Another Trip to the ER

So, we got to go to the ER again the other day. This time in an ambulance. Ella thought it was all very exciting. Here's what happened...

We were at a friend's place in New Westminster when Ella started coughing and wheezing. I knew it wasn't an allergy attack because she didn't show any skin symptoms (hives, redness, swelling), which almost always come at the beginning of an allergy attack. Nope, it was her asthma again. But this time we weren't at home, so we didn't have her puffer.

I watched her for a couple of minutes, because I know that she can usually get over the wheezing on her own within half an hour, even without her puffer. But the wheezing kept getting worse. And worse. So I decided to call 911, just to be on the safe side. I didn't want it to get to the point where she couldn't breathe at all.

The fire truck arrived, and then the ambulance, and she was still wheezing (although not as bad), so they decided that she should go to the hospital. Ella was very excited about this, because it meant a ride in the ambulance. The whole way there she kept asking what everything was, and where we were going, and on and on and on. (So by this time, I knew she was fine.)

But we got there and the doctor checked her over and then we left. No big deal. But I did learn a valuable lesson...never leave home without her puffer!

My emergency kit keeps getting bigger and bigger (actually, it doesn't all fit in my little pencil case anymore, so I need to get a new bag). Just in case you're wondering, it now contains:

• EpiPen
• Emergency Plan
• Benedryl & spoon
• Puffer & chamber & mask

A Frantic Visit to the Doctor

I think that being mom to a peanut-allergic kid is going to be a lifetime filled with "is this a reaction?" moments. Or maybe I'll get used to it in a few years. I hope so.

Tonight after dinner, Ella started coughing like crazy. Then she started wheezing. Then I started freaking out. All we'd eaten for dinner was spaghetti (at home, and I never keep anything in the house that even has a "may contain" warning). So it couldn't be a peanut reaction.

Or could it?

There was no swelling, or hives, or vomiting, or anything else similar to her last reaction. But then again, peanut reactions are unpredictable and not necessarily the same every time. And she was definitely having trouble breathing. So what to do? EpiPen? 9-1-1?

We decided to go to the clinic. We would have gone to the ER, but the clinic is literally right around the corner, so we knew a doctor would be able to see her much sooner there. So I stayed at home (to take care of her little brother, who was still finishing his green beans), and daddy took Ella to the doctor. And I continued to freak out.

An agonizing 30 minutes later, they came home. Turns out it wasn't a peanut reaction. The doctor told us that true allergic reactions rarely involve only breathing symptoms - there are almost always skin symptoms, too, like hives or swelling.

What happened to Ella was, however, something. She was definitely have trouble breathing, so the doctor put her on a ventilator to help her breathe, with a steroid to open up her airways, and she was fine after that. 

So, what was the problem? Well, it could have been a freak one-time thing, but there's also a chance that she has developed asthma. We won't really know until it happens again. IF it happens again. We're believing it won't. Because the problem with a diagnosis of both anaphylaxis and asthma is that you are at a greater risk for a severe allergic reaction and even death. And I'm not sure I could handle any more anxiety than I already have...