Peanut Allergy

I wasn’t going to write on this, because honestly, I’m a little traumatized by the whole thing still. But for the sake of helping others know of the dangers and educating on the benefits of life-saving medications, I must.

Monday morning started off normal. Sadie was in her high chair eating breakfast while I sat by her eating my apple and peanut butter. Our Pediatrician recommended me trying a tiny amount of peanuts sometime soon with Sadie again to determine if she really had an allergy to them. So, since Sadie wanted a bite and we needed a diagnosis, I let her have a bite. Immediately, she broke out into hives all over her face and neck. I grabbed the Benadryl and gave her a dose. Little did I know that the dose I gave her then very well could have saved her life.

I watched her closely for a couple minutes and she seemed to be doing better. No more new hives were popping up and the ones that were there weren’t getting any worse.

So I decided to venture out and get some grocery shopping done with her. But she had a meltdown when we got to the store, wanting to be held as she screamed and cried. I knew this wasn’t like her and had this inexplicable gut feeling something was off. I packed her into the car and headed home.

When we got home I went around to get her out of the car seat and she was broken out on her arms, legs, and stomach. Her face was red. At this point, I went back to driving toward our Dr. while talking to her on the phone.

She asked if I had given Sadie a bath because if she touched the peanuts, she could have caused more of a reaction on other parts of her body. As I looked back to check on her again, Sadie was unrecognizable. Her eyes were almost entirely sealed shut, her face and ears had blown up very swollen, and she was screaming and crying in pain/scared.

I sped through our neighborhood to CHOC’s Emergency room running every red light, screaming out my window through every intersection while calling TJ and family. I was telling Sadie to keep screaming because I knew she was breathing if she was screaming. I was begging God to hold her little life in His hands and for time to get her there.

For some reason, she seemed to be improving by the time we got back into a room in the ER minutes later. And a shot of Epinephrine immediately made her swelling go down. Once they were able to determine that Sadie was improving, we were released with orders to continue Benadryl every 6 hours until there were no signs of reaction left.

I cannot stress enough how important it is for caregivers to have Benadryl readily available with the correct dosage memorized. Our Dr. told me that often times the fatalities he sees are because parents didn’t think to give anything that could help in the meantime. Often times, those reactions are much more severe because of it. I had done the right thing.

I also suggest that if you do give your kiddo peanuts for the first time, do so in the parking lot of an ER just in case. I’m not kidding. I never want to go through something like that again with anyone I love.

Thank you to my family who was there for us when we needed them most. Thanks especially to Aunty Mar who followed us to the ER and provided awesome distraction. Thanks to my Dad for flying down the freeway from Upland to CHOC in less than 30 minutes and for Kay enlisting the entire Calvary preschool staff to pray as we waited.

Researching everything we need to do to keep Sadie safe from peanuts is a bit daunting and scary because it seems so much is out of my control. Most reactions from here on our are usually more severe than the last and are caused by accidental exposure. But I’m committed to do everything I can.

Thank you, Lord for holding Sadie’s life in your hands and for healing her. Thank you for giving TJ and I the strength to take care of our girl and the commitment to keep her safe and healthy.

Advertisement