There are times, when as a parent, one has to respond in ways during a crisis that puts aside anger and fear. I punched in “Hospitals Near Here” on the GPS and Sean drove following its verbal prompts. I went to the back of the van and sat by Liam.
His breathing was wheezing and short. His stomach was trying to breath for him and it caved in and pushed out with every breath. He was white and the blue ring around his mouth became very dark. We had about ten miles to the hospital. Too far. Liam’s allergy to peanuts is so severe he could die from a heart failure by that time.
“How are ya doing, Liam?” I asked quietly.
“Not so good,” he quietly responded, his voice strained.
I watched him for a few more seconds then went up to Sean, “We need to give him the shot. The Epi-Pen is in the camper in the medicine cabinet. You need to pull over.”
We were on the shoulder of Interstate 5. I had never given the shot myself. I practiced on my leg with the dummy pen out of sight from Liam. Sean held Liam on his lap and held his arms and wept into his back. He kept apologizing to him over and over. I whispered into Sean’s ear to hold him tight and gave a calm smile to Liam, “I am going to give you some medicine to help you breathe, ok?”
He didn’t know it was going to be a shot. If he did, he would kick. He had to stay still for me. I held the pen in my hand and removed the cap. He watched with puzzlement. “Click” went the pen and it shot into his leg. He screamed with pain and he looked at me with the face of “why?”
Sean wept. We held Liam and watched to see how he reacted. In a minute he began to breathe with more ease and we continued on to the hospital. Within ten minutes, Liam’s skin had broken out in hives. Even his eyes were swollen with hives. We arrived at the emergency entrance and I brought him in to the nurse, “Peanut allergy. I just gave him the Epi-Pen.”
“Right this way,” she escorted us immediately in. No one wastes time with peanut allergies.
Liam’s breathing seemed stable at the moment, but his skin was like an elephant’s. The nurse was to administer an IV. No chance. Liam fought and wouldn’t hold still. No matter what we said, we couldn’t get him to cooperate. The doctor came in and stood in front of Liam. He was a thin man around 60 years of age with white hair. He stood silently with his finger to his temple, thinking and watching. I asked if there was any other way to give Liam the medication. I was fearful that if they got the IV in, that Liam would yank it out.
The doctor sympathized and reluctantly gave him the medication via mouth. Liam seemed to be stable but then suddenly within a few seconds had great difficulty breathing again. The nurse came in quickly and gave him another shot in the arm. Liam sobbed and I held his hand. He asked me in a small voice, “Am I dying?” I couldn’t hold back my tears. I held him to my chest so he couldn’t see my face.
“No, honey. You are not dying. Your body just really doesn’t like peanuts, that’s all. We just need to calm your body down and then you’ll be okay.”
His breathing was restored after a few minutes and I stayed in bed with him rubbing his body that itched so terribly from the hives. I knew Sean was worried in the waiting room. I knew he was feeling terrible, too. Liam wouldn’t let me leave his side so I asked the nurse to forward an update to my husband.
I sang songs and held him for hours. His hives started to disappear and he became elated to see his skin heal. He wanted to leave. You always know how sick a child is when they ask to see a doctor and when they ask to leave. He started sitting up and getting antsy. He was hungry and the nurse fed him Jello and ice cream. A perfect dinner.
He was finally discharged and the family greeted him with happy shouts of, “LIAM!!!!” They all hugged him and told him how much he was missed. Sean held him and felt his son strong and breathing again.
For all of you reading this, for the safety of children with peanut allergies, please do not feed the squirrels or any animal peanuts. They carry those nuts into other yards and children often find them and touch/ingest them. A child can die quickly from this type of allergy. It is becoming a common allergy and the reasons are unknown. No one in either side of our family has this allergy, yet two of our sons have it. So, please, keep a safe yard.
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