At 10:11 AM 6/15/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi Everyone.  My son, almost 9 had a food allergy reaction at day care
>this past week....He described his reaction as a balloon filling up with
air >in his throat.  He also ended up figuring out what he ate (a chicken
>nugget with cheese)....Next his teachers were unsure of what was
>happening, but he used Epi-pen because he wanted the reaction to go >away.
        Hi Paula.  WOW!  How are your nerves after all of that?  Paula, the
NEAT thing about all of this is that your son knew better than anyone
else... the teachers, the ambulance service, and all of that other
protection from adults that was in place (thankfully!) what to do.  He knew
he was in trouble and he knew what to do.  That's GREAT!  Mistakes are
scary, but it is nice to know that when they do happen the one who needs to
be calm and know how to handle the situation WILL...and when that is a 9
year old it is even more wonderful.  What method have you used to teach him
what to do?  I've seen adults panic and not do what they need to do when it
was happening to them -- I know from my own experience, panic equals less
oxygen and that is the last thing anyone in anaphylatic shock wants to
do..the key to making it through is NOT to panic and to communicate the need
for help as rapidly as possible (even better that you son was able to help
himself!)  GOOD FOR HIM!!! :)

>Please remember it only takes a small bite, and it happens very very fast.
        Yes it does happen fast and unfortunately what makes it worse is
that it is TOO easy to forget what the offending foods taste like after a
few years of not consuming them.  The last time I personally made a mistake
and ended up in the ER paying for it....I was unaware completely of what I
was eating (though I had asked) because I didn't recognize the taste!  That
still surprises me to realize the complete truth to it--I could have
lessened the reaction by not eating what I couldn't figure out "what is that
taste"--it may be a good thing to teach children too...when eating foods
that mom or dad didn't prepare for you do not eat what does't taste
familiar...and possibly even spit it out if you taste something really
unfamiliar (in the nicest way possible, of course)..the spitting method, if
done discretely, is a good alternative if you realize mid-bite (before
swallowing) that you have consumed something in error.  A good reminder that
the longer we go without tasting the offending food(s) the easier it is to
forget what they truly taste like.  So that IF we get one bite, we may not
know to stop.  Especially in younger kids who may have not tasted items
prepared with their food allergen very often---it is an easy mistake to
make....all the more reason to have the safe guards you mentioned in place!
Thanks for sharing your story.

Dawn
:) :) :)