A Scary Day at the Grocery Store

These pictures were taken after the epi-shot. He was feeling much better and so was I!!!

What a CRAZY SUNDAY we had this last weekend. It was truly the most scared I've been in my entire life!! As many of you know, Jake has a VERY severe (Level 6 on a 1-5 scale) peanut allergy. Sunday morning we headed to HyVee for our weekly trip for groceries and the kids ALWAYS get a free cookie from the bakery department. Jake has been getting cookies at the bakery since he could gum them down at 12 months. When we found out about his allergy when he was 18 months, I asked EVERYWHERE we went if things had peanuts in them. When I asked at HyVee, they always said, "We never put out cookies with nuts for kids." I continued to ask for a few years but after hearing the same story over and over each time I asked, I quit asking and got comfortable with their policy. A little too comfortable I guess!! When we went to the cookie counter this past Sunday, I picked the cookie. (which obviously didn't look like it had peanuts, or I wouldn't have picked it for him.) I told the kids they had to split them because it was almost lunch time. One bite into her cookie, Anna said, "Mom, I think this tastes like it has peanuts in it." I calmly replied, "No, honey, they never put out cookies with peanuts for kids." I even looked at the cookie again and it looked just like a chocolate chip cookie. Well... 10 seconds later I heard choking and when I turned to look at Jake in the cart, he was gagging and his face was turning bright red and he had hives forming all over his cheeks and neck. I instantly thought... Epi-pen... and then remembered that it was sitting on my counter in the kitchen because I had been gone at a swim meet the day before and Scott had taken the Epi-pen with him when they went to lunch!! AHHHH!!!! It seriously has been out of my purse a few times in my life and the one time I needed it, I didn't have it.

I instantly went into panic mode and grabbed some water for him so that he could work on swallowing. The fear in his eyes was killing me so off we ran to the Benadryl section of the grocery store and I literally opened the box and bottle with my teeth and started pouring Benadryl into his mouth. Within about 1 minute, the hives went from quarter size to dime size and I knew it was working. I felt a little better since now he was able to talk to me, but I was shaking out of control. We headed home and once we got here I went to brush his teeth to get all the peanuts out of his mouth, and he instantly threw everything in his body up. Scott was concerned that he has thrown up the Benadryl and his lips were now twice their normal size, so he called the ER and they said to bring him in immediately. He was life-less as we drove to the hospital. The shock his body went through took a toll on him and he kept trying to fall asleep which freaked me out. I wanted him awake so I knew he was breathing.

When we got to the ER, I carried him in and he proceeded to throw up all over the triage room. POOR KID!!! His body was trying to get rid of every bit of peanut that it could. My hormonal body broke down in the ER. As I stood there sobbing, they were just as worried about me as they were about him. I was still visibly shaking and after they had him hooked up to monitors, I felt a sense of relief that he was now safe and I lost it!! I seriously thought I was going to watch my kid die on the floor of HyVee.

We spent five hours in the ER. He ended up having to get the Epi-shot because his hives wouldn't calm down. He didn't like that at all but it helped really fast.The past few days he has been on around the clock Bendrayl because the peanuts continue to stay in your system for about 48 hours.

I will never be able to go to the grocery store again without thinking of that day. It changed me FOREVER!!! The epi-pen will never be out of my purse again!! We purchased many more so we have them all over the house and by the backdoor for Scott to grab if he takes him anywhere. It was a great lesson about how serious his allergy is. I always knew his levels were off the charts, but after four years of nothing happening, you get comfortable and forget the seriousness of peanuts in his body!

I called HyVee and found out that they had a new bakery person on duty Sunday and he wasn't aware of their no peanut policy for kids cookies!!! I certainly don't blame Hy-Vee. I should have asked or looked at the package before I took the cookie from the counter, but after four years of being told the same things.... it didn't even cross my mind. Let me just say... that was the last kids cookie we will ever have at Hy-Vee...smiles...

I also found out that had I gone to the pharmacy, they have a first aid kit and would have given me an Epi-pen. So... lots of life lessons were learned that day. There was certainly a guardian angel on our side Sunday. I have thought a lot about the lesson that God was teaching me that day and my friend Wendy mentioned something that stuck out in my head. With a new baby coming my priorities were going to turn to the baby and not so much to my little Jake. God was reminding me that we need to remember to focus on carrying the epi-pen everywhere we go. Jake is going to grow up and become much more independent, but his allergies are always going to be there. Sending him to school next year is going to be a little scary but I know that there is a trained nurse at all times in the school. When he was first diagnosed I was sort of known as one of those "crazy peanut allergy kid moms." I've not been so "crazy" lately... but let me tell you... Peanut crazy mom is back!!!! Until you have a child with a severe allergy or see someone go through a reaction in which they can't breathe, you can't understand the fear or why it is OK to be known as a nuisance sometimes. I'm lucky to be surrounded by great friends that don't care if I turn into that crazy mom once again and those that do care... aren't my true friends and I pray that they never have to see their child gasping for air with swollen lips and hives all over their body!

We LOVE YOU ODDLES , Jake, and we are so happy you are feeling better!!