We were at my father in laws house watching the Panthers game. Mia went through her usual routine of picking pine needles off of the indoor fir they have in the living room. CJ went into the kitchen, Mia immediately perked up. She ran over to him, expecting him to share whatever food he found. He handed her some rice cakes and pistachios. She ate them quickly.
The three of us had plans to have dinner at my grandmas house. We loaded up and made the 15 minute trip. When we got to my grandma's Mia went right for the cookie jar, per the norm. When she sat at the table to eat her vanilla cream treat I noticed her nose was red. I have never seen it quite so red before. I chalked it up to the cold weather and made my rounds saying hello to my family. Not a minute later I looked back at Mia and the redness had spread into her cheeks. Seemingly unaware of the change on her face she continued to eat her cookie. "CJ" I said, "I think Mia is having an allergic reaction to something".
"Maybe it was the pistachio", he said. "But she's had nuts before". As the redness crept down her neck I started to panic. "Grandma, do you have Benadryl?" "No honey, I'm sorry I don't." My cousin Ellie sprung to my side "Let's go get some". Ellie and I loaded into the car and found that Wal Mart was open. We located the medicine aisle. A woman with a swollen face was next to the Benadryl. "I guess everyone is having allergic reactions" she said.
We bought the medicine and rushed back to my grandmas. I couldn't bring myself to give her the medicine because I remembered that I give her a daily dose of Zyrtec and Singulair for her recurring ear infections. I tried to call our on call pediatrician but they informed me I had the wrong office and they couldn't help. We loaded Mia into the car and made our way to Swedish Hospital. The same hospital my mom and her 9 brothers and sisters were born in. On the drive I could hear Mia start to cough. A cough like her airway was constricting (that's what i told myself it sounded like anyway).
We were the only patients there, the nurses went right to work checking Mia's oxygen levels and temperature. The rash was now spreading down her chest, but fortunately she didnk't have any shortness of breath. They admitted us and asked us to take her shirt off so they could see her skin. Her face was swollen. White blotches under her eyes stood in stark contrast to her crimson ears and cheeks. The on call pediatrician came in and said her oxygen levels were good, he felt that this was non life threatening but they would get her on Bendadryl and Prednisone right away. They would monitor her there until the redness went away.
I'm happy to say, it only took about 20 minutes for her skin to return to a normal color. We were given a perscription and a cup of juice. The co pay was $200 and we are expecting a bigger bill in the mail. But, thank goodness it wasn't worse. Now we'll finally get her an allergy test. Who knows, maybe we'll find out that she has a gluten intolerance like so many other kids on the spectrum.
