The Injection Lesson

My neighbor's daughter had a soy allergy when she was little.  She knows my son gets, "itchy" as he calls it, from time to time and that foods tend to bother him.  He does have a mild to medium allergy to some ingredients, one of which we discovered early on was egg whites.

His allergies are of the type that he has a skin-based histamine reaction.  That means his skin gets red, he becomes itchy and he scratches.  In the next several days as the food is processed through his system it turns into eczema on his skin.  The good news is, he doesn't have the breathing-related reaction some children have.

But allergies tend to progress and recess when it comes to these types of juvenile immature immune system reactions.  For instance, his egg allergy has diminished drastically, while soy beans will make him redder than a beet in the sunshine if he eats enough of them in a setting.   He loves edamame beans and has eaten them with no ill-effects in the past; but lately, they are enemy number one.

So, back to my neighbor and how she likes to be prepared.  She said if we ever had to give an injection of ephedrine (those epi-pens) that we should have experience doing it.  And then she volunteered her husband's leg.  Her husband, Steven, is of the nicest sort.  He didn't flinch that his wife had just offered for some neighbor to jam a needle into his leg.  He said, sure, that would be fine.

So, two nights ago after the children were in bed, I went next door and gave him an injection of Humira.  He was an excellent patient.  But even so, it was nice to have that experience.  The good news is my son has an "a-type reaction" (which doesn't mean anything to me other than it doesn't involve breathing issues.")  So hopefully I'll never experience it other than this kindly lesson from next door.

The Big Boy Update:  "I do it myself."  Does there really need to be an explanation to this one?  He's hit that age.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  "Pea nup, pea nup"  What she's doing is singing the "clean up" song, which she does a lot when she's cleaning up.  It took me a while to realize that's what she was saying.

Someone Once Said: You can’t thank a person for saving your life.