Little Guy’s terrible, horrible, no good very bad days. Parts I and II

Two weeks ago, Little Guy had has first terrible, horrible, no good very bad day. It started with our kitchen countertop being removed. It was noticed that there was a whole lot of dust, mold, mildew, insulation, mouse droppings, and junk behind the cabinets. Then, the contractor realized that the new countertop could not fit into the kitchen in a single piece and it was too short anyway. Meanwhile, Little Guy had a friend over who threw a book at his eye and cut his upper and lower eyelids. We gave Little Guy some Motrin to help with the pain. Then, the contractors and Little Guy’s buddy left and we gave Little Guy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. A bite or two into the sandwich and I noticed that little guy’s other eye was swelling which was really odd. Then I noticed both eyes were very puffy. That’s when I knew we needed to act fast. I figured that he might be having a fast moving infection from the cut. Rachel correctly guessed that it was an allergic reaction. We put Little Guy in the car and I drove him to the hospital while Rachel stayed home with Baby Girl.

The local hospital is probably ¾ of a mile away. They provide valet parking at the ER and pulled in and told the attendant that the keys were in the ignition and grabbed Little Guy out of the back seat. His eyes were really puffy. We brought him into the ER and they started to triage him. The nurse explained that he could be put into the regular track which would take a few hours or the Fast-track which would be less than a few hours. As the nurse left to fill out paperwork I noticed that Little Guy’s cheeks were puffing, his neck was puffing and he wasn’t breathing quite normally. I called for the nurse and she wisely decided that immediate care was needed not tracked-care. By the time he got into his bed, he could barely see out of his eyes and his SO2 level was down to 88-90. They strapped an IV to Little Guy (I decided not to watch this being done) then proceeded to give medicines and a shot. He fell asleep shortly after that and we were in the ER for 4-5 hours for observation.

We had no idea what got him, but the major change in his environment was the kitchen countertops. Thus, we assumed mold/mildew was the first candidate and peanuts were the second based on the sandwich. There were other candidates. He had Cheerios and raisins for breakfast, albeit 3 or 4 hours before showing symptoms. Little Guy also had Pretzles about an hour before showing symptoms. Of course he had eaten all of the food items many times recently. He also had Motrin that day, but he had taken Motrin before albeit it was about 9 months since the last time he took it. So, we set to clean the kitchen thoroughly and take peanuts out of his diet. We did eventually try some of the low threat items like pretzles with no reaction. We were scheduled to see an allergist in mid-January.

Then this past Saturday, Little Guy had a cold and fever. In order to reduce the fever, we tried Motrin. He also had Cheerios and raisins for breakfast at the same time. Within 30 minutes he started puffing. At this point, we gave him some benadryl. He kept puffing. We were given an EpiPen, which is the nuclear option for stopping an allergic reaction. His symptoms started getting to the point that breathing was a concern. I didn’t ever want to get to the point of using the EpiPen injector, but knew it was time. I was very angry that this was happening so soon after the previous incident, but I had to contain my emotion. I pulled the safety off of the injector, grabbed Little Guy’s arm, said a silence prayer, then jabbed him. Held for 10 secs then retracted. The pen says “Get medical help immediately.” That’s French for “Call 911”, which I promptly did. Let’s say there’s nothing like having 4 firefighters and a couple of EMTs standing in your living room to get your attention. I hopped in the ambulance with Little Guy who was very quiet and puffed. Once at the hospital, I didn’t have to worry about triage or track-care. Little Guy bounced back much faster this time, and I have to think it was because of immediate treatment starting with the benadryl and EpiPen.

So, we think that Motrin (ibuprofen) is the problem. The raisins could potentially be the issue because they were packed in a box with cookies just prior to the countertop fiasco (we still don’t have our countertops, by the way). But, he didn’t show symptoms the first time until 3-4 hours after eating the raisins. The time between taking Motrin and showing symptoms was about the same in both incidents. He had also eaten some of the cookies without a reaction.

We are thankful for God’s mercy. I was at home for both reactions. The first reaction was detected because we were watching Little Guy’s eyes. So, getting hit in the eye was a blessing in disguise. We are thankful that Little Guy was treated successfully and is doing better.

We appreciate your prayers as we enduring this trial. Especially pray for patience and safety as we wait to go to the allergist. Pray that the testing is conclusive. We’re 90% sure that it’s ibuprofen, but the uncertainty is nerve racking.