Darn Cashews

• Sept 17, 2017
• On our way out the door to church Spencer got one of my Lara Bars for a snack. I usually put them on the top shelf which is off limits to the kids but in my haste to get to work Saturday I got the box down and didn't put it back up (and yes, I feel like a horrible mom). The bars have cashews in them, which Spencer is very allergic to. Within a couple bites Spencer realized something was wrong. We immediately gave him Benadryl and had the Epipen ready but his breathing seemed to be OK. I called and talked to a nurse through our insurance hotline and since he was showing some signs of an anaphylactic reaction he recommended we take him in  to the ER just in case. It was a 25 minute drive to the hospital and Spencer's symptoms hadn't gotten any worse. We knew with the type of insurance we had we were looking at a $2,000+ hospital bill if we took him in, so we were debating if we should just stick around and see what happens or not take the risk and bring him in. We were sitting in the parking lot, Steve and I both on our phones reading about anaphylaxis. We were reading different articles but at the exact same time we read the line and told each other, "Don't wait for the symptoms to get worse to bring them in." We took that as a sign and took him into the ER. After they admitted him it had been close to an hour and a half since he had ingested the cashew the doctors said he wasn't that bad but they would get medicine ready just in case. We were second guessing our decision to bring him in and then suddenly he threw up, broke out in severe hives from head to toe, started coughing and wheezing then started turning purple because he couldn't breathe. I'm tearing up right now just thinking about. It is terrifying being a helpless bystander when your kid is in danger. But they got epinephrine in him, which immediately opened up his airways, got him on oxygen and steroids and more benadryl and he was out of danger. It was also torture watching as 3 different nurses made 6 attempts to get 2 IV's into him. He was trying to be so tough but you could tell he was in so much pain. The mama bear just about came out before they finally got the second one in. We had to stay for several hours to make sure he was stable, but he rested, watched tv, facetimed family and was finally discharged. He was back to his old self by the time we got home. He has to take steroids for the next several days but he'll be just fine. I'm so grateful for modern medicine and medical staff spending their time away from their families on a Sunday afternoon to help those in need. Especially grateful for Spencer today ❤️

This picture was about 5 minutes before he took a turn for the worse.

  The only smile we got out of him was when I took that picture and showed him he looked like Darth Vader. He thought that was cool.