He Needs an Epi-Pen Jr
Posted by Dr. Cason on Thursday, May 15th, 2008
The drama is over. For now.
A follow up yesterday at the docotr’s office has prompted an increase in meds and some further testing. Is it an egg allergy? This haunts me and it’s the most frustrating thing to try to convince other that this could be the cause of the severe and sudden asthma attacks. Fortunately his doc said right away, “He needs an epi pen.” My relief was palapable; I started crying. Even if it’s not- which I hope it isn’t- at least we’ll know. Ignorance is not bliss. It’s torture.
So today he’s back at daycare. I’m back at work.
I came into the daycare loaded with meds and the epi pen and- no kidding -they looked at me and said, “Oh we can’t give him this. We’re not trained in administering the epi pens.”
I about lost it. Then I went to work and they called me and I started crying. I think they all thought I was just crazy. But I have this terrible fear that something is going to happen and I won’t be there. I too think that I may be overdramatizing it a bit, but I can’t help it.
My fragile emotinal state wasn’t helped when- in the car on the drive over to work, I was listening to a first hand account of a Chinese woman crying and screaming for her 2 y.o. buried in the rubble of this week’s earthquake in China.
“Momma’s here”! She cried out to her boy hoping that he could hear. And when they found him- dead- She screamed again, “Momma’s here”. And I was sobbing. And then I thought of my two year old boy and I could taste the fear and the tears wouldn’t stop.
I walked into work all tear stained and puffy.
Today, again, I will be both Mommy and Doctor. I have discussed it with the daycare and next week I will train all the staff so that my child and other children will get the emergency care they need. Any other alternative is unacceptable.
Filed in Everything Medicine, My Life |
Alesiaon 16 May 2008 at 12:26 am 1You’re at the beginning of the road I’ve been traveling for 5 years. It’s frightening, and you’ll often feel like the sands are shifting under your feet. But it will get better. And you’ll become an old pro at training caregivers in Epi-Pen use (and, eventually, training your son). It’s hard. It sucks. But it’s doable.
You’re doing great, even if it doesn’t feel like it.
Dr. Casonon 17 May 2008 at 5:43 am 2I feel so sorry for anyone who has to go through this. It’s a scary and helpless feeling. You’re right. I know it’s doable. It’s time to just take a deep breath and get a move on.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Cassaundraon 18 May 2008 at 11:41 pm 3Hi Dr. Cason
I received your blog from Jim Gosney, he is a good friend of mine. My heart hurts for you with what you are dealing with, with your son, Jake. I am a mom to 2 kids. My son is 13 and has a rare partial mosaic trisomy 13 & 3. He was featured in an article in the American Journal of Medical Genetics in 2002. My daughter is 10 and totally normal.
I feel compelled with strong convictions to write you. I wanted to share with you some thoughts I have regarding Jake and his condition. I too suffered terribly (scary!) for a few years of my adult life from asthma. I spent those years ‘treating the symptoms’, all the asthma meds one can take (and inhale!), and antibiotics for sinus and upper respiratory infections, allergy meds and, steroid shots in my rear about 1-2 times a year. About 7-8 years ago I had had enough! I went and had allergy testing done to determine what I was allergic to. (It had been maybe more than 15 years since I last had allergy testing done and I now lived in a different part of the country)
Then I removed the carpet from my bedroom where I was passively breathing all night. Next I went to the massage therapist and chiropractor and received regular treatments for almost 2 years. During that same time I bought chickens and started consuming their eggs( I was not allergic to eggs). The chickens were eating the pollen, grasses and such that I was allergic to in my environment and it boosted my immunity to those allergens……. Then I got intestinal parasites from a family dog……. During the time I had parasites and did not know it, the doctor was trying to diagnose me with gall bladder disease and a host of other well know (blanket reasons/diseases)for why I was sick…..and let me tell you I was sick! My daughter was sick too at that same time and a different doctor was trying to figure out what was wrong with her. Then my massage therapist suggested based on my(our) symptoms that maybe I(we) had parasites…So, during the time I had parasites, it was my massage therapist who introduced me to(recommended) 2 books in particular, ‘The Parasite Menace’, and ‘Guess What Came To Dinner’ (I think that is the name of the 2nd book, if you google it, it will give you the correct title if that is not it). Those 2 books opened my eyes, thoughts, and knowledge as to what parasites can do to the human body that mimic other diseases, and one of the biggest ones is asthma! So we bypassed the doctors and did some major herbal parasite cleansing for both of us and all of our symptoms and problems went away completely! amazing!!!!
I am now, and have been, for several years, asthma free and I just take seasonal allergy meds and as long as I am receiving regular massage therapy, even those meds are kept to a minimum. I take NO asthma meds! I was considered COPD. I still consume my free range chicken eggs on a regular basis….. I have not had a sinus or upper respiratory infection for that same period of time (several years now). I just recently went to the doctor to have a physical and all that silly check-up stuff and had all my blood work done for the first time in 3 years (I did not have a reason to go to the doctor during that period of time) and I am healthier than I ever have been in my entire life!(I am 45 years old).
I just completed 300 hours of massage therapy school and will be taking my state board exam on Wednesday. I will be continuing my massage therapy education with kinesiology, pathology, pharmocology and advanced technique. It is an exciting and accepted field that has been emerging as an alternative way to help the body heal itself.
Please check out those books I mentioned as you will find them resourceful in how you treat Jake for his asthma and not just treat his symptoms. Our bodies are too perfectly made to just fall apart on their own. There is a reason for many conditions the human body deals with and we must be diligent to find the source of what is causing the condition.
Bless you on your search,
Cassaundra
Dr. Casonon 19 May 2008 at 8:53 am 4Cassaundra,
Thank you for your your detailed response. I agree that there is a need to find out the causing agent of diseases and not just treat the symptoms. I have long believed there needs to be more integration of traditional Allopathic medicine and alternative therapies.
There is still so much to be learned about how our bodies work. Massage is such a great way to calm our bodies and let ourselves heal. Thank you for your suggestion, I’ll try that. It couldn’t hurt and just might make us all a little calmer.
In the mean time I’ll look into other things that may be going on. He never had any of these issues before we moved here to Guam. I suspect there may be an underlying issue such as food allergies or environmental allergies.
Best regards to you and your family.
Blessings, Sheila
Michelleon 01 Jun 2008 at 1:00 pm 5Thank you for posting this. My 8 month old daughter is highly allergic to milk protein/soy (identified at 6 weeks old when I needed to supplement when my supply couldn’t keep up…it eventually did and I just weaned her a few weeks ago) and just this weekend we were in the ER because my husband ate peanut butter and then kissed her hands and cheeks. Within minutes she had hives, welts, rapid breathing and vomiting. It was one of the scariest moments I have ever faced in my life. Thankfully, I live 3 minutes from a hospital/ER. My husband kept telling me “Just put her in the tub”, but I think he was not thinking clearly and was very stressed. I ran to call the doctor, but then thought twice and grabbed her out of the tub my husband had her in and got her in the car immediately. She vomited twice on the 3 mintue drive and started to choke. My husband had to stay home with our other two daughters, as there was not enough time to tell them to go to a neighbor’s house and they were very scared as well. I ran into the ER, got her into a room and they immediately gave her an epi shot, followed up by steroids and benadryl. It worked almost immediately, but those were the longest 5 minutes of my life.
I asked, as we were leaving, if I could have an epipen for her to have at home and at daycare (where she attends 5 days a week) and was told she did not weigh enough for one. It was maddening, as I just saw how well it worked on her at the hospital. I ran scenarios through my mind of what would happen at daycare. They aren’t 3 minutes from a hospital, so what would they do? How would they handle this if it happened? I am meeting with them on Monday for a plan, but I’ve been driving myself crazy thinking about all of the horrible things that “could” happen.
Needless to say, I can completely understand your relief at finally getting a pen and I hope that your daycare providers will learn how to use it for your son’s safety. I’m at the point now of wanting to hire a nurse to be her personal nanny.
And, I also heard that report from China on NPR. I happened to be picking up my daughter from daycare at the time and it was heartbreaking. I had to drive around the block and I finally just pulled into a parking spot and cried for that poor woman who lost her child…her cries of “Momma’s here” echoed in my mind for days.
Good luck to you and to your son. It does appear to be a long road ahead, but worth every second to keep our babies safe.
Warm regards,
Michelle