Tiana's First Anaphylactic Reaction

My daughter, Tia, had a near-death experience at the age of 10 months.
It wasn't from suffocation, or falling, or running into a roadway, it
was because she ate a piece of cheese for the first time. The piece she
ate was not bigger than a thumbtack. My wife, Gillian, and I had no idea
that our daughter could lose her life to a piece of cheese, although we
did suspect the potential of an allergy to dairy. Our oldest son had a
slight allergy to dairy; eating it caused a small rash to appear on his
face.

One morning, while I was at work, Gill gave some small pieces of cheese
to Tia for the first time. She greedily shoveled one piece back and
clearly enjoyed the taste. Gill watched her eat this piece successfully
then turned to tend to the laundry in another room. She took one look
back at Tia as she left the kitchen, and noticed a panicked look in
Tia's eyes.

Tia started to cough and choke.

Gill came closer. Tia's lips were swelling noticeably. Being less than a
year old, Tia wasn't able to communicate what she was feeling, but she
was choking and looked very scared. She threw up and her breath became
laboured and raspy.

My wife was not prepared for this. We owned an Epi-Pen, but had no
training on its use. We thought it was for precaution only and never
expected to use it. Gill, understandably in a state of panic, found the
Epi-Pen, uncapped it and tried to hold Tia steady on the kitchen counter
as she flailed in panic, trying to breath.

As Gill readied herself to inject the medicine into Tia's leg, the
Epi-Pen dispensed it's medicine prematurely, all over the kitchen
counter.

Thankfully, Gill had 911 on the phone, and they had dispatched an
Ambulance.

Gill ran out into the street, holding Tia, waiting for the Ambulance.

An ambulance and fire truck arrived together within minutes and a
paramedic immediately and calmly administered an Epi-Pen. Right away,
there was a noticeable improvement in Tia's breathing. Tia was loaded
into the Ambulance and taken to Peace Arch Hospital. Gill followed with
our two boys.

The Emergency staff at the hospital administered additional medication
and monitored Tia closely. Gill phoned me from the hospital and I
immediately made my way to the hospital.

When I arrived, the state of my daughter was shocking. To me, she looked
as if she had been beaten senseless by a gang with bats. Her body was
red and swollen to strange proportions. Her eyes could barely open, her
lips were 3 times their normal size and her tongue was so swollen that
it couldn't fit in her mouth. This was about 45 minutes after she had
first eaten the cheese, and about 30 minutes after being medicated.

I came into the treatment room and held my Tia, allowing Gill to let go
for the first time. My wife found a private spot and sobbed, for the
first time relinquishing control to her emotions.

We were told later that Tia had been within 10 minutes of dying.

When I think back to that day, I am so thankful that my wife was there
to take care of our daughter: Gill saved Tia's life.

There's only a few people who can say that they have saved a life - I
know that I cannot. I truly believe that Gill is one of those that can
say this. Without her actions, noticing the reaction, and calling 911,
Tia would not be with us today. Obviously, we owe the paramedics and
hospital staff many thanks as well.

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Our Princess is complicated... (and not just because she's a girl)

Tia has many food allergies (see the complete list on the side bar), and that's complicated enough, as anyone who has multiple food allergies or cares about someone who has multiple food allergies knows. It is not easy navigating the modern world with food allergies. (Something tells me that the olden days, with straight forward, unmodified, non-processed foods would be so much easier.) Now, I'm not trying to one-up anyone, but unfortunately for us, our daughter has an added layer of complexity. She was born with a birth defect with a fancy-schmancy medical name which I will not attempt to butcher here, that caused her small intestine and large intestine to be disconnected.

Needless to say, this was weird.

She had 2 operations by the time she was 3 months old to correct this. But at that point, she was all hooked up like a perfectly normal person, and we thought the bad dream was over.

You ever watch those movies where, just when you think the bad guy is officially dead... HE JUMPS UP AND TRIES TO STRANGLE YOU!!! Well, not you directly, but you vicariously through the actress playing the damsel in distress.

6 weeks after the last operation that gave us a normal healthy daughter, she had a blockage in her intestine that prevented food from moving through.

Back to the Operating Room. Third operation in 4 months.

Needless to say, we were tired.

But, this time, they connected the small intestine to the large in a new and improved way which should prevent a future blockage from ever occurring.

You ever watch those movies where, just when the bad guy is officially dead for the second time... HIS EVEN MORE EVIL TWIN BROTHER JUMPS OUT OF THE CLOSET AND TRIES TO STRANGLE YOU!!

When Tia was 4 1/2 years old, 4 years after her last operation, she suffered another blockage in her intestine. This one was serious - there was another emergency operation and they had to remove 90cm of intestine that had died. By the way (BTW for you texters), 90cm is approximately 3 feet, or one yard.

Needless to say, holy shit!

So, to point out the obvious, losing 3 feet of intestine (roughly 1/3 of her small bowel) means there are ongoing digestive issues. Layer this on top of the allergy problems, and hopefully you get a sense of the complication we deal with every day.

Please don't think that I'm whining, or whinging, or playing the poor me card. I know that there are kids out there that are significantly worse off, and parents who deal with or have dealt with far worse situations. I feel lucky every day that Tia is with us, that she's basically healthy, that she will be able to live a full and complete life (as full as life can be without ice cream, anyway).

My main point, and the reason we started this blog, is that we have learned so much about the two conditions we deal with, that we thought we should share this with anyone interested.

Secondly, we know that, despite how much we have learned, there's so much more to know. There are so many unanswered questions. Questions that the experts, doctors, nutritionists, dietitians, allergists, Ouija boards, can't answer. Questions that only experience can answer.

Hopefully this is the start of something.