My last post was about anaphylaxis and how I can't always avoid my triggers.
Case in point...Recess. Recess is everyone's favorite time of day! It has been an unusually hot Spring, but we like to get our kindergarteners outside as much as we can. To help me tolerate the heat I've been sitting under a golf umbrella. It's probably a pretty funny sight. And it is a good way to make friends with sweaty, hot kindergarteners looking for shade.
Last Thursday seemed like a normal recess day. Lots of yelling, running, dancing, and playing!! Until someone took out their anger out on another K friend. This resulted in my teaching BFF, a fellow teacher (#whoalwayshasthebesthashtags), and myself trying to get the student to the office. I'll spare you the details, but it involved a bit of running. After the situation had been dealt with, we resumed our recess. Our kids have PE about 15 minutes after recess. They were in the gym and it was finally time for a bathroom break for me (#teacherprobs). I take two doses of my antihistamines in the afternoon and I was beginning to feel like it was time to take them.
Then it happened. The cough. The cough is never good. It got really bad, really fast. I was coughing/choking while walking back down the hall to my classroom. I dug out my afternoon meds and chugged some Benadryl without even bothering to measure it. I've had bad reactions like this before, but I've always been at home. It was even scarier not being at home. I knew my mom was on lunch so I called her to let her know what was going on and how I was feeling. It took all my strength not to burst into tears when I heard her voice. But crying always makes it worse and I couldn't risk that. I grabbed my epipen and headed for the office. Coughing and getting more anxious by the minute. As I walked past my teaching BFF's classroom, she knew something was up and followed me to the office.
Our school is small and shares a nurse with another school. Thankfully that day, the nurse and another nurse were at our school. They had me lie down and put up my feet. They gave me ice for my neck. Took my BP and pulse. Checked my breathing. I've never had an attack while at the doctor, so I was curious (while still freaking out) about what my stats were. BP was high. Heart rate was high. My shortness of breath was accompanied by some wheezing. They got more ice to cool me down. It was probably the only time the cold, hard school floor came in handy.
It took about 20 mins before my breathing returned to normal as did my BP and heart rate. I returned to find my kids hanging out with my teaching BFF. I knew they were in great hands!
In hind sight and after researching a bit more online, I should've used my epipen when the coughing got bad. I also learned that a reaction can be delayed by a half an hour or more. I don't know if it was the heat or the exercise or the outdoor surroundings that caused my reaction. But it was definitely one or more of those things. Which scares me even more. It's only going to get hotter out.
Since my anaphylactic episodes are getting worse and longer in duration, the use of the epipen seems inevitable. It has moved from my meds bag back to my pocket.
In some aspects my CIUA (unicorns) has gotten better and in other ways it's worse. The perfect example of that are these anaphylactic episodes. My immunologist doesn't have any other treatment suggestions for me. So I'm currently looking at contacting the doctor I saw last year at Vanderbilt. I don't know where this search for answers will take me. It has to take me somewhere. Something's gotta give.
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