Milestones

So we had a couple of firsts on Monday.  Some milestones you never want to reach.  

I got a call from the daycare saying Tommy was vomiting.  As I was driving to pick him up, I called the doctor to make an appointment because I just figured he had an ear infection or something and I wanted to be sure.  I get there and Tommy is crying his scary cry, the cry he had when he had croup.  It was more of a moan.  He had been vomiting for a half hour.  They girls at daycare said he only ate some grapes and he's having this reaction.  He was pinkish red all over, itching like crazy, his lips were a little purple and OMG he was PISSED.  Before I left they said the other kids were eating biscuits and gravy and drinking milk.  They didn't think he had gotten into their food (but it was quickly becoming apparent that he did).  So I took him home because his appointment wasn't for another hour.  He vomited again on the way home.  I got him home and he felt weirdly limp but not.  It was the weirdest feeling.  He had no strength but he was totally tense.  He was still red and itchy.  He was still pissed.  I tried putting him in the bath because his breathing started to sound bad.  I was completely in denial at this point of what was happening (an anaphylactic reaction to milk).  He was looking worse and worse.  So I decided to grab everything and jump in the car and start driving.  I decided to go to his doctor's appointment early.  I called on my way while weaving in and out of traffic. I was on hold for what seemed like an eternity (while they were "providing quality care to other patients").  Finally they came on the phone.  I told them I had an appointment and that Tommy was having trouble breathing and asked if someone could help us when we got there.  I was looking in the mirror at him and he was starting to pass out.  She says "We are closed for lunch. You need to go directly to Urgent Care. They have everything you need and can help you.  He will be fine."  I know she knew I was freaking out.  I said, "WHERE IS URGENT CARE?"  Yeah I was freaking out.  She gave me directions to the one by where I was headed.  I found it and carried him inside.  

I went up to the counter and told them what was going on.  They got on the phone and said, "You need to come up here immediately and take a look at this."  They told me later they had never seen something like that.  His whole body was still pink and blotchy red.  He was pretty crashed out in my arms.  His feet were like he was wearing red socks.  He was these short terrible tiny little breaths and I was holding him crying and out of breath.  Not a pretty sight. They took us back and after asking some questions/taking some stats, they started administering medications. They checked his oxygen levels and they were lower than when he had RSV/brochiolitus (they were 82!).  He got a shot of Benadryl.  Then a shot of epinephrine.  Then they started him on albuterol breathing treatments.  They were talking about his postural something or other.  Basically the area around his mouth was white. That's a super scary symptoms (as if the other symptoms weren't scary enough).  At one point they had to wake him up and if I thought he was pissed before, WATCH OUT.  He was really mad then.  But that was awesome.  Screaming brings oxygen back into his body. 

Then they called the paramedics.  There were no ambulances available so they called one from campus.  Two strapping middle aged men showed up with lots of equipment.  They were a bit calmer than the nurses that I had been dealing with. But really the nurses and the doctor did all the hard work.  The paramedics were basically just there to transport us to the Emergency Room.  They took him off the breathing treatment. They let me carry him out to the ambulance.  

Did I mention that Andrew was a couple hours away?? I had called him on my way to pick Tommy up but I hadn't talked to him since.  So I called Andrew while we were riding in the ambulance.  Now that's gotta be a shock to the system.  Last he heard from me, I was telling him, "Oh it's probably an ear infection." Next thing he knows, his wife and son are being taken by ambulance to the ER.  Great.  He immediately started heading home at that point.  

They did not turn on the sirens or anything while we headed to the hospital.  That probably would have freaked Tommy out anyway.  But they did continue the breathing treatment in the ambulance.  He was basically on the mend by the time we got to the hospital.  

When we got there, I finally told them I had to use the restroom.  I had to go before I left work but I thought I would be home soon enough and it wouldn't be a big deal.  So 3 hours later, I still hadn't gone.  (Note to Andrew and Steph, don't make fun of the Keipers! You never know when something is going to happen. ALWAYS pee before you leave! Haha!)  Our nurse offered to hold him while I went.  I could hear him crying the entire time.  

For some reason he just doesn't like hospitals or doctors.  Hmm, wonder why? 

Anyway, we were basically in the ER for observation.  They kept us until 3ish and then let us go.  He had fully recovered.  They put him on an oral steroid to make sure his lungs recovered.  When they released us, Andrew wasn't back just yet and my car was still at Urgent Care.  We had to wait for him so we went to play in the waiting room.  Turns out all the freaks were showing up to the ER that day.  Eww.  We tried to go to the children's play table but some WT people (who were no where near a child's age) were blocking us from playing there.  So we sat and played on a bench for about 2 seconds until some other WT people sat around the corner from us and they smelled so badly of smoke, I decided to take Tommy outside.  Ugh. Disgusting. 

While we were outside, Tommy got to see the Lifeline Helicopter land.  That was exciting (only because they were coming back from somewhere, not bringing someone in). 

Andrew showed up a short while later and rescued us from that place. Thank goodness.  In my haste, I had forgotten where Tommy's shoes were.  Poor guy.  I had shoved them in the diaper bag.  But he didn't mind going barefoot. 

 Being that it was an insane day, I did not take that many pictures.  I did get a couple shots.  This is one. He was nearly fully recovered at this point.  I was trying to keep him entertained by taking pictures of us sticking our tongues out.  He's getting pretty good at that!

 And it cracks him up!

 Later that day, I took a pic of where they put the epi shot. Apparently it's common that it bruises around that area.

I learned lots that day.

1.) Anaphylactic reactions can be in the lungs too, not just the mouth and throat.
2.) White mouths are bad.
3.) I should have given him benadryl if I had understood what was going on.  I still wouldn't have realized that I should be giving him albuteral treatments but now I know.
4.) I should have taken him directly to the ER.  Then we wouldn't have an ambulance bill to pay. :-)
5.) Epinephrine doesn't have to be in a "pen".  It can be given as a plain old shot.  Tommy's reaction wasn't bad enough for me to jam an Epi Pen in his leg but it was close.  The benadryl/epi combination was actually extremely effective and probably better for him than a full epi pen. But no matter which way, it's probably going to bruise.

We went to see our pediatrician the next day just to make sure that he had truly recovered and just to talk to someone about our experience really.  He explained that anaphylactic reactions are not nearly as scary as they used to be.  As long as you act fast and get the treatments you need, you'll be okay. What a relief.  It was so scary there for awhile.  Thank the good Lord for cell phones, fast cars, technology, medical science, medications, excellent nurses and doctors in the medical field, and THANK YOU MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE Disney Junior app on my phone.  It was the only thing keeping him calm when he was freaking out after I left him to go to the bathroom.

The other nice thing that came out of this is that Tommy is starting to understand (if that's even possible at this age) that doctors are there to help him.  When we went to see the pediatrician, he actually had his first good doctor's appointment ever.  He let the doctor look in his mouth, eyes and ears without screaming bloody murder.  He even gave him a cute little posing face when he said he had pretty blue eyes.  He was like "You got that right!"

So the firsts for the Thornburgs this week:
1.) We experienced what an anaphylactic reaction was like.
2.) We rode in an ambulance for the first time ever.
3.) We had a non-crying doctor's appointment.

Freaking Crazy.

In case you're wondering, yes I had a talk with the daycare. Luckily they were just as concerned as I was.  We worked it out so that he doesn't have to be totally separated in a high chair away from the other kids sitting at a table.  But they will be placing a teacher to sit next to him during meals so he doesn't grab someone else's food or drink.  It sucks that he has to deal with all this but what can you do?

So on a final note to end with a gif...
I totally know how Holly Hunter's character in Raising Arizona was feeling when it comes to Tommy.

Ok that gif only works if you click on it and that ticks me off so here's the clip from the movie. 

Cracks me up.  But it's so true. :-)