Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out. - John Wooden
I have wanted to blog about this for awhile.....well since it happened actually, but I really needed some time to think it through and get over it myself.
Anyhow, it happened on Tuesday. I had spent the day Monday with a headache and sore throat so was looking forward to a day of relaxing, going to the gym and getting caught up on things around the house. Well it was not meant to be. Tuesday I woke up and thus began my day of getting the kids ready for school. Except my daughter complains of a sore tongue and carries on as she usually does when she has been up to late and doesn't want to go to school. So thinking nothing of it I told her to brush her teeth and use mouth wash then get ready for school! So now I'm irritated. Can she not just get up and get ready like she knows she has to do EVERY DAY???? Sigh.....obviously not. Within the next few minutes or so after brushing and rinsing she was crying and having trouble talking. So I told her she could stay home and I would call the Doctor's office. The nurse was busy so the receptionist said she would have her call me back. This took about half hour, during this time it got to the point she couldn't swallow, the drool was just running down her face. To make things worse her nose was running too. Just as I was deciding I should take her to the ER, the nurse called back and told me to take her NOW. So I got her dressed and off we went.
She was triaged & registered immediately, then brought right into a bed. Right away they got her ready to start an IV. It took 2 tries in each arm before they could get it, her veins kept rolling. Finally the IV was in and flushed, then they injected epinephrine. The doctor came in to see her and ordered more medications. He proceeded to let me know that it was Anaphylaxis. He wasn't sure at that point if it was caused by an allergy or a tongue infection. It would depend on how it reacted to the medication. If the swelling went down quickly then it would be most likely an allergy. The curious part to it all, was that it was only the tongue affected, not the throat or mouth.
To make a long story short, my poor girl was terrified and so was I. We spent the day there while the medication did it's job and they monitored her to ensure she wasn't going to have a bad reaction to it. They eventually sent us home with a prescription for 2 epi-pens. The next morning was a trip to our Nurse Practitioner to make sure everything was OK and also setup a referral for an allergist. So for now, we wait, make sure she has her epi-pen with her at all times and pray.
The experience reminded me just how precious she is and how easily I could lose her. While I know I can't focus on the negative, I will let it remind me that she is precious and growing so quickly but still needs us. I love her dearly and hope that we will get the allergy tests done soon and the results back quickly. I would rather know what to avoid then be worried every second that something could cause it to happen again.
Well that was my week. I missed going to the gym all week, today is Good Friday so they are closed. But my daughter is OK and thankfully we now have the epi-pen and knowledge of what to look for.
I hope you don't have a scare to remind you just how special someone is to you.
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