Whereas #1, #3 and #5 have all had allergy issues with NUTS, that isn't something we thought #4 struggled with. But ... maybe he just hasn't ever eaten nuts. He "doesn't like" peanut butter, but I don't know that he's ever even had it. Same goes for walnuts, cashews, pecans, etc. We aren't a very nutty family (I mean, we are ... just not edibley).
When Cooper went with Gray and Keaton to Seattle, they flew first class and had some nice warm cookies given to them on the plane. We don't know what was in the cookies, but ALLERGY ALERT! Itchy eyes, puffed up face. I was really surprised the airline didn't have something as simple as Benadryl as a safety precaution. I think an epi-pen is required equipment in the first aid kit for airplanes (and rightfully so!) It didn't get to that extent (where epinephrine was needed), but poor Coop was super miserable. As they got off the plane, he had a little trouble staying upright. He said he almost passed out.
As with the other boys, the nut-allergies don't seem to be life threatening. They don't close off the airway, at least not completely. Given some time (and some Benadryl) the boys get back to normal. Cooper had to sleep off his allergy attack so then he could enjoy the rest of his Seattle vacation.
Kudos to Cooper for taking a picture to memorialize this moment (even if it's not something we really want to remember)... and no more nuts!
Cooper has had a few skin reactions (Itchy Bumps) over the years. Sometimes having issues with the neighbor's dog, but other times being okay. Very inconsistent. Dang allergies!
When Keaton was a mere munchkin, we figured out he had allergy issues. He would react badly to cow's milk and cheese, egg(pasta), even to steak. The worst was when he grabbed a nut, a cashew. His little face would get spots, there would be some swelling ... not enough that it interfered with his breathing thank goodness.
Ironically, on the day I was taking Keaton in for allergy testing, I dropped off the older boys at Maga's. Little Landon ate a brownie (with nuts) and immediately said his throat was hot. I finally put two and two together, that he had allergies as well. Through the years, after eating a bit of a cookie, he'd want a popsicle out of the blue. His throat was hot and itchy, and that was his little way of counter-acting it! He hadn't shown physical signs like Keaton had, but now noting Keaton's reactions, I finally figured it out!
As we added baby Colton to the family, he appeared to have allergies as well. We did end up at the ER with him once. Through the years, Landon and Colton have several accidental exposures to nuts. Nothing too serious. Usually, they would feel the tingle in their mouth immediately, so much so that they rarely even swallowed the offending allergy item. Benedryl and sleeping it off was the usual result.
Keaton outgrew his allergies to dairy and egg. Over the years, he added in peanut butter with no problems. Nutella (hazelnuts) has been a happy recent addition to his diet. He has eaten Maga's pastry wreath (with almond paste and slivered almonds) and had a banana nut (walnut) muffin without incident. In fact ... since that last cashew catastrophe when he was about 15-months old, I don't think we'd had ANY allergy issues. Had he outgrown them all?
He decided on a little experiment.
He ate a cashew.
Still allergic.
It took a couple minutes (and he ate more than one cashew) ... but then it started. First, with a tingle. Then his lips got swollen. Then the spots appeared. First on his face, then all over his body. I mean ALL over. His nose was running and would not stop. He went through an entire box of Kleenex. And oh, the itching! His head, his chest ... other manly areas. Keaton put oven mitts over his hands in an attempt to not scratch himself silly. He was red, and hot. He stalked outside, sans shirt, into the snow. I kept asking about breathing, but the swelling didn't seem to extend to his throat, but we kept constant tabs and were ready to rush to the ER if needed. I called a doctor and we were given a prescription for oral steroids and an epi-pen (we had administered Benedryl immediately as it all started). We were still on the verge of heading to the hospital when Keaton emerged from a cold shower, which had seemed to help. He'd moved out of the scary, angry itchy phase into the funny, drunk Benadryl phase. This phase was much easier to handle ... and even get a photo and video.
This initial eating of the cashew had been around 9:00 at night. We didn't figure we were over the hump until almost 11:00. After the exhaustion of the attack itself, plus the Benedryl, Keaton was out cold in no time. I had a little trouble sleeping after all the "excitement" and also was still somewhat worried, so I was up and checking on him every hour in the night to make sure he was still breathing. There was some residual swelling around his eyes in the morning, but other than that, he seemed fine, and was off to school and sports as usual the next day.
A few days later, Keaton had a school assignment to write a poem for Language Arts.
Of course he turned to recent events for inspiration. First, an attempt at a limerick ...
The boy's face was swollen and red.
He was itching all over his head.
He ate a cashew
He's allergic, it's true
Some Benedryl, and then to bed!
... and then Keaton and his friend came up with this rhyme ...
