to back this up. You see, as an infant and toddler she had a few mild allergies that would cause her reflux to spike. This testing showed absolutely no sign of any nut allergy. Unfortunately, the blood work completed in the ER that day told us a very different tale. She had developed an anaphylactic allergy to peanuts over night. Further testing showed that she had an anaphylactic allergy to all tree nuts as well.
Life changed that day. I became a label reading, helicopter mommy. Cross contamination became my biggest fear. I didn't just have to worry that she might eat a peanut m&m, but that she may have a piece of bread that was made on a line that also processes nuts. I quickly learned that just because a product is safe this week, that doesn't guarantee that the company won't change manufacturing sites. I learned that peanuts and nut reside an hide in the funniest places, like baking powder. Carrying life save medications with us became a daily ritual.
I tell this story so you will understand some of my why. Why I want to make healthy choices for myself. Why I strive so hard to find healthy and safe food options for my littles. There will be posts about our journey with her allergies. It evolves everyday...
Her peanut allergy has continued to worsen over the course of the last three and a half years. It is now classified as an anaphylactic airborne allergy. So much of my life revolves around keeping this little safe. But, this story also has a happy ending because God had worked out a plan to keep her safe. He placed an ER in our path. He surrounded her with an amazing medical team, who has worked diligently the past few years to figure out why her body created an anaphylactic allergy overnight (and continues to do it). Every time I look at her, I am reminded that although she is tiny, she is mighty!
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| Trying to make this little happy. I snapped this picture almost 8 hours after the reaction. Her eyes were still very swollen but the whelps were gone. C calls this the day "her eyes didn't work". |
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| Heading to the nail salon earlier in the day. I miss her being this little! |
