The Other One

8pm on a Sunday night and here I am calling about a reaction my son is having. Through his swollen eyes he cries that he is itchy.

Par for the course, right?

Except it isn't Monk. It's Jag.

We are visiting friends with a Century Agave plant and he gets stuck by one of the thorns. Easy enough to handle in the mom book of medical fixes. Just pour on the hydrogen peroxide, a little alcohol swab and slap it with a band-aid.

All is good until I look up a few minutes later to see that his eyes are swelling up. Panic!

I should be a pro at this but I'm used to it being Monk. I know his tell tale symptoms, his dosage for Benadryl and what to do when it's a food reaction. But this isn't food. This is apparently poison. The sap of the century agave plant is toxic. When we look up information on the century agave plant, we  find out that the toxicity is worst when ingested, but that the puncture wound can still cause swelling of the eyes, throat irritation, difficulties breathing and other symptoms similar to what we experience with food allergies.

Happily, the Benadryl and hydrocortizone cream seemed to work and most of the swelling is down this morning.  Another extra dose of Benadryl to get him through school, which I hope doesn't have the same effect as when he was 2.

Lesson learned...scary plants with long thorns should be avoided at all costs, regardless of whether or not you are the allergy kid!

Century Agave Plant