On Friday evening, we went to our church's Kids Harvest Bash where they were having games and giving away candy as prizes. Throughout this entire event, Noah and I held on to the candy bag of Naia's winnings since we knew there were items in there with peanuts and tree nuts which Naia is very allergic to. When we get gifts of candy at parties or when we do trick-or-treatin' doing Halloween, we usually just separate the candy when we get home and give Naia the safe candy for her enjoyment. It's worked fine so far and Naia's so used to the process, she doesn't get upset or anything.
Well, somehow, she still managed to eat something with something she was very allergic to, because once she got home, she seemed uncomfortable and kept scratching at her throat. I knew from experience, that she was having an allergic reaction but she has also done the throat-scratching thing when she was just exposed, and not eaten anything, so I adopted a wait-and-see stance. About an hour after, she threw up everything she ate for dinner and then some. Yup. Definitely ate something she should not have. Now in most of the other cases when she has eaten something she was allergic to, she had thrown up and then was alot better. So I thought the worst was over and she was behaving fine so we got her ready for bedtime and then she went to bed. 15 minutes after, I noticed that she could not stop coughing so I went into her room to check on her. She couldn't seem to lay still and kept coughing or scratching herself so I brought her downstairs into the living room. Thank goodness because she threw up again (we had a bucket nearby) and by then, I knew this was not her standard allergic reaction. I contemplated administering the Epi-Pen (it's a pen-sized medication in a ready-to-administer syringe that delivers epinephrine to reverse the anaphylaxis that a person goes through when exposed to or has consumed food that he or she is allergic to) but she was breathing fine and so I thought I would bring her to the Urgent Care close to us. [BAD MISTAKE NOT ADMINISTERING THE EPI-PEN. . . . ]
Gianna was asleep so the plan was to have Noah stay home with her. I quickly threw on our coats and here's where the series of miracles happened. First of all, I drove through Westerville Uptown, which I wasn't even thinking at that point, was filled with Halloween revellers so the traffic was going a little slow. Just when I hit the slowest portion, I saw an officer directing traffic and I rolled down my window and explained what was happening (I could hear the shakiness in my voice) and asked if he knew if the Urgent Care was still open. He told me it was, and as we spoke, and it looked like he was trying to look to his colleagues to clear the traffic, right then, the car in front of my went and suddenly the road in front of me was clear. So instead of having to wait for him to clear the traffic for me, the road oddly enough had a clear path for me, so I just said thanks to the officer and kept driving on to the Urgent Care.
When I got close to the Urgent Care, I turned into a section of the business park where it had indicated, "Urgent Care" was there. But all the buildings were dark and closed so I was getting so frustrated. As I was driving out of that section of the park, thinking that I was going to have to drive Naia to St Ann's Hospital's emergency room instead, having wasting all these precious time trying to get to an urgent care which was closer to us, I saw a lone car coming out from the opposite side of the road. I mean, what are the odds? The business park looked absolutely deserted and it was late Friday night on Halloween's weekend so the odds of someone being there was just slim to none. But I flagged the car down and the lady told me that the Urgent Care is in the section of the park across the street from where I was. So I thanked her and I started driving towards the Urgent Care and did find it.
But when I got to the front door, the sign on it said, "CLOSED". But I saw some people standing outside of it so I thought I would try my luck anyway. I carried Naia in my arms and ran up towards the clinic and asked the people if the place was closed, and they said yes. I took a few seconds to think about my options but just then, a nurse walked out of the doors, looking like she had ended her shift and was leaving. I asked her if there was anyone that could help us and she took a look at us and heard that it was an allergic reaction and promptly signalled us into the clinic.
They were just shutting down the computers, the staff was just leaving, but thankfully there was a doctor and another nurse, plus the nurse who I bumped into. They just got things in motion and when they lifted Naia's shirt to change into the gown, I was shocked to see all the hives over her body - hives that were not there just 30 minutes ago.
They immediately administered the dosage epinephrine by a needle. Naia screamed and cried because everything was happenining so fast and she saw the needle and so we had to hold her down which only made her scream even louder - the concern and worry in me just hit a peak and seeing her cry and scream just broke me and I started crying too. Then they had to give her another shot and the holding down, screaming, crying happened again.
They gave her some oxygen and after the promise of no more shots and the medication kicking in almost immediately, Naia calmed down alot and just laid there looking defeated but breathing in the oxygen. Because the Urgent Care was closing, and because she needed further observation, they arranged for an ambulance to take us to the Children's Hospital downtown. By then Naia was significantly better and not scratching (as much) and she had stopped coughing. I asked if I should have administered the Epi-Pen since I thought I should "reserve it" for when she looked like she was having difficulty breathing and was exhibiting much more serious symptoms than her typical ones, and they said that I should have. This really made me feel so guilty but I think this is the lesson for me to take with me and to know what to do the next time. Apparently, as soon as she starts exhibiting allergic reactions, I should have administered it, then call 911, instead of bringing her in on my own. I can tell now, having seen her progress through the different phases of her anaphylaxis, that they are absolutely correct. It started out less severe but very quickly went into something quite serious, and while we were lucky that we had time and that I was keeping such a close eye on her, we may not be so lucky the next time.
The ambulance ride was when I had a few minutes to digest all that had just happened. The guys on the ambulance were so comforting and nice to Naia, her spirits improved significantly by the time we got to the hospital.

So we stayed there for about 10 hours after that to allow Naia to remain under observation for further reactions, and Naia fell asleep from the Benadryl they gave her. I laid beside her and couldn't sleep because I was so worried that she would have some kind of a relapse. In the morning, we were cleared to go, and Noah came to get us (since my car was still at the Urgent Care). I was so exhausted when I got home, I think we all were, that we had a light lunch, and then all of us took a long nap.
Through this entire ordeal, Naia was such a trooper. It was so difficult to see her little body go through so much and yet at the same time, her spirit was so strong and positive that it made me so proud of her.
I also hate to be one of those people who sees signs everywhere they go but this was just too surreal that we caught so many lucky breaks - the traffic, the lone car, the nurse . . . . And although this was a tough way to learn about the proper moment to use the Epi-Pen, I take the knowledge now and know what to do differently should we have to go through a similar situation again. More importantly, I still have my little girl with me, and THAT is the best miracle from the evening and I cannot stop thanking the Lord for it.
I also want to say to parents who have expressed outrage at not being able to send in peanut/ or tree-nut-based items to schools or daycares or parties, or who have retorted, "why can't my child bring it and just separate the kids with allergies from the food?". Although I understand your frustrations at having to watch what your kid can or cannot bring to eat in a nut-free facility, I appeal to your emotions as a mom - that once you've experienced one night like the night that I have experienced, that you would not be so quick to fight the notion. All it takes is exposure, without even eating the food, and a child could go into anaphylaxis and die from it. Also, when you are four- or five-years-old, you may not necessarily exercise the best judgement in offering, or accepting food especially since kids like to discuss and share their food items from home. Then parents and school administrators have to make the call to support a nut-free facility policy. The benefits far outweigh the inconvenience.
On a lighter note, by Saturday, Naia was Tinkerbell and went trick-or-treatin' in our neighbourhood and was her jolly self all over again. Welcome to my life. *tired smile*