My days are never dull as my kids keep me moving, stepping, jumping and worrying. About 8 years back, we met this little girl who wore a fanny pack and toted an epi pen everywhere. This little girl was afraid to go anywhere, touch anything and she was mortified of bees. The same year we met this particular girl, we found out that my youngest son was deathly allergic to bees the way that no mom wants to find out; via an emergency room run. My son was stung by ground bees, multiple times, his head began swelling, his face, his arms, and his body and he was not taking oxygen in or out. He dropped to our front carpet and was pretty much unresponsive. Once at the hospital they treated him for the reaction to bees and we went seeking help as something was clearly not right. Adventure. Eat. DIY. Repeat., I sought out a pediatric immunologist to help us keep our son safe. Allergies, allergic reactions, reactions to bees, nuts, shellfish, foods, latex and so on are nothing to just let happen, and I actively sought out a solution, this is my story.
As many of you know my youngest has serious medical conditions that have kept him home from school more often than not. We had tried food counseling, when he could not swallow foods, but what the pediatrician and me both did not realize was that the food we were trying to have him counseled for was more than nemesis that the cure as he was highly allergic to foods they were feeding him, and training him to eat and not throw up. It actually was not a case for the food counselors, nor was it acid reflux, rather a serious reaction to multiple foods that created his throat to swell, not swallow and then result in instant throwing up on the plate. We had no idea why he was throwing up, and the Dr. was looking for reasons, but we were just making it worse! He would often complain his tongue was tingling or his belly was sick, or that he even had a headache. We were told that he was hungry so of course he had a headache and we were naive and listened, even though we continued to look for further answers.
Time passed and I grew more concerned as he would eat dinner and throw up right onto his dinner plate and you can only imagine how miserable dinner time was. We at one point even thought he was throwing up onto his plate just to get out of eating, but it was clearly taking a toll on him as he was not gaining weight, nor growing. While the Dr. continued to be perplexed, he made sure my son was getting his nutrients, performed blood level tests to make sure things were fine in his body and something made him draw blood for allergies to nuts, bees, etc. The results of the blood test were so off the charts allergic, I got a special call to alert his school IMMEDIATELY and pull his lunch that had peanut butter and jelly in it. He is so allergic to nuts, they are deadly to him and latex, shellfish and foods beyond the scope of possibility outnumber the foods of possible consumption.
From this point, the story kind of just makes sense, he can not eat so many foods, there is more he can’t eat, than can. Our ability to eat out has been difficult, but his allergies are not just to food, he is latex allergic as well! How does a mom, make sure her child is safe when he is not at her side or at home? An Epi Pen has become his survival tool.
If he is stung by a bee, inadvertently comes into contact with latex(which is is stuff you would never guess), he has his EPI with him. Now, a challenge has become playground. He is on playground with his friends, running, jumping and has no where to stow his EPI pen, what happens? The office of the school is so far removed from the playground, he would face certain death if stung by a bee on the playground? This is a whole new problem, but our school has defeated it. Mom’s volunteer for playground duty and each day, a mom on duty checks his pens out and takes them right to the playground to make sure he is safe. Our school has been very pro-active in helping him. While he is an extreme case and we all have to react quickly, our school is taking no chances! We are blessed. Our plan of action is stated in our school records and our son follows protocol.
This year, if your child is allergic to latex, peanuts, and so much more that requires an EPI-Pen to stop the problem… We have actually found Zero Copays and 2 different sites that offer the pen for free!
Here are the most valuable links you may ever use to help your children or self in case of the need of an Epi Pen. Auvi-Q comes in 2 packs and the coupon provides up to 3, 2 packs for a zero copay. Epi pen, the original has a coupon that will also provided the 2 pack free. You have to set up your email and the coupons come immediately, we did and it worked perfectly. This is the first time we are not paying out of pocket for those life-saving pens, so I thought I would share the great information!
