Today Emmaline had a challenge for Eggs-in-a-Baked-Good. It went badly. Really badly.
Our test item was a cookie. She started with half of a cookie which contained 1/18 of an egg. That's right - that isn't a typo. That is 1/18. She gobbled up her cookie and ran off to play. A few minutes later she came to sit quietly next to me with a magazine - which I should have taken as a sign right away. In a couple minutes I noticed she was coughing from time to time. A very soft cough - like you have a tickle in your throat. I took a good look at her and saw that maybe her face was a little red - but I rationalized that right before she at the cookie, I had washed her face so maybe it was red from that. Still though, I let the nurse know and she said we would give it a few more minutes and see what happened.
After a few minutes I noticed that she was starting to scratch her throat and cheeks. So I let the nurse know and we were pulled back into an exam room. The doctor listened to her lungs and said she did sound more "wheezy" than she did before we started the challenge. He said we'd wait a bit longer and see what happened next - if anything. So we sat and waited for about 15-20 minutes. She seemed to be doing fine in that time - no change at least. The doctor came back and checked her again, and said we would give it some time again.
As soon as he left, she started to cough. She coughed, and coughed, and coughed, and coughed. Finally I knew that really wasn't right so I ran to get the doctor. He came and listened to her and next thing I know, we were pulled into another room where she was given a shot of Epinephrine (That is what is in an Epi-Pen, but in this case it was a regular shot and not using the emergency Epi-pen). Normally needles don't bother Emmaline at all, but I could tell she was scared and that stressed her out about that shot and she began to cry. Once it was over with though, she calmed down again.
She then was put on a nebulizer for about 10 minutes. When the shot and the nebulizer were both done, then she started to sneeze. She sneezed and sneezed and sneezed. So they gave her some oral medication for that. And in that time she also started to itch. To itch and itch and itch. She was clawing at her stomach and legs. Finally I lifted up her shirt and discovered her torso was covered in hives. I held her hands and tried to help her not to scratch. But then she started using her feet to try and scratch her legs - which led to the discovery of hives on her legs as well. The nurse brought in some cooling anti-itch gel and we rubbed it all over her. It helped for a time - but then the vomit started.
By the time we left the office (6 hours after arriving), she had vomited 5 times in a 4 hour time frame. She napped between vomits but the vomiting was actually a good thing and we were all happy to see it. Vomit meant that the cookies were getting OUT of her system instead of continuing to be absorbed! During one of her vomits, I was holding Lincoln in one hand while holding her barf bucket in the other. While she was throwing up, Lincoln spit up all down my shirt. The nurse and I both busted up laughing - because if you don't laugh at that stuff - then you cry instead.
Her doctor said that most kids if they fail a baked goods challenge, it happens much further along, and he was surprised she failed it on the first test and with only 1/18 of an egg. He was also impressed that she failed in three different body systems.
So basically what we learned today is that without a doubt, eggs will kill her. It is a really scary thought. But As we drove home, I remembered the time we watched a little boy challenging peanuts. He went from tiny cough to ICU within 20 minutes. And you know - Emmaline's reaction was so minor in comparison, which gives us a lot to be thankful for.
Rating: 10 Fireballs
