No other word could have better described my day last Thursday.
I had a scare regarding Rory's allergy to nuts.
I felt like I was going nuts.
It started with a trip to see the child health nurse. Flynn was due for his one-year-old vaccinations, and Rory for his three and a half-year-old ones. I decided to take both boys on the same day so I'd only have to make the one trip. Rory is terrified of anything medical and I'd been talking to him about getting a needle, trying to prepare him for it. I promised him we'd go out for cake at the cafe afterwards before heading down to Albany for a couple of days. Whatever I'd said must have been having an effect, because he was almost quite excited about getting the jab!
At the nurse's office, I made my first mistake.....I got Flynn's needles done first. Rory stood and watched even though I told him to go and play with the toys. Then he screamed...and screamed...and screamed. He screamed before, during and after his needle. He continued screaming when we were in the car ready to drive away, even though I told him it was over. Finally I said we couldn't go into the cafe unless he stopped screaming. He stopped long enough to tell me he didn't want to sit in the cafe, so I got takeaway instead.
Here is where I made my second and biggest mistake. I bought Rory a piece of carrot cake without asking what was in it. It was a draining trip, during which I had to stop three times (once because Flynn wanted milk, once for Rory to use a public toilet, and once for him to do a bush wee, which he didn't end up doing). Then, when we were about 40km from Albany, Rory started coughing and coughing. At first, I thought he was faking it; he often fake coughs, tells me he's sick, and asks for medicine (he LOVES the taste). Then he started becoming more and more distressed. By the time we arrived at my parents' house, his skin was bright red and covered in white lumps. I left Flynn with my mum and rushed Rory to hospital, which thankfully is only a two minute drive away.
At the hospital they saw him straight away, gave him cortisone and an antihistamine, and covered his torso with damp flannels. The medications zonked him out and he slept for a while in the emergency department. Eventually the rash subsided and we were allowed to leave.
The carrot cake had walnuts in it! Rory is allergic to pretty much all nuts.
He is fine and I am fine, albeit quite drained. It was a hectic end to a busy couple of weeks. We ended up having to go home early because my mum was sick.
The point of this post is not to beat myself up for making a mistake, because all parents are human and we stuff up from time to time. I'm just thankful he's not anaphylactic. Kids are forgiving, but some fellow parents tend not to be. Whereas once parents comiserated with each other when hearing about how someone else's child broke their arm climbing a tree, or got lost in a shopping centre, now it's all like, "How could you have let that happen? What kind of parent are you?" It's sad. I think it's safe to say most parents are genuinely doing their best and are not the negligent types who leave their kids in the car while they play the pokies.
This is why I haven't posted this story on Facebook.
