My sweet Katie.....

Last Thursday on Thankgiving I was actually cooking in the kitchen. I was making my mom's sweet potatoe casserole, and Katie was helping me. We finished by spreading pecans on the top, and put it in the oven. As soon as it was done, we headed to Irene and Larry's. When I was getting out of the car Katie was telling me her eyes itched. We were late so I didn't even look, just said "that's too bad, let's go." When we got inside, they had just finished the prayer so we sat the kids down. When I came back with Isaac's plate, Katie was sitting with her head in her hands. She looked at me and said her eyes really hurt. They were red and swollen with little hives all around them. I picked her up and took her to Adam so he could look too. So we just gave her a cold wash cloth and had her lay down on the couch. When I checked on her a couple of minutes later, her eyes were REALLY swollen. Adam went to the store to get benadryl, and I just held her. We were trying to figure out what she had touched, that would bug her eyes so badly when I remembered the pecans. I immediately washed her hands, while Janeen was washing her face. After that, and a dose of benadryl she was obviously better. Her eyes were still swollen, but not as badly. They actually stayed swollen for a few days.

Luckily Katie has a very limited range of food that she will eat, and this never included nuts. I took her to the allergist this morning and found out that she is severely allergic to tree nuts. So much so that it could be fatal. If she had ingested those pecans, or even began eating her food with her hands that hadn't been washed, we would have been in the hospital. (Now, just so you don't think I was completely negligent, I did call the doctor first thing the next morning.) I am going to have to carry an Epi pen in my purse from now on, and anywhere she goes watch out for cross contamination. Her school next year will have to be aware and ready in case anything goes wrong. If she goes to a birthday party I have to talk to the mom and let her know. Needless to say it is serious. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am we found out the way we did. And that we know now, how to avoid future problems. Katie was such a trooper for all of the testing, and didn't cry once. Jenn had Isaac, and so it was just me and Katie. Adam did meet us for lunch, but then we went shopping and got her hair cut. It was so much fun. She is the sweetest little girl, and I love her to pieces.