Maybe If I'm Packed I'll Never Use the Bag

Three trips to the hospital.  I should be a pro now, right?  But each time we hurriedly left for the hospital, my mind went blank and there were things forgotten. But preparing for our recent oral food challenge (story here) I had plenty of time to pack a bag and got to thinking that maybe I should just keep one packed with a few essentials that he and I will need to be comfortable (or as comfortable as you can be in a 10x10 room with a toddler strapped to a pulse ox machine.)

Spending anything longer than 30 minutes in one place with a toddler, there are certain essentials that you need to have on hand, but make it 4-6 hours and the list grows. I will start with a few things that will help anyone with a trip to the doctor's office for a routine check up,  getting your oil changed, or anything you dread doing with tiny humans.

Toys

PlanToys Nuts and Bots - $17.99

These wooden toys are rated for ages 24 months - 4 years, but all three of my kids at 17 m, almost 5 and 8 years old enjoyed playing with them.  The large circular topped screw was perfect for little hands, but to honest, while he wanted/needed my help to screw them into the adjoining "bolts" he mostly wanted to treat them as drumsticks.





Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Baby iCan Play Case - $14.99

When I first saw this product (and this one) I was horrified.  I wanted to believe that I would never need to purchase something like this to keep my child entertained!  We are already turning into a world where we as adults are umbilically  attached to our phones, so I hate to think of passing it onto the next generation while they are toddlers. You know what I hate more?  Trying to get a bored toddler to sit still for more than 5 seconds as he tries to jump off of the hospital bed or exam table. This struggle only ends with me giving in and handing him my phone, which he immediately throws to the grown and...yeah, that is worse. This toy let's him press on the home key incessantly (his favorite activity) or play with other apps (which he refuses). It has a screen protector for sticky fingers and can handle being thrown without threat to that ingenious glass screen (insert eye roll). One warning is that this is only compatible with iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch 2nd, 3rd & 4th generation.

Melissa & Doug Water Wow Paint Kits - $6.99 each

This was by far the most popular with my Monk and with Punkin, who loves all things art related. The spiral bound book comes with 4 coloring boards and a paint pen that you fill with water.  When the boards are painted with water the colors appear along with hidden pictures. No coloring in the lines required, and no worry that he will color the walls!
 






Melissa and Doug Jumbo Triangular Crayons - $7.99

A friend gave me the brilliant idea to have Monk color on the exam table paper. Why had I never thought of this before?  I bought him these special jumbo crayons because they fit better in his sweet chunky little hands, there is no wrapping to keep him from using all sides, and I love all things Melissa and Doug (no really, their stuff is just such wonderful quality!)

All four of these things can fit easily into a back pack or diaper bag with plenty of room to spare for all the necessities.

Clothing
As mothers we are programed to bring extra clothes for our little ones because no matter who you are or what your kid eats, an explosion of one kind or another happens to all of us. This is doubly true when dealing with a food allergy kid.  Monk happens to react by throwing up most of the time, so be it a trip to the ER, an oral food challenge, or just a day at the park, I always bring extras for him.

The thing that I forget about is extra clothes for me.  I didn't even think about it until an EMT, standing in the entry to my home told me, "Ma'am, would you like to change your shirt before we leave for the hospital?"  This really happened.  I had been thrown up on about 3 or 4 times and the epi shot had left Monk's leg bleeding, so I was literally covered in blood and vomit and had not given a second thought to changing my clothes in all the panic and worry.

Lastly, socks.  Two out of three hospital visits we didn't have shoes for Monk, but thankfully we at least had socks.  The obvious reasons for having socks is comfort, but beyond that, nurses will put a pulse-oxymeter on your kid's toe, and it only takes about one minute for curiosity to kill the proverbial cat and send little fingers to ripping at the tap holding the pulse-ox in place.  Socks will keep it covered and, voila, keep it on!  These Wrapables socks are super cute and they have great grips on the bottom to keep them from face planting on slippery hospital tiles.


Comfort Essentials
I dare you all to try to get a baby who has been given adrenaline followed up with steroids to go to sleep.  You might laugh and think that I am kidding, but my child was climbing up the side of his crib, not to sleep, mind you, but to climb. He was quite literally climbing the walls with energy. The only thing that got him to sleep was his own blanket from home (no, the gift shop decoy didn't work) and his passy. So make sure to pack along any comfort items that will help calm your little ones.

Food
Hospitals have cafeterias, and actually, so does our Allergist's office, but try to find allergy friendly food in a cafeteria.  The one time I tried, I came back with an orange and applesauce.  After 4 hours of no food I had one unhappy kids who could have eaten 10 containers of applesauce without blinking. So pack food. Pack lots of food. If you are hospital bound, pack enough for the entire night just in case.

Extra Stuff
Each hospital and Dr.'s office that I have been at is located in the black hole of phone service.  You can get a signal, and in fact they have wireless for their guests, but it will suck the life from your phone in a few hours flat. Imagine being stuck for hours in one place with no Facebook or Candy Crush means to communicate with family and friends. TAKE YOUR PHONE CHARGER!

Lastly, the strangest thing that I have packed in our little bag?  Plug covers. We actually spent 4 hours at a hospital following a reaction, whose electrical outlets were bed level on the wall with the bed pushed right up against them! Yes, I spent 4 hours keeping fingers out of sockets.

Medications
Not that I every purposfully leave the house without his medications, and it should be first on the list, but there is additional reasoning in bringing your own meds to doctors offices and hospitals.

The most important reason is in case secondary doses of medications are needed in route.  The one time we traveled via ambulance the EMT made certain that I had additional Epi Pens on me before we left.  Texas allows EMTs to administer epinephrine, but they may not have it stocked in the ambulance.

Secondly, My allergist once told me that they have to charge $25 for a single dose of Benedryl in the office.  Of course, if he needs it I never hesitate, but if he can wait until we get into the hallway, done.
Our pharmacy bill during our first hospital stay was over $1,000 with insurance. It amounted to one Epi Pen, Benadryl, Steroids, and Asthma medication. All of these things I either had in my medicine cabinet or in my purse at the time. Now again, I am not advocating for self administering meds in a hospital setting, but it does give me pause (and heartburn.)

I also had an experience in a non-pediatric ER setting, where the doctors on hand did not follow the same Benadryl dosage that my allergist and other pediatric ER docs had advised during previous visits.  When I mentioned that Monk's hives (which covered his whole trunk) were returning and, according to my calculations, it was past the time for his next dose, the doctor told me that I had to wait at least another 2 hours before giving him more.  What?  Thankfully we were discharged shortly thereafter and I was able to give him his next dose on the way out the door.

Scramble!
I hope that this post didn't cause anyone to jump from their chairs and start running through the house collecting items.  It does help to be prepared, but not panicked. Until now, each time I grabbed a bag to head out the door I remembered more and more of this list.  Part of me doesn't want to have a bag packed since that seems like in some way I am willing the universe to give us a reason to use it, but I prefer to go with "the watched pot never boils" theory. And I will watch that bag like there is no tomorrow!

Disclaimer: Links provided in this post will direct you to Amazon.com. I am a participant in Amazon Associates and as such will receive ad revenue from items purchased through the above links.

The Toddler Two Step

One of my last posts was brought to you by the number three, so it is only fitting that this next post focus on the dreaded two! It may have little to do with food allergies, but over the last month, my sweet little 17 mo has transformed. It arrived 7 months early...the terrible twos. 

We all reach that point with our children when we realize that public appearances must take a back seat.  No more dinners out, no movies, and even trips to the grocery store become a hassle.  I am there.  Monk has officially moved from baby to toddler, from sweet and cuddly to shrill and unpredictable.

Dance Shmance
Sitting at Punkin's dance dress rehearsal a few weekends ago I was overcome with sudden dread when a friend mentioned that her toddler was staying home with a babysitter.  Why didn't I think of that, and why in the world did I think my youngest child could sit through 2+ hours of piques and plies to every Disney princess ballad imaginable.

Lights go down, curtain comes up, sippy cup gets tossed under the seats, the passy gets thrown to the ground and cue the scream! So begins the tag team parenting at the back of the theater. 

But really, it was wonderful, and who wouldn't endure all that for this face!

Bye Bye Baby
So our sweet, once quiet, baby has begun to exert himself, vocally and physically.  The word "no" has entered into his vocabulary as a way to tell us just how he feels. Oh yeah, and it is usually accompanied by some vicious pounding on the ground just to drive the point home.  What is all this for you ask?  Typically it is that we won't let him play with the hello (phone) or that his brother or sister have...dare I say it....touched him!

He is a little man on a mission, and that mission has become to do whatever he likes completely unassisted and unobstructed.  Climbing is the newest and most popular sport in our house, whether it is up his brother's loft bed (even though we removed the bottom ladder rung), up storage shelves, on top of the coffee table or head first into the bathtub.  Like a shark in the ocean, he can't and won't stop moving! And recently he became the first Garcia to need stitches, although we opted for more manly Dermabond, for a small gash to the forehead. Those of you who know my oldest will try to please contain your shock and awe. He is ready to feed himself, to get up and down from chairs, the sofa, the toilet (no, I wish!) And lately, he has perfected his mad face.

And all this makes me smile. Why?

My little Monk is already an advocate for himself.  He didn't want any strawberries tonight so he threw them. He'd rather play than take a bath, so he screamed his way through it.  Diaper sound restricting? Kick, wiggle, go limp and then flail to keep from getting Pampered!

He knows what he wants and he lets us all know in no uncertain terms that he isn't that last child that get's forgotten, and he also isn't the sick and helpless one either.

When you spend the first year of your child's life afraid to feed them anything but applesauce, and become anxious as babies 6 months younger are outweighing him by 5 lbs, you worry that he will be the weak one, the small one, just ripe for future picking and bullying.  But seeing his personality start to explode blossom makes me feel a little better about the future.

My Monk is still as sweet as can be...as long as you are doing everything exactly as he wants it done.

Does it count as a first if he didn't eat any?

Written 6/14/14
I have been dreading today for some time.  The oral food challenge that would finally confirm whether or not we had a fish allergy.  Feeding a food allergic person the offending food in the presence of a doctor is the last step in food allergy diagnosis after skin and blood testing.  Some consider it the only true test of an allergy.

Preparation
Here is what I was told to expect. We would arrive at the allergist office first thing in the morning (7:30am to be exact) where they would start with a skin test for the fish. Why suffer through the challenge if a skin test would reveal the allergy? If the test was negative, we would begin the food challenge, feeding Monk increasingly larger portions of fish for about a 3 hour period. If he makes it through all portions without reaction then they would monitor him for a few more hours and then send us on our way with a green light for fish!

The pure fact that you are about to feed your child something that has landed him in the hospital in the past doesn't sound scary enough?

Throw in a few more criteria.

• Don't feed the child before or during the challenge. Last meal was at 6:30pm the night before.
• Napping? Nope.
• My kid isn't entertained by TV. 

So in my head I was imagining about 5 hours stuck in a small office with a toddler who is hungry and sleepy and active yet likely to be completely bored and unentertained by anything I provide. Oh and what's for breakfast? Salmon.

For Real Now

We are in the car at 6:45am and ready to go to the allergist office with empty bellies but Monk still had a smile in his face.

We arrive at the empty office (cause no one schedules appointments for 7:30am unless you have to be there all day!) and get shuttled immediately into an exam room. Our room. Get comfy!

Up first? Skin testing (Want to know more about skin testing? Check out my previous post here.) 

Per the usual we have a positive and negative control prick along with one for salmon and one for cod (apparently the gold standard for fish allergies.) Below is a picture of Monk's back during the skin testing.

 

See that large red hive on the top left?  That would be the positive control.  The only reaction.  Yep, nothing from the cod or the salmon.  This was the second skin test for fish that Monk has had. The initial test was given shortly after a salmon dinner sent us to the ER for the first time (read that full story here) and that one too was negative.  The negative result meant that we would move forward with the oral food challenge.

By this time my Monk has been pricked instead of fed and was not too happy.  In fact, each time the door to our exam room opened, he would start crying.  This was going to be five hours of unadulterated hell adventure! 

In walks the nurse holding the smallest piece of salmon. Think flea sized. Just as we readied ourselves for whether or not we would see Baby Jekyll or Hyde when tasting the salmon, the nurse discovered a hive.  And then there were two.  And as I looked over his body I discovered dried blood behind his ears (a tell-tale sign that he reacted to something during the night.)

On went the brakes and out went the nurse and our miniscule bite of salmon.  Since he had eaten nothing, been exposed to nothing, we had to assume that the skin test caused a reaction.  We believe that he even started reacting from the cooking of the fish, as he had the first time, and that was why his eczema behind his ears had flared and bled during the night. So he essentially failed the challenge before it ever began.  

For me the result was certainly a double edged sword.  I had managed to avoid a few hours of toddler mayhem in exchange for certified allergy.  But on the bright side, a certified allergy is better than a mystery reaction, and it brought us one step closer to completing the allergy puzzle.

P.S.  I will say that I was certainly prepared for our stay and had packed not one, but two bags with essentials, new and exciting toys and more. Want a peak into those bags? My "hospital bag" list, or "the list for anyone who will be stuck in a small room with a small child for any period longer than 30 minutes", is shared here.

Dinnertime Milestone

Last night was a dinner breakthrough.

For the first time in forever (Cue dancing snowman. Oh wait, wrong story.) we all ate the same dinner.  All five of us, Monk included!

I have been wondering over the last year if and when we would get to this point. Would we get to this point?  Sure I had to make an adjustment to the recipe for his plate.  But for today I am considering it a personal victory that we were able to eat as a family together.  To eat from one pan. Can I get an Amen for less dishes?

Did everyone eat the pork and greens skillet pie, cleaning their plates with smiles on their faces?

Hahahahahahaha!

Seriously? No. I have three children whose tastes and opinions change more frequently than the weather in Texas. But Monk loved it. Monk ate seconds! And that, ladies and gentlemen is how I measure success. 

Want the recipe?  It's a Martha meal, and you can find it here.

For dairy allergies, hold the Parmesan until the end, scoop out a bit of the pork and greens as well as the grits for your food allergy monkey, then throw in the cheese, bake it in the oven and everyone is feed from one meal!

Three Signs and You're Out!

Today's post is brought to you by the number 3.

Three for the number of trips we have had to make to the hospital after allergic reactions.  Three for the number of times that something/someone sent me a warning of something wrong.

Advertise Here
The past few months have been a series of ups and downs.  Whose life isn't, right? And we all have those times when the lows seem to sink a bit lower, when you feel kicked when you're already down. 

It seemed like several times within the last 6 months that I couldn't get every member of our family to be healthy. Someone was always sick, and it wasn't always Monk.  His brother and sister had their fair share of fevers, colds, and such. But it was days like the morning that followed our second hospital visit, the one were we didn't get treated (see full story here), that really brought me to my breaking point.

After a night of staying up watching my youngest to make sure that he didn't have a secondary reaction, I relished sitting alone in my office, only as a second to taking a long nap. So I gladly left Monk with his babysitter and dropped the kids at school, only to be called back to the school office within the hour to pick up Punkin, who had vomited in class.  Weeks, months of shortened days, of missed days, of work not getting finished. It's the life of a mother, but this mother was done.

I was spent and exhausted.  Feeling defeated, I took her home, relieved the sitter and fell to my knees. "If you have something to tell me, please just take out a billboard!" Some days wold just go easier if He would just spell things out.

I asked for a sign. In truth I wanted it 20 feet tall and hanging just off the interstate, and maybe that was all I was willing to see.

Numero Uno
That Wednesday morning began as they all do, with no billboard propped up at the foot of my bed to tell of me of auspicious things to come, so I woke up and went to get dressed. I pulled a shirt from my closet, the same shirt that I wore on the day that we had to take Monk to the hospital for the first time. That voice in the back of my head, the one so often downplayed, said not to wear it because of its previous affiliation. I hadn't worn the shirt since that day. But it was only a shirt, and it would be silly to wear something else, right?

Second Chances
Fast forward a few hours and the kids are at school, leaving Monk with me to do the grocery shopping. We only needed a few things, but one of them was milk.

Monk has been diagnosed with a milk allergy since he was around 8-9 months old. I had begun to suspect that the milk allergy was getting worse and not better so we contact tested him in April. Basically this means that the allergist put milk on her finger and touched him with it. Below is the picture of that days reactions. The two bottom-right reactions are milk extract and regular milk, just brushed on the skin, not pricked. The result: Monk is contact allergic to dairy. He can't be touched by it.

The allergist suggested that we buy the kids cups with lids for when they drink milk, reducing the amount of milk spillage during the ever-present accidents. But we could still have milk in the house and continue to drink it? As long as we are careful. (Did you catch that last sentence?)

Back to the point...

Checking off my list, we made it through the store and the register. As I scanned my groceries I had a sudden feeling of massive anxiety come over me.  You know the kind of anxiety that ties you up in knots and renders you helpless. The kind that makes you could swear that someone you love is in danger.  I quickly thought about calling my kids school to check on them and call the hubby's work. Scenarios of the school on lock down or fire in an office building ran through my head.

I jump to extreme conclusions quite often. The hubby has on several occasions said that I needed the "jump to conclusions mat" from Office Space (actually, they apparently sell them!). Given my propensity for panicking, I talked myself down from the cliff, bought my milk and left the store.

Strike Three
With Monk down for his afternoon nap, I decided I could treat myself to a snack. Option 1: frozen coffee (aka, milk with caffeine free white chocolate flavored instant coffee mixed in) or option 2: smoothie.  With 10+ lbs of baby still clinging to my thighs I stood before the fridge arguing the finer points of going the smoothie route (less calories, fulfilling my veggie/fruit servings for the day, non-diary). The voice returned, urging me toward the frozen pineapple and kale, but again, it lost out and was shoved back into the recesses of my cobwebbed mind.

I'm Out
My hour of peace and child-free time flies by quickly and when Monk wakes up I don't even think about my glass of half-drunken coffee/milk. Given my child's innate spidy-sense for finding food, it isn't longer than 5-10 minutes when he finds my cup and dumps it on his head in an attempt to drink some.

I have no idea if any actually goes into his mouth, but everywhere it hits him begins to get covered in hives and I notice blood running down from his ear, where his eczema spots have opened up. I call our allergist immediately and sit on the phone with her nurse, describing every 2-3 minutes the state of the hives, and when it become clear that they are spreading and will soon cover his whole body, she tells me to hang up, administer the Epi Pen and call 911. All of which I do.

Trip three to the ER.

Hindsight
Looking back as we sat in the ER for a few hours to ensure that the reaction had passed, I realized that I was given a sign three time, essentially, a billboard. There is a reason that they say that "hindsight is 20/20" and I can't spend my days looking back on should've, would've, could've, but I do know that I will be burning that shirt and listening to my gut a bit more closely from now on.