Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Anaphylaxis Sucks

Our sweet Vinnie boy had another anaphylaxis scare yesterday. 


Vinnie made himself a couple sandwiches and used Lucas’ allergic Hawaiian bread slices. He ate about one and a half of them while I was nursing Sulley. That was around 4:00.  He had vomited at 3:00, which we think is a reflux issue he has going on.  (He's been vomiting for no apparent reason for about 2 weeks now.)

I got up to check on him bc he was complaining of an upset stomach. I thought initially it was left over from him vomiting earlier, but as soon as I saw the remnants of his second lunch I grabbed the baby and got everybody in the car. 

Vinnie only had an upset stomach which is a reaction but not ANA. So, we headed to the CHKD Urgent Care. But, before we got there (1.3 mi away) he threw up in the car. I called NJH and asked if I should epi immediately or go the last 5 minutes to the UC. They said go to the UC. 

We interrupted and got straight to the back, as soon as they did the vitals, they ordered epi and Benadryl. He was feeling pretty miserable at that point.  He did *NOT* want them to use the regular epi-pen.  I was actually quite shocked that they used that instead of a needle. 

His sats were a little low so they put him on oxygen. He perked up quite a bit after that. 


We had the doctor that I do not like one bit.  She is condescending and talks down to me.  She said, "You do know we aren't a hospital right?" Um, yea, but you are a DOCTOR right? (literally what I said)  I mean my choices were to stop the car, epi, call 911, wait on an ambulance to get to me in RUSH HOUR traffic in Greenbrier *OR* drive another 4 minutes to a medical facility that specializes in pediatrics--where I could then administer the EPI or let them do it.  When I walked in, I said, "He's having an anaphylactic reaction and needs epinephrine. I can do it or I can wait for your doc to do it."    If he had vomited any further from the Childrens Hospital of the King's Daughter urgent care center I would have epi'ed on my own.  BUT, either way, they needed to either treat him or get out of the way so I could.  The doc is just a pain in the butt.  She was also fussing about Sulley being on the floor.  I'm sorry lady, my concern is with my SICK child, the one who could die from his condition if you don't administer meds soon, I could care less if the babies fingers get stepped on.  Lucas was helping me keep him out of the way, but the doc was being a witch about it. 

Because he was considered in ANA after the vomiting, they called the ambulance from CHKD to transfer us. 



Vinnie got to wear a 5 pt race car harness on the stretcher and I rode in the back seat of the cab. He got to watch Spongebob on their mounted iPad. 

After we got to CHKD ER he was triaged (immediately) and given a slushee. 


He was obviously feeling *MUCH* better by the time we got to CHKD. He'd had benadryl, Epi, and 30 minutes of oxygen by then.  

They took good care of him in the ER.  He got zantac and prednisone & an iPad to play with there too!




Tim and the boys came and brought us the "go bag" and a change of clothes for Vinnie.  So, we were able to keep them all entertained until Mandy got there with food for Vinnie & I (they had finally cleared him to eat just before that) and then Beth came and helped Tim go pick up the Corolla and park it back at the hospital for us.  



After everybody left (around 9 PM), Vinnie and I snuggled and played on the iPad until about 10:20 when the doc said he was comfortable with discharging us at 10:45 if I was.  Since Vinnie seemed okay I was fine with it.  

We got discharged and headed home.  Tim was *JUST* getting the boys into bed when we got there, so I got to nurse Sulley to sleep and Tim didn't have to try to get him down without milkies.  

Anaphylaxis remains a scary event.  Fortunately, this one didn't go beyond some minor facial swelling and hives and the vomiting.  

1 comment:

Smellyann said...

Reading it through for the second time, it's still as scary as the first. Maybe more. I'm so sorry you guys keep going through this. I hope that National Jewish is able to help make it less... frequent and severe, at least, if not stop. Love you guys!