A young girl recounts the time when her little sister, who has serious allergies, nearly died after accidentally ingesting peanuts.
For the uninformed, anaphylactic shock is an overwhelming, severe allergic reaction to a substance ingested or inhaled by a person; and the person can become extremely sick in a matter of a few minutes. If help isn't given immediately, the allergic person can die in just minutes. It is critical to get help IMMEDIATELY if the severely allergic person is to have ANY chance of overcoming the overwhelming reaction.
I will never forget the time my little sister, Ronee', nearly died. She had an allergic reaction after eating some oatmeal cookies, and she nearly died.
She was seven then. She had come home from a birthday party for a friend, and the friend's mother had made some oatmeal cookies. Well, Ronee' decided that they smelled so good, so she decided to try one.
BIG mistake. (She is allergic to peanuts; and before mom could ask her if there were peanuts in there she had stuffed the cookie into her mouth and quickly chewed it up and swallowed it.) She should have known better and left the cookie alone.
Not even 30 seconds later, Ronee' started getting a tight feeling in her chest, and she started wheezing as her airway became constricted; and she soon started gasping for air. We knew she was in serious trouble; and mom had me call for an ambulance, as Ronee' was turning bluer and bluer by the minute.
By the time the ambulance had arrived, Ronee' was not moving, and she lay on the ground in a little heap, her eyes closed. It scared the heck out of all of us; and when the paramedics got to her, she was discovered to not be breathing.
"QUICK! Get an airway, pediatric-sized!" the paramedic barked at her partner. "The kid's cyanotic, and she is apneic! She is NOT breathing!"
Soon, the paramedics were working on my little sister, breathing for her by squeezing a bag attached to the breathing tube every few seconds, and checking her pulse every few minutes. They also attached EKG leads to her now-exposed chest, and they started an I.V. line in one arm. From the looks on their faces, we knew that she was in trouble and that she needed to be taken to the hospital as quickly as possible. Besides not breathing on her own, the child also had dangerously low blood pressure, and she had big, ugly hives popped out all over her body. She looked awful.
Not even after a few minutes after they had gotten to our house, Ronee' was placed onto a waiting rolling stretcher, covered with a blanket and strapped into place, and was then loaded up quickly into the rear of the ambulance. The ambulance then sped off towards the hospital, lights and sirens going full tilt.
At the hospital, Ronee' was quickly taken to a table, and she was hooked up to all sorts of lines and monitoring equipment; and she was still being "bagged" (manually breathing for a patient by squeezing a small rubber bag attached to a tube). But then she managed to let out an audible gasp; and she shakily took her first breath since having the attack; and the tense mood in the E.R. suddenly dissapated. She was then checked; and her vital signs were now starting to return to normal. She was coming out of the anaphylaxis attack (thanks to a lifesaving team effort of the paramedics and the E.R. staff). Ronee' had survived yet another breathing crisis.
Ronee' doesn't remember the above incident (THANK GOD), but boy, I sure do! There is nothing like seeing your sister (or brother, or whomever) in dire straits, and there is nothing more terrifying than to see paramedics working hard to try to save that person's life. But her life WAS spared, and it was just one of many times where she cheated death. She was a fighter, and she had beaten the odds.
Leave it to my little sister to scare us like she did! :(
very well written story, karen, about a life threatening condition...maybe ronee' should watch what she puts in her mouth! LOL (((HUGS))) and love, karla. :)
Reviewed by Michelle Kidwell
3/20/2003
This was another terrific though heartbreaking write!
God Bless
~Michelle~
Reviewed by Tony Nerone
3/20/2003
Dear Karen, A someone with lung disease, I can vision the horror on all of you. To me who suffers also from heart disease, diabetes, and chronic depression. Nothing is like the horror, when you cannot breath. It saddens me to read this about a child.
Good job on the writing end, Karen.
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I will never forget the time my little sister, Ronee', nearly died. She had an allergic reaction after eating some oatmeal cookies, and she nearly died.
