When seconds count

I know I have been writing a lot about my son as of late. His health issues have consumed me to the nitty gritty and even the blog had taken backseat since his diagnosis. I have been so busy with doctors appointments and life that I am missing some of the neat things that Abilene has to share. I am also about to move again and try to start off a new. I will explain all that later in another post. Maybe I need to name it " finally ( hopefully) getting it together." I have been in a sea of new medical terms and tests and I am lost.. honestly I am lost. I wanted to share something with you, though it has only been a week ago.. the feelings are still soo raw and I hope to pass this on to other people. I hope that no one else will have to deal with it.


I tucked my son into bed a week ago thinking that it would be another typical week night. The routine has been the same for the last few weeks. It has been : bath, brush teeth, bed story, kisses and hugs and prayers and then sleep.. He fell asleep pretty fast as he normally does, his little blue eyes finally closing after a long day of fun. I go outside for a bit on my porch and chat with the neighbors ( which live right across from me) and then manage to get tired enough to go to bed. Since we had bad weather I was watching a little bit of the weather channel and enjoying another quite night. I fall asleep and drift into a deep sleep. Suddenly I hear screaming and what sounds like vomiting. I rush out of my bed to meet my son in the hallway. I notice he is wheezing and is visibly having breathing issues, even in the shadows his skin looked pale. I put his nebulizer machine together and start to give him a breathing treatment. I notice that there are blotches on his skin and turn on the light. I noticed the hives and then noticed his lip color. He was having an allergic reaction, unfortunately not caught in time to give meds. I called his father to tell him to get ready to leave and meet us at the hospital. I called 911 and prepared to give him his epi pen.. As I was on the phone the fear washed over me, my son could die!! What did he eat, what could he have eaten here, the house is cleaned out of unsafe foods. I start to sob and sing to him to make him calm.. I noticed that the symptoms where not getting any better and administer it . I hear the click and then hear a loud sob.. I again started to sob and held my son still while the medicine injected. After the dose was given I see the color start to come back.. He is coming back to me.. By that time I am off the phone and the sirens are coming closer.. Good they will take him where he needs to go.. I put his nebulizer mask back on just to give him air and I pick him up and rock him .. I try to gather myself and start to sing to him... you are my sunshine.. I smile at him and tell him that he is the strongest little boy i have ever known.. All the while my head is dancing with thoughts.. I allow the medics to take him and transport  to the hospital, i stayed back home with the other two.. all the while i am on the phone with his father. After awhile his dad gets off the phone and i am left alone... in silence.. I go to his room to make his bed and ready it for him to get home.. praying that they will release him..

While all this took me an hour to write it took 5 short minutes and 1 Epi pen.. in that short amount of time, my son could have died... He could have taken his last breath..

What most people do not know is how fast that this happens.. Seconds count, not minutes.. please know that this can be any child... that a shell from a peanut or a handshake after and ice cream could be deadly.. 

 

 

Being a mom of a food allergy Child : Food Allergy Awareness Week

I had always thought nothing of my Kids eating a peanut butter cracker on the playground or carrying around a cone of ice cream at the park until my son was diagnosed with food allergies. I had always thought that people who talked about food allergies where over worried and over concerned parents not wanting to feed their kids a certain food. Now that I am a mom of a newly diagnosed child with food allergies , and it is down right scary!! I have now become even more paranoid of the places I go daily and the things I touch. I have never thought of the impact would be so hard!! At first it was relief after years of wondering what was wrong with my child, why he would break out in huge rashes and have multiple asthma attacks. I spent hours in a ER, been through two surgeries and two hospital stays. Now I have nightmares of my son eating a peanut and having to give him his Epi-Pen and the look on his face from the last attack he had ( he was scared) .. I have been back and forth in my mind of all the changes I am going to have to make for him. I know it seems like having a child with food allergies ( and other health issues) would be annoying, tiring and stressful, But  I have learned it is much more than that.

1. Its waking up in the middle of the night from your baby crying because he cant breath well. As you sit there singing his favorite lullaby holding his Neb mask on his face you think of the last time you cuddled and realized it was weeks ago
2. Going to the park and watching him have freedom away from the house ( all the while you are praying there is nothing on the slide that will make him sick)
3. Going to a doctors office and making wonderful friends with the staff and them telling you are a good parent ( how can I be, my child is suffering and there is nothing i can do)
4. Having the talk over and over about what your child is allergic to until they can tell you what they are allergic to. ( its even harder with a slightly non verbal child)
5. Going to do blood draws and allowing them to have that big sucker he saw in the hospital window ( even though you dont want them to have all that sugar)

I am pleading with the parents with children that do not have food allergies to consider us. We may be the mom that yells louder at a PTA meeting, or the mom who brings the weird snacks for her child at soccer practice.  Please remember our children because what wont harm your child , can kill ours. I ask for family members not to downplay my concern and feed my child something that could harm them, I have rules for a reason. I ask for the media to pick these stories up and make it as popular as cancer stories or world news.. Our children deserve the attention and all the help we can get! It would make our nights easier , maybe we can sleep. It would make our kids relax and be able to enjoy going out to eat somewhere or go to the park and play freely.

Come one, come all to the opening of the farmers market!!

So it is going to be an exiting day this coming Saturday!! For most people here in Abilene it is the day the Farmers market opens! I like many other people are exited about going!!! I can't wait to see what our local farmers have grown !! I like many other "crunchy" moms like the idea of fresh foods without all the processed crap as well as less of a carbon footprint!! Most of our fruit we buy at stores are not even from this country!! Can you imagine what would happened if we got rid of the GMO foods? We would be able to survive without the threats of cancer, food allergies, obesity and the growing countless health issues caused by Monsanto and the other evil companies! What about giving back to the people that grow these foods? Would there be less food stamps if foods where grown locally and cheaper?

This is the perfect chance for me to get the word out  EAT LOCAL!!!  I have always heard from my grandma about how much she loved the seasons because each one brought a food that she was not able to eat until that time of the year. I am sure that this weekend will bring me excitement like it did for her. I only can think about all the money that is going to go to the local economy and help bring up the options to make Abilene beautiful !

So what am I going to look for this weekend
Fruits-  Strawberries, lemons, kiwis, cherries, grapefruit
Veggies- red potatoes, lettuce and carrots
Meats- beef and chicken
Herbs- all of them if i can ( i plan to dry them on a string in my kitchen)

I am also in the look for fresh local honey to help with my sons allergies and skin issues and maybe get him off his allergy meds when his body builds up an immunity. I am also looking for homeade soaps and lotions!!


I cant think of another better way to spend my weekend , but to eat fresh fruits and visit with local farmers and the people that make up this beautiful city!!

Food allergies Part 3: The Allergist Appointment

Well as usual I am late blogging and getting my act together for the blog! I am super happy that we made it to see the doctor and was just happy to get it over with. I am glad that we have gotten this far, but like usual.. we are far from being done!!!

Thursday we all packed up and went to the Allergist. I was super ready to have answers and to move forward. When we finally made it I looked inside and noticed there must of been over a dozen people in that building!! I was concerned that this appointment would take forever and make me and the kids home for dinner and bed. We checked in and like always there is at least 30 pages of paperwork and the less than thrilled receptionist. As I was filling out the paperwork Kason was bouncing all over the place and laughing. It took them about 30 minutes to call us back to the closet like room. The nurse talked to me and asked me why we where here. I showed her the pictures and told her what we had been through for our son.  She told me that most mothers that come through have storied similar to that and that my son was one in many children with severe skin and food allergies , not to leave out the nagging asthma we have already had to deal with.  We chatted and then told me he would be in shortly. I sat there looking around the room and eyed a few of the doctors told, many in which i was familiar with because it was used on me at one point. When the doctor entered the room we talked for a minute and then he cut me off ( rudely actually) and told me that we would have to test again, why didn't we have an allergist before and that I needed to go out and buy a steam cleaner, bed covers and other hypoallergenic stuff to go into my house. I left the room to be shoved into another , handed material and was shoved out that door.. Nothing on diet, nothing on how to manage his symptoms, just another blood test and a flyer on

Honestly while I would have loved to learn a lot more with my sons allergies, I was given very little. Sickened with lack of help I needed. So now I have to wait till the blood test comes back again ( 2 week wait) and then we go back as he deems necessary and do oral challenges.. While I am happy we went, I am not happy I was treated the way I was!!!

What would Jesus do : Thoughts on lifestyles and gossip

As I am sitting here writing I am shaking my head. I can't believe how as of late things have become a whirlwind of drama and pointless fighting. I do admit like every human being I have my weaknesses and I do fall short of how God wants me to be. Last weekend was brought to my attention how I have never seen the kind of hurt it can do, until it happened to me. Honestly I got myself into the situation where the gossip and assumptions where made and well it caused a lot of hurt within my family dynamics .. While my relationship with my Hunny is no where where it needs to be due to us both neglecting it, we have enough sense to know if something is true or not. That's what most people do not understand , what you say and do can hurt or even destroy a friendship or a relationship. Looking back now I see I was so totally wrong about how I handled this situation and have asked God to forgive me. Now looking forward I know what I can do and how to deal with it. Forgiving and forgetting is so hard , but it's worth it.

Weeks ago I also made assumptions about a person I do not know . I don't know who she is, how her life is, or why she does the things she does. I made the wrong choice of being the onlooker and laughing. This woman may be lost and needs someone to show her how God loves us no matter our sins or our choices . I feel like I have seen a little of her in me at times . I have thought many times I would go over there and tell her if she needed anything to let me know. See Jesus loved even the people the world didn't love. The outcasts and the "jezebels" . He only asks us to follow him and forget our old lives. I plan soon to show that un-judgmental love , honestly even if it doesn't get me anywhere I have the peace of mind that I tried to help and possibly save someone else from the destructiveness that can be made by our lifestyles.

While I have been victim to gossip I have also have been guilty of dishing it out. I have been the one laughing , but I have lately been the one laughed at. Honestly I could care less what people say, or how much people like me. I am however going to watch what I say about other people, because when you talk about someone, your also pointing out your own flaws. I have many, to many in fact.. I wish I could have said sorry to the people it effected. I am choosing to let the Devil use that as a for, of hiding on what I really need to fix. While I am laughing at someone with relationship issues, I have them myself. While I am laughing at the issues of others, I am really laughing at myself.

What's wrong with this world is we have forgotten how to love, how to trust and how to forgive. I think it is never to late to do better, to make better choices and to let one more person that may not feel loved, get the love they need. I plan on going to church Sunday.. Even if it is by myself and asking God to forgive me.. I want to do better, not only for myself but for my family.. I want his presence to rule over my house and fill it til it is bursting at the seems . I feel like if I can start now, then maybe I can save this all before it is to late and be there for the ones that like me , walked in the shoes of judgment and gossip, un-happy and alone.

Food allergies part 2: Path to wellness

It's been a few weeks since my first post about our path to finding our about Kasons food allergies and how we are going to treat them.. We figured that Kason had several food allergies after getting several bouts of hives and eczema when he was a baby. Why they didn't test him till now makes me wonder why ? Why would they just treat the after effect of a breakout instead of investigate it. We left most of Kason's medical records that we copied with the speech therapist and I looked through them as well.. I noticed after reading through them that between the ages of 6 months to a year , Kason's health took a turn.. He didn't gain weight and he barely gained any height.. Why didn't they notice that? Why did we have to go through multiple infections and breakouts without further testing? Now I feel like I have been cheated out of what could have been a normal babyhood for Kason... He could have had clear skin and been able to smile when his mommy and daddy played and it would not have hurt. Now looking back his doctors never tried... They just gave him medicine to comfort him..

We finally did get into the doctors office and scheduled with an allergist and made sure that we had the options opened for us as we have never had them opened before. At first his pediatrician was talking immunotherapy. The thought of weakening my son's immune system made me mad. Why would I weaken what is protecting my son from getting another infection. The second option was even worse ( in my opinion) . We looked into allergy doctors and found one that would suit him to tailor to his needs.. While I am exited we are getting this far, I am also skeptical.. What if he never grows out of theses allergies? What will we have to do as far as diet? What is the next step for him? I spent the better part of three weeks after the original RAST. Test to figure out what we can do as far as food... I am already shocked with things I didn't know.. I was shocked to know there was so much out there that is marked hypo allergenic and really it isnt.

Well here goes to the two week wait!! I am ready to get some answers!!

Food Allergies Suck : Part 1

A  long time ago we started the road to figuring out what was the matter with my sweet boy. We would wake up and have to clean up bloody sheets from where he itched himself to the point his skin was raw. Well fast forward till now after all the problems , we finally have an answer. Little did I know that we would be faced with food allergies. I was always aware that his face would flare with certain foods, but never did i once think he had food allergies until a few months ago when a trip out somewhere became less than fun. I had fed Lil man some cookies from the mall. We decided shortly after leaving the mall that we would go out to dinner. After being there for a bit Lil man complained that his stomach hurting and that he felt like he was going to throw up. I took him ti the bathroom only for him to burp or say he felt better. I returned to the table and told the hubs we needed to leave. I packed up the remaining parts of dinner and started to walk to the truck. We had only gotten three steps out the door until i had to help Lil man throw up all over the place. His face was red and his cheeks had hives all over them. I knew then it was , and talked to the doctor. He ordered a test called a RAST test . Although he didn't order the Food panel our ENT was curious why he still had a lot of trouble after having his tonsils and adenoids taken out. Before we got the test results we had another episode which was the end of the stick for me. Kason ( lil man) ate peanuts out at the restaurant. We again started to notice the hives and the cough. It wasn't until he told me his tummy hurt that I realized that it was time to go. We got to the truck and his then clear cough sounded more raspy . As I sat there with him i noticed more and more that he needed to be given his inhaler and some Benadryl . We sat there with the cold air blasting and his mask over his face so that he could get as many puffs as possible. After a few minute his face started to clear and he started to able to breath. He became calm and started to smile and play like he did before. I was still in shock with what happened. I noticed however that he had the runs for a few days and broke out on his bottom with the same hives and had the poops to go with it. We discussed this and decided on a full panel RAST. We received the results a week later and went to an appointment to discuss it. The nurse came in and told us that she was glad we where there and there was a lot to talk over. She started off by telling me that Kason is VERY allergic to tree nuts and Peanuts and that we need to stay away from them and then asked for me to go pick up his Epi pen on the way out. She  also asked me to please be careful as well with pork and Soy. As i sat there my heart began to race because I was thinking about all the times that we had given Kason peanut butter or cookies with walnuts and pecans. It could have killed him!! Upon leaving i went to the pharmacy inside the doctors building and bought him a sucker ( just a sugar cane sucker) and sat and read through all the results. It amazed me how our bodies protect us from something that can hurt us and how a allergic reaction is only something that is protecting us from something harmful!! Now we are finally able to begin the steps to getting him well!! It has been too long!!