Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Kid stuff versus allergic kid stuff
Every time Chloe has a sign of illness, I must first decide whether it is associated with her allergies, or whether it's just regular kid stuff. I got hit with that again today, and almost made a mistake that would have at best resulted in a wasted afternoon at the ER, and at worst, would have resulted in a very uncomfortable afternoon and unnecessary visit from the paramedics for the wee one.
Over the weekend, Chloe was very sick - high fever (103.7 - ACK!), not eating, clingy, grumpy, etc. She was feeling better yesterday, and this morning seemed back to her old self. Rose took the day off, so I packed up Chloe's things and decided to go shopping for an anniversary present for Martin (success, but more about that later!). We stopped by a few places downtown, and at one point, I decided to stop in Starbucks for a piece of lemon cake. I was very careful to eat this treat out of her reach, and then washed up really well before carrying on.
All was well. We headed home. But then as I pulled Chloe out of her car seat, I noticed something on her fingers. A closer look revealed hives. I rushed her in the house, and washed her hands, thinking back to the lemon cake, and kicking myself for it. I figured that some must have gotten onto my wallet which she was then playing with at one of the stores. She seemed OK at this point though, so I decided to give her lunch. She shook her head no at the food, and began scratching her chin and throat. I remembered that she was eating a snack I brought for her in the car, which meant that her fingers were in her mouth. I was sure she was having a serious allergic reaction and that whatever was causing hives on her hands was also causing her throat to itch and swell. So I get her out of the booster, call Martin, and he says, "go to the hospital." I think back to the allergist demonstration of the epi pen telling us to use it when in doubt. I was in doubt. OK, to the hospital we would go.
I grab the epi pens, and got ourselves together, and decided to make a quick pit stop before heading out. I took her in with me, sat her on the floor, and she immediately said, "Duck", stands up, looks over the side of the bathtub, reaches for her duck, and turns to smile at me. I am thinking, "Hmmm...this is not a kid going into anaphylaxis." I decided to stay put, and watch her. While she was playing, I managed to get her to eat her lunch. She seemed normal. But the hives were still very prominent on her fingers, and I was noticing some on her toes. I took her outside to look in the daylight.
Sunshine revealed that what looked like hives were actually blisters. So I call her pediatrician, go in, and get confirmation that she has hand, foot and mouth disease. It's a relatively common childhood illness, which you can Google if you are curious.
When the pediatrician confirmed the diagnosis, I was actually happy. Don't get me wrong - I don't want her to be sick. But I don't want her to have allergic reactions even more.
And to think I was going to stick her with the epi (ouch!) and dial 911. I am getting better about not taking everything as a sign of allergy, but this one got me - it was just regular kid stuff.
(oh, and I am not a complete nutjob -- Martin had a look when he got home, he said it looked like hives, too.)
Over the weekend, Chloe was very sick - high fever (103.7 - ACK!), not eating, clingy, grumpy, etc. She was feeling better yesterday, and this morning seemed back to her old self. Rose took the day off, so I packed up Chloe's things and decided to go shopping for an anniversary present for Martin (success, but more about that later!). We stopped by a few places downtown, and at one point, I decided to stop in Starbucks for a piece of lemon cake. I was very careful to eat this treat out of her reach, and then washed up really well before carrying on.
All was well. We headed home. But then as I pulled Chloe out of her car seat, I noticed something on her fingers. A closer look revealed hives. I rushed her in the house, and washed her hands, thinking back to the lemon cake, and kicking myself for it. I figured that some must have gotten onto my wallet which she was then playing with at one of the stores. She seemed OK at this point though, so I decided to give her lunch. She shook her head no at the food, and began scratching her chin and throat. I remembered that she was eating a snack I brought for her in the car, which meant that her fingers were in her mouth. I was sure she was having a serious allergic reaction and that whatever was causing hives on her hands was also causing her throat to itch and swell. So I get her out of the booster, call Martin, and he says, "go to the hospital." I think back to the allergist demonstration of the epi pen telling us to use it when in doubt. I was in doubt. OK, to the hospital we would go.
I grab the epi pens, and got ourselves together, and decided to make a quick pit stop before heading out. I took her in with me, sat her on the floor, and she immediately said, "Duck", stands up, looks over the side of the bathtub, reaches for her duck, and turns to smile at me. I am thinking, "Hmmm...this is not a kid going into anaphylaxis." I decided to stay put, and watch her. While she was playing, I managed to get her to eat her lunch. She seemed normal. But the hives were still very prominent on her fingers, and I was noticing some on her toes. I took her outside to look in the daylight.
Sunshine revealed that what looked like hives were actually blisters. So I call her pediatrician, go in, and get confirmation that she has hand, foot and mouth disease. It's a relatively common childhood illness, which you can Google if you are curious.
When the pediatrician confirmed the diagnosis, I was actually happy. Don't get me wrong - I don't want her to be sick. But I don't want her to have allergic reactions even more.
And to think I was going to stick her with the epi (ouch!) and dial 911. I am getting better about not taking everything as a sign of allergy, but this one got me - it was just regular kid stuff.
(oh, and I am not a complete nutjob -- Martin had a look when he got home, he said it looked like hives, too.)
