When it rains it pours...

"When it rains it pours" is an understatement...it should read "When it rains it's going to rain enough that you should build an ark". Husband has been having blood pressure issues over the past several weeks. The doctor gave him some pretty powerful beta blockers (beta blockers reduce the power of the heart so it doesn't pump so hard and dilates veins and arteries to allow blood to flow easier). The meds have been working for the most part with the occasional rise in blood pressure. He's due to go back to the nephrologist in a couple of weeks. So, we've been dealing with that. For anyone reading this post that does not know, Bear has a pretty severe allergy to nuts...as in so severe that you can't touch him if you've been eating them. Last night was business as usual. Husband was at work, Teenager to soccer, Bear and Princess with me. I put Bear and Princess to bed around 9pm. At 11pm Husband burst through the bedroom door (he got home early from work) and says, "Syl, I need you; Bear's having an allergic reaction!". I immediately enter crisis management mode...Benedryl, check; Epinephrine pen, check; Nebulizer, check...into the oatmeal bath he goes. My son was covered in hives...by that I mean, he had a single hive that started two inches below his collar bone and covered his entire head and shoulders (If my sleep deprived, crisis management mode brain would have been capable of the coherent thought I would have taken a picture to post.). His face was swollen, his neck, ears...it was, by far, the most serious reaction that he's ever had. Hives covered his legs, arms, groin and back. When he was a baby and we first started dealing with this, I was told by the doctor that because his reaction was so severe from the initial episode, they would continue to get worse with each exposure. The doctor could not have been more accurate. So, I always tell people that anaphylactic shock is only one bite away for my son. He's never actually gone into anaphylactic shock but last night we got a pretty good glimpse at what it's going to look like when he does. While Husband changed his clothes and prepared for a possible trip to the ER, I gave Bear two teaspoons of Benedryl and stood watch over him. Husband asked "are we going?". I told him that I wanted to wait 30 minutes to give the Benedryl time to work, if it was going to work it would work in 30 minutes. So, Bear laid with his head on my lap, body covered with bright read hives, while I watched over him looking for signs of respiratory distress. It was the longest 30 minutes of my life. Thankfully the redness began to pass and things returned to "normal" (whatever that is...I've heard of it but have yet to experience it). I think it was somewhere around 2am when I turned things over to Husband. Some of my family and friends ask, "How do you do it?"...my response? "How do I not do it?". I hate to admit it, but I was scared. Possibly more scared for my son than I had ever been. Last night I really thought "This is it. Anaphylaxis." By the Grace of God, my child was spared a full blown episode of anaphylactic shock...but it's on the horizon...