Kinley's Allergy Appointment

 At the end of August, we went to a bbq for Jeff's fire station. Kinley grabbed a cookie on the way out the door and in the car, she began to cough. We took the cookie away thinking maybe a piece went down the wrong pipe. That night, Jeff work up to Kinley coughing more. He brought her in our room because he noticed that she was not breathing normally. She was inhaling normal, but was having a hard time exhaling. We debated taking her in to the ER, but the thought of spending money for an ER visit wasn't all that appealing unless we knew it was a REAL emergency. So, we opted for keeping her in our bed for the remainder of the night to monitor her. She had a small temp, was wheezing, then she threw up at one point. After she threw up, her temp went down, her wheezing stopped, and she slept well. 

The next morning, Jeff took her to the doctor. They were not sure if it was symptoms of an allergy (possibly an allergy to something in the cookie she ate the night before) or if it was left over from the bug she had while we were on vacation the week prior. So, the doctor asked us to follow up with an allergist. 

We made an appointment with the same allergist Cooper has and yesterday was her appointment.

 Pretty happy for having just had a bunch of needles poked into your leg for a few seconds.

 

 The big dot is the histamine--control so they knew the test was administered properly.

At the end of 15 mins the doctor came back in to read the results. Kinley got a bunch of big fat ZEROS! I was so happy, so was the doctor. We both did a happy dance right there in the room.

 So, what do you do when you find out your daughter is not allergic to peanuts or any other nuts? You come home and give her and her big sister their first ever peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They both loved them, but it is not something we will be doing very often. The clean up is a nightmare! There is so much to clean! After we were done we had to wash their hands and face with soap and water, brush their teeth, sanitize the table and chairs, sanitize the bathroom sink, light switch, change out the towels, clean the walls. All in an effort to keep Cooper from coming in contact with any bits of peanut. And no, I did not tell him they ate any peanuts that day. He would have freaked out and would have stayed clear of them as if they had Ebola.

Allergy Check Up

Coop-dog went to the allergist this morning. Since he has a severe food allergy, he has to be seen by his (awesome) allergist each year so she can fill out new school forms giving them to okay to administer his epi-pen if needed. A few weeks before going to the allergist, he had to have his blood drawn to see how allergic he is to peanuts. This time around, we had them check on a few other nuts as well. Here are the results:

Almond: 5.49 (high)

Hazelnut: 3.44 (moderate)

Pecan Nut 10.10 (high)

Peanut >100.00 (very high)
Walnut 2.83 (moderate)

Although those results are not a surprise to us, it still would have been nice for the peanut to be lower than greater than 100. We would love for him to grow out of his allergy, or for it to at least lessen in severity, but it is not looking like that will be the case. Cooper will more than likely be severely allergic to peanuts for his entire life. That scars me and makes me sad that he is always going to have to be so careful.

Down with peanuts!

Cooper had another peanut episode at church on Sunday. It all started around 3:30pm when the Primary President came in the chapel, where Jeff and I were for our class and motioned (frantically) for me to come with her. I got up and Jeff followed. I saw Cooper in the back of the chapel. He wasn't facing me, I scanned him over, seeing if he had wet his pants or something. Nope. No signs of that. The Primary President told me that Cooper was given a cookie with peanuts in it. Are you sure? I questioned. Yes, she was sure. Was it a store bought cookie with a warning label on it saying it may contain nuts? No, she said, it was a peanut butter cookie. OH CRAP, I thought. Not this. Please not this. My heart sank, knowing what was in store for Cooper in the near future. Knowing it was critical to act fast, so this did not turn fatal.

At this point I went back to get my bag with Cooper's epi-pen and Benadryl in it and Jeff took Cooper out in the foyer. Cooper began to cry. He said he was sorry and that he tried to ask before he ate the cookie if it had peanuts in it, but that he couldn't. (I'm thinking all the other 5 year olds in his class were just so excited about getting cookies, that he couldn't get a word in.) He then said he asked if it did have peanuts in it as soon as he ate it. Then he said the teacher said it did have peanuts and he told her he was allergic, so that's when he was taken to the Primary President and Cooper was brought to us.

 ***At some point, I was told that Cooper had a sub that day. His normal teacher, who knows about his allergy, was not there. So the person who gave him the cookie had no idea about his allergy. Her intentions were good.

Cooper kept saying to us over and over that he was sorry and that he didn't want a shot. My heart sank again. My poor little guy. I told him the hard, cold truth. Cooper, I said, if we don't give you the epi-pen, you could get really sick, stop breathing, and die. Maybe I shouldn't have told him the last part, it was probably a bit much for my little dude to comprehend. I was trying to hold back the tears as I held him. I really just wanted him to know that having to have a shot was nothing compared to the consequences of not giving him his epi-pen.

First we gave him a liberal dose of Benadryl. After that, I gave Jeff the epi-pen. He started to take the cap off and Cooper plead with us to not give him the shot. Cooper began to fight Jeff. I quickly knelt down next to Cooper and Jeff, who were sitting on the couch, and held down Cooper's arms and upper part of his body. Jeff held down his legs with one arm and gave him the epi-pen with the other. Cooper let out the loudest blood curdling scream, one that I don't think either Jeff or I will forget for a very long time. I have to admit, I shed a few tears for my little Cooper.

Right after giving him the epi-pen, someone offered to call 911 for us. Probably five minutes later, the fire department showed up, followed close behind by the ambulance. Cooper's tongue had begun to swell a bit, but no other body part looked swollen. His complexion was normal, he didn't have any hives or redness. The emergency personnel commended us on acting quickly, doing what we had to keep our little man alive. It wasn't said, but I know, and I'm sure they all knew too, that if Cooper wasn't given the epi-pen as quickly as he was, his current condition would have been much worse.

Cooper was then loaded up on the stretcher and taken out to the ambulance. Jeff got in the ambulance with Cooper and I went to get Mason and Shiloh from their classes. During a quiet moment when the fire fighters were checking Cooper over, I had called my sister Julia to see if I could bring Mason and Shiloh over, so I could meet Jeff at the hospital. While Mason, Shiloh, and I were walking out of the building, I tried to explain to Mason what had happened, while assuring him that Cooper would be OK, but that he was still going to the hospital to make sure he stayed that way. All Mason wanted was to go home first to change out of his church clothes. My first reaction was NO! I need to be at the hospital. Then I reminded myself that Mason and Shiloh still needed me. Cooper would be OK without me for a few extra minutes, he did have his dad after all. So I agreed to go home first so Mason could change.

In all the craziness, somehow I locked my keys in the van while at home. So I called Julia, and she quickly came to my rescue. Picked us up. Took us to the hospital to get Jeff's keys. Then back to our house to drop me off. Then back to her house with my two to eat dinner.

Once I got to the hospital (at about 5pm) Cooper's complexion was pretty red and his body was feverish hot. He was starting to really feel the effects of the Benadryl we had given him, and also the Benadryl that was given to him through the IV. Our little man slept for about 2 1/2 hours in the ER. Once he came too and we could tell he was starting to feel better, I asked him if the cookie tasted good even though it did this to him. He said it tasted really good.

Cooper was finally released around 8:30pm, feeling mostly back to himself. Before being released, all of the hospital staff who dealt with Cooper, commended us on acting quickly and being able to give Cooper his epi-pen as soon as we did. This would not have been the case if it had not been for everyone treating the situation with the seriousness it deserved.  




There are so many things I am grateful for with regards to this whole ordeal:
*Cooper is ALIVE!
*Cooper having the thought to ask about the cookie.
*The sub in Cooper's class acted quickly once he told her he was allergic.
*The Primary President and Presidency who acted quickly and helped us until Cooper was loaded up on the ambulance.
*I had the epi-pen with me. (There have been times I have forgotten it at home)
*Jeff's ability to think clear, act quick, and stay calm in emergency situations. (I'm not as good at this one.)
*Jeff being the "bad guy" by giving the epi-pen, so I didn't have to be.
*The firefighters, AMR, and hospital staff who took such good care of Cooper.
*Everyone at church who offered to take Mason and Shiloh for me, or asked if there was anything else they could do for me.
*Julia and Bill for taking Mason and Shiloh for us without hessitation.
*Everyone who called in the days after to check on Cooper.
*All the prayers said for Cooper.
*Again, COOPER IS ALIVE. That is all that really matters, right? Right.

Cooper's allergies

This past week, Cooper had an appointment with his allergy and asthma doctor. The main reason for the appointment was to get paperwork filled out so Cooper could go to school in the fall. With Cooper's severe allergy to peanuts, the doctor had to fill out orders for the school nurse in case Cooper is exposed to nuts at school. While we were there though, they decided it was time to find out if Cooper is allergic to other nuts, because we've never actually tested him for anything other than peanuts. The reason for that was because with how severe Cooper allergy is to peanuts, it is just best to have him avoid all nuts because of the high risk of cross contamination. After discussing the other meds Cooper is on for his asthma, and how often the kid needs nebulizer treatments, they decided to test Cooper for allergies to seasonal things to see if any of that stuff could be triggering his random asthma attacks. Also, we've known he was as allergic to dogs and cats, just by process of elimination, but we've never known just how allergic he was, so they tested him for those things too.

Here is a list of things they tested Cooper for and the size (in millimeters) of flare up he had:

Dust mite (farinate)- 7x5

Dust mite (pteronyssinus)- 7x5

Cat pelt- 5x5

Cat hair- 9x5

Dog dander- 10x10

Horse dander- 2x2

Gerbil- 0

Guinea pig- 0

Hamster- 0

Mouse- 0

Rabbit- 0

Feathers (birds)- 3x3

Cockroach- 0

Alternaria tenuis (mold)- 3x3

Hormodendrum (mold)- 10x10

Aspergillus fumigatus- 0

Tree mix- 5x4

Grass mix- 2x2

Weed mix- 0

Cashew-0

Peanut- 14x10

Walnut- 0

Basically, this means Cooper is still severely allergic to peanuts, not a shock there, but that he is not allergic to other tree nuts. Coops doctor gave me some good tips for how we could introduce him to other nuts safely, but he also suggested that he stay away from all nuts when not at home.

As for the animals, Cooper is most allergic to dogs, followed closely by cats. He is mildly allergic to birds and horses. Cooper's doctor advised me to keep him away from all of these animals as much as possible. I was very surprised to see that he was not allergic to any of the other animals though.

As for seasonal things, he's allergic to dust mites, mold, trees, and grass.

Poor Cooper....

Anaphylaxis

It is often hard for people to understand just how bad a peanut allergy can be, especially when the person suffers from anaphylaxis. This past week brought a comment that both hurt me as a father and angered me at the same time. It left me wondering, do people really understand what an anaphylactic reaction is and how potentially lethal it can become, because if they did, such comments would not be forthcoming. It kills me to tell Cooper, you can't have this or that, while he looks at all the "yummy" food or candy, and then see the sad look on his face. Here is a video of a man having a mild peanut reaction, Cooper's last reaction was 2-3 times this bad.

And God bless Mason, who told me he was not going to eat the "yummy" candy, because he didn't want Cooper to get sick.

Having a child with a food allergy, is not something I would wish upon anyone. It is a hard and trying road that we have to walk on a daily basis. We need to be constantly vigilant or risk potential exposure and to be more blunt potential death of a child. My only wish that food allergy and anaphylaxis was more understood.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42949566/t/allergies-scarier-bogeyman-many-kids/

Everyone should read this story.

And here are some pictures from Cooper's last visit to the ER in November after he ate a piece of candy that had a nut in it at preschool.

The Case of the Peanut Allergy

The Masked Peanut strikes again!


Wow. What a day. It started out well enough. Taking Cooper and Mason to school. But as soon as I turned on the street to drop Mason off, my pager went off. Cardiac/Respiratory Arrest about two blocks from the school. I pretty much kicked Mason out at the sidewalk and had him walk up to his classroom, and took off down the street. I found CPR already in progress. I took over the scene and began doing chest compressions. I continued to do so for about 35 minutes, while we got ready to load the patient in the ambulance. I made it back home and within a couple minutes got a call from Cooper's preschool that he was puking.

OK. So I went to pick him up. No indication as to why he was puking. I take him back home and he seems to be doing fine at first, until he pukes again, and again. Crystyne is cleaning up puke and I am changing a dirty diaper, while the diaper is off, Shiloh sprays every where with a geyser of pee. (I thought only boys did that. Wrong!) I notice at this time, Cooper is wheezing badly, so I have Crystyne get a treatment ready and give it to him. While he is taking the treatment, we notice he is scratching all over. He has a rash. Oh great! He got into something he wasn't supposed to. Benadryl time. I take him up to give him a cool bath and as soon as I strip his clothes, I realized how extensive his rash is. I wash him quickly and tell Crystyne I am going to take him to the hospital, that he is having a reaction to something. I throw him in the car, wheezing, itchy, red as a lobster, full blown anaphylactic reaction and rush to the hospital on the crappy wet snow covered streets.

We make it to the hospital and they immediately rush him back. His O2 sats were only 87% (Normal on room air really should be above 95%) and he was slightly cyanotic (blue) in the lips (lack of oxygen.) The nurses immediately start an IV and administers Epinephrine, Benadryl, Solu-medrol (steroid) and a Albuterol nebulizer treatment. Although he cried a little, Cooper was so brave during this whole ordeal. After a while the rash starts to clear and his O2 sats start to rise. He falls asleep and spends the next hour and a half or so laying on me just trying to recuperate (no pun intended).



He also had a chest x-ray. Finally three and a half hours later we are discharged from the hospital, with orders to give him a couple more doses of Benadryl at home. The nurses gave him an Ernie (from Sesame Street) stuffed toy. I could tell by the end that he was doing better, because he was talking to the nurse.

The doctor said it was the worst anaphylactic reaction he has ever seen, and the only thing I should have done, that I didn't do was that I should have given him the Epi-Pen before I came to the hospital.

Cooper is now doing well, and proud of his "battle wounds."


The culprit, you may ask. Apparently a peanut got mistakenly given to him at preschool. I have no ill will toward the preschool. Accidents happen. I am just glad I was home and not away at work in Colfax. I am very thankful for the medical knowledge that Heavenly Father has blessed me with and the competent caregivers at Holy Family Hospital.

Now with the snow, and couple rounds of snow blowing later. I am pooped. I just think that although it sucks only working part time, there is probably a reason that I haven't found full time employment yet. For events like this.

Cooper's allergy test relults

I just got a call from Cooper's allergist. The nurse said that Cooper is VERY allergic to peanuts (yeah we knew that). She said that the test results came back with the highest possible number, so I guess the good news is that his allergy can't get any worse. Is there any possible way that he will grow out of this since he is as allergic as a person can be? Yes, but only time will tell. So unless we want Cooper to stop breathing, no nuts for him. Sorry kid.

Cooper trooper

Earlier this week Cooper had to get his blood drawn to see if he is still allergic to peanuts. Cooper did really well, considering his age. I held him in my lap and held his "extra" arm down, while one nurse stabilized his other arm, and another nurse drew his blood. Cooper did cry while this was being done, but once the tourniquet (rubber band thing) was taken off his arm he did stop. I'm not sure when we will get the results, probably this week. My hopes are not high that he will no longer be allergic to peanuts. Maybe someday.

Once we got out of the office building, Cooper became pretty lethargic so once we got home he drank some OJ and perked right back up.

Can you see the "lethargic-ness" in his eyes?

Cooper's Allergies (Part Two)

If you can remember back to August, Cooper had a reaction to peanut butter. Well, I have been dragging my feet with taking him to an allergist. I finally made him an appointment and today was the day. He saw Dr. Drain, I REALLY like her, she was great with Cooper and a very personable. For instance, she thought it was really cool that our last name is Borders and wanted to know if we have every asked for a discount at Borders Bookstore.

Cooper was tested to see if he is allergic to peanuts. The test was positive. Dr. Drain suggested that we steer clear of ALL nuts, just to be on the safe side. She also said that as long as he does not have any more exposure to peanuts, it is very likely that he will grow out of his allergy. I for one hope he does, no one should be deprived of the fabulous chocolate/peanut butter combination.

Mason's asthma and allergies

As most of you know, Mason has asthma and begins to have an asthma attack if he runs around a lot and is allergic to cats and dogs, what else he may be allergic to we don't know, but we will be having him tested of allergies come summer.

About a month ago, I took Mason into the doctor because he had a cough (and he had the cough for two months previous to that) but when Jeff listened to Mason with his stethoscope, his lungs sounded clear. I explained to the doctor that he coughs when he runs around a lot, when he is around animals, and well, pretty much all the time. I also told her that we would give him nebulizer treatments when the coughing would get really bad, but the treatments would only subside the coughing for a few hours.

I told our doctor that I didn't think it was fair for Mason to have to stop running around like every other three year old boy, just because he has asthma. I hated having to tell Mason that he had to settle down when he was having so much fun, I know he just thought I was punishing him. Our doctor agreed with me that Mason should be able to play and be like every other three year old and so she put Mason on Singulair. Within about a week of taking him medicine we really noticed a decrease in his coughing, and after another week, the coughing was gone!

Mason had a follow-up appointment with his doctor today. He is doing very well on his medication, but she reminded me to still keep Mason away from cats and dogs (and all other animals until we have his allergy tests done in the summer) as much as possible because the medication is not a "cure all". He can still have asthma attacks.

In my own perfect little world, none of our family members or friends would have cat or dogs. Since I don't have my own perfect world, and never will, we just have to limit the time we expose Mason to cats and dogs. I don't like having to limit our time that we get to spend at those family members and friends' houses, but we have to do what is best for Mason, and not let our selfish desires of wanting to stay and visit take over.

Asthma attack

We have come to realize over the last year or so that Mason is allergic to cats and dogs. Now we are beginning to think that he also has allergy induced asthma. Mason has been having a hard time breathing all day. When he would breath, he would act the way most people do when their nose is stuffed. So today I was assuming he was getting a cold. It wasn't until his breathing got worse that I realized he was having an asthma attack. I gave him a nebulizer treatment. When the treatment didn't help his breathing, I called Jeff to let him know what was going on. Jeff was able to get off work a little early to come evaluate how bad of an attack Mason was having. When Jeff got home he listened to Mason's breathing and he became a nervous wreck. I asked Jeff how bad was Mason, he replied, Bad. Jeff gave Mason another treatment, when this didn't make much of a difference, Jeff gave Mason a nebulizer medication that contains a steroid. (Steroid's help open the airways better.)

By the time Mason went to bed, he was breathing better, not completely better, but enough that Jeff was not as worried about Mason as he had been when he first got home from work. I am really thankful Jeff is a Respiratory Therapist! I know he has saved Mason from having to go to the Doctor or the ER many times because Jeff knows the early warning signs of asthma attacks, upper respiratory infections, and other respiratory related illnesses.

Cooper's Allergies

At around 12:15 today I gave Cooper a small piece of the peanut butter and Jelly sandwich I was eating. (I literally gave him less than a normal bit size piece) After he ate that he puked up some mucus stuff. I didn't think much of it because he does this when he has a runny nose accompanied with mucus draining down the back of his throat. He chokes on the mucus and when he coughs to clear the mucus he pukes up the contents of his stomach.

So I went on with my normal routine not thinking there was anything major wrong with Cooper. Once I got Cooper out of his high chair I noticed he was really slimy so I put him in the tub for a quick bath before nap. After his bath I got him dressed and took him in his room to nurse him and put him down for his nap. After nursing him he puked once again. This time he managed to puke up everything he had in his stomach. It got ALL over him, me, the rocking chair, and the floor.

Once he puked he started freaking out and nothing I did seemed to comfort him. I got Cooper out of his nasty clothes and took Cooper to my room with me so I could change my clothes. Once I was in better light I could see that Cooper had hives all over and his skin was BRIGHT RED, and his face was swollen. (This was around 1:45pm)

I put some hydrocortisone cream on him and that didn't seem to calm him down any, so I also gave him some tylenol. After about ten minutes of no improvements I called Jeff, crying. I told him to go buy some benadryl and come home now! He said ok and I hung up with out really saying good bye. I can't remember with all the stress if I even told Jeff what was wrong.

Once Jeff got home around 2:30pm we gave him some benadryl and finally about an hour after that the hives started to go away. All this time we monitored his breathing to make sure he was not having a hard time breathing. Cooper was able to catch a little nap laying on me and when he woke up the swelling in his face had gone down a bit.

Before putting him to bed at 6:30pm we gave him another dose of benadryl. The hives were gone, except a few on his legs and the swelling in his face had gone down all the way, his skin was still blotchy and pink.

Also, Cooper was diagnosed with eczema a few months ago, but now we are thinking that maybe he is allergic to peanuts and when I eat peanuts or peanut butter, and then nurse him that he is getting a small amount of the peanuts and that is what is causing him to break out in (minor) hives that looks like eczema.

So I guess I won't be feeding him anything with peanuts in it for a while.

Crystyne