Timing is Everything

In the time you take a shower . . . life threatening symptoms of Anaphylaxis begin.
In the time you bend down to tie your shoe laces . .  sweating, flushes, dizziness and tongue tingling can begin.
In the time you check your email . . . tongue swelling, throat tightening and shortness of breath can begin.

Scary.

We learned a lesson in timing this weekend - one that will forever haunt me.  one that will forever leave me fearful.  and one that will forever worry me.

Luckily there is a "magic wand" and in the time it takes you to sign your name, all those symptoms can begin to dissipate.  Our magic wand:  the epipen.

I have diligently carried this magic wand around with me since Kyler was diagnosed with food allergies at the age of 18 mo.  I have made sure it was in his backpack every time he left the house, the school has one, and we have multiple ones scattered in our typical places.  Never have I had to use it until Saturday.

It surely took a special angel (Kyler's Grandmother angel, perhaps? That's what I believe.) to insure the timing of benadryl and adrenaline following Kyler's multiple wasp stings.  I look back on it and still don't know what led me to run to our car from the football field to get him benadryl (even though we thought he was NOT allergic to stings).  Or what led me to run through Walgreens ripping open benadryl ready tabs with my teeth.  Or what led me to speed and I'm sure violate several traffic laws to  get to Urgent Care - even though symptoms were mild at that time.  By the time we arrived at Urgent Care, symptoms were obvious - tongue swelling - hanging out of his mouth, sweaty, flushed, dizzy, tight, swelling throat . . . epipen was administered at 3:05 - I know this exact time because it is what the nurse said as we ran out the door - "tell them in ER, epipen was administered at 3:05"  TIMING is everything.

I told Evan and Kyler to buckle up because Mommy was fixing to do some stunt driving.  And I did I'm sure, although it is all a blur.  Kerry and Jayden were obliviously engaged in football.  It all happened so fast - yet looking at our time line, doesn't even make sense.  By the time we arrived in ER and I rudely (so unlike me) interrupted and jumped in front of this mother and child who were clearly NOT having an emergency - his vitals were good.  They were good.  His tongue was back in his mouth, he looked better, he sounded better, he was better. 

We spent the next 6 hours in the ER, he was given a steroid shot 3 hours in and was monitored to insure that a second episode didn't occur (apparently, 2-5 hours after first episode it can reoccur).
He was ok.  Just like that he was in the scariest moment of his life and then just like that he was ok.  Today, you would not know what his body went through, heck Saturday night when we got home - you could have never noticed. 

We had a doctors appt with his allergist today.  One of the things that has left me so fearful is that I can't control those little insects -- I can control what food he has, I can't control a bug.  We left with some good news: once they identify what he is allergic to(they are doing a blood test), he can have allergy shots to lessen the reaction.  For now the Dr has instructed us to take precautions...Kerry is doing a clean sweep of our property, he can't carry a coke can outside, go on a picnic, walk barefoot or be around food/trash that is outside.  We are still in prime stinging conditions this time of year - so we are going to be very careful.  The entire fam is getting a lesson and practice in epipen administration and TIMING.  We are also armed with EIGHT magic wands!  Take that stinger!