The Grommersch Family: A Weekend Trip Home...& a Tree Nut Allergy discovered :(

Well we finally made a trip home to Coffeeville a week ago. I think Mom was about to disown me if I didn't get home! We stopped in Oxford on the way home & ate at a new greek restaurant called Volta that was really good. The Blalacks were also home for the weekend so we got to spend some time with Little Warner Man who will be ONE in October! Time flies. Ella thought Baby Warner was pretty cute. We went to the Watermelon Carnival for a short while on Saturday in Water Valley but it was just too hot for us and the babies so we were probably only there about an hour and a half before we came home, cooled off, & got some good naps! Mom cooked dinner for us Sat. night, we attended FBC C'ville on Sunday, & then Tim and I headed back to Collierville while Robbye & Ella stayed a couple of nights w/ Bibby & Dee. Betsy & Mama had cleaned out our playhouse and gotten a new air conditioner for it so the girls had a great time playing. I can remember spending hours up there as a kid playing restaurant & taking care of my baby dolls. I took my camera home and snapped a few shots of the girls while there. Needless to say, Tim & I came back well rested and FULL b/c I think all we do when we are home is eat and sleep! Can't say I am complaining about it too much though ;)

Like I said earlier.....While Tim & I headed home on Sunday afternoon, the girls stayed behind to stay w/ Bibby & Dee for several nights. When we got home, I called to check in and see how they were doing and say goodnight & mom (VERY calmly I might add- she knew me all to well to know that if I could tell that she was worried or upset, I would do the same) said "Ella is kind of breaking out in a rash. I gave her a bath, but it seems to be getting worse. I have already dosed her w/ benadryl." I didn't think too much a/b it and truly wasn't worried knowing Bibby could handle anything- she raised me ok, right? Not quite half an hour later, she called back & said "Is Ella allergic to peanuts?" I of course said no b/c she has had plenty of peanut butter before to know that she has no allergy to it. Mom said "Oh ok, well I didn't realize that the girls had gotten into a jar of cashews that your daddy eats all the time. So, I got scared thinking she might be allergic to peanuts." We hung up & I told mom to take some pics of Ella and send them to me via text message. In the meantime, I googled if you could not be allergic to peanuts but be allergic to cashews.....Sure enough- YOU CAN! A peanut is a legume and grows in the ground & a cashew is a tree nut which obviously means it grows in a tree. Then, I got the pics. When I say Ella was red, she was as red as a tomato- from head to toe, broken out in hives, puffy eyes, and seriously swollen. Mom called back and said she was sneezing and coughing a lot too. She re-dosed her w/ a 2nd syringe of benadryl and finally after about 4 hours, she start to see some relief. I went to bed and told mama to call me if need be. The next morning she called me to say that they were awake and that she looked fine & her coloring was back to normal. Mom then informed me how much it scared her and that she was minutes away from going to the ER. She kept telling me how bad it was. I decided to forward the pics of Ella to our pediatrician Dr. Gieger & before I could finish typing a text to explain what was going on, my phone rang & it was Dr. Gieger calling to see what was going on. Yep, that's right- my pediatrician gave me her cell phone # & called me immediately all the while she wasn't even in the office yet. If you are looking for a pediatrician- River City Pediatrics in E. Memphis is the way to go!!!!!! I can't say enough good a/b them.....Ok back to the food allergy, so to make a long story short, Dr. Geiger referred me to Memphis Asthma & Allergy Group where I saw Dr. Blaiss. I told him the story and showed him the pictures so they did a tree nut test on Ella and sure enough we are severely allergic to tree nuts & an epi pen is our new best friend. It is to go everywhere she goes. We gave one to the babysitter and both sets of grandparents and of course Tim and I will have one on us at any time she is with us. It's definitely a different way of thinking. I am now reading ingredient list on boxes and packages and constantly reading and educating myself on common foods that tree nuts can be found in.....If you were like me, you prob found yourself saying, "What's a tree nut?" Well, it's all the good nuts---almond, walnut, cashew, pistachio, brazil nut, macadamia nut, pecan.....etc...The list is pretty long & it is crazy where you can find these nuts in various foods. So, needless to say-----Mom had a big scare with Ella & Dr. Blaiss even said he doesn't know how the benadryl was able to take care of it b/c she needed an epi pen shot and a trip to the ER- especially w/ the fact of her coughing so much- it was starting to affect her respiratory system!!!!! Mom says the Lord just watched over them- & I truly believe that too! Being the over anal, OCD mother that I am, I have typed up a "How to keep a Tree Nut-Free Diet" document w/ examples of tree nuts, the different extracts they can be found in, common foods to watch for, & how to read an ingredient label correctly and have given copies to her babysitter, grandparents, and taped one on the inside of our pantry. Once Ella is older it won't be as scary b/c she will KNOW that she can't have those type of nuts, but at the age where she has no clue and could get into some food and I might not even know it scares me to death. But, like the doctor said, don't make her out to be special or weird about it, b/c the epi pen is our insurance. Just educate yourself and her as you get older, and she'll be fine. There is a 10-20% chance she can outgrow this so we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Enjoy some pics below of our little "tree nut" & "baby splotchy" (a couple of nicknames that came about after the allergy was found out!).....