Wow! I just watched this video on YouTube, and am somewhat speechless. It's part of the The Anaphylactic Allergy Podcast Series (104) and features a high school student that had no history of a peanut allergy until age 15 when she got sick just walking into a Thai restaurant and smelling peanuts. She's had numerous reactions requiring the administration of an EpiPen. When she does come in contact with peanuts or the smell of peanuts, her lips swell to the point they crack and bleed and her face swells so that it peels. Swelling in her throat follows sometimes causing her to black out.
A standing ovation should go to the Palos Verdes High School administration for requiring a peanut free school in order to keep her safe. They even went so far as to require all of the students in her classes to sign a statement that they understood that there was to be severe repercussions if they brought peanuts to school. Instead of protesting, the students took this teenager's safety to heart and did everything they could to look out for her. It can work! Maybe the school in Florida where parents were asking that the 1st grader with the severe peanut allergy be removed from school should take notes!
Showing posts with label anaphylactic reaction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anaphylactic reaction. Show all posts
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
High School Freshman in Coma
A 14 year old, high school freshman girl is in a coma after going into anaphylactic shock. The coma is a result of delayed CPR and an extended period of time without oxygen flowing to her brain. There are plans later this week for her to undergo surgery so that a feeding tube can be inserted.
Apparently, she was hanging out with some friends after school and they were eating Kellogg's Crunchy Nut cereal for a snack. The words "peanut" or "nutty" appear about 20 times on the cereal box. She did know the severity of her allergy. There is no mention of an epinephrine pen anywhere in the article. Her dad mentions that Benadryl had worked on past minor allergic episodes to MSG and preservatives. Here's the link if you'd like to read the full story and see the Fox News video clip interviewing the girls father.
I really don't know how to comment. It's a very tragic tale that brings up more questions than answers. I can say this though. It's a perfect example of one of the main reasons that my husband and I decided to pursue the peanut clinical trial at Duke, and why we're putting Abigail as well as our family through repeated 290 mile round trips to the Duke Clinical Research Unit, multiple blood and skin tests and a daily regiment of drops for 3 years. We were very concerned of what would happen when our very strong-willed, opinionated daughter reached the pre-teen and teenage years and was no longer under the constant supervision of either ourselves or another adult. My husband agrees. Ironically, when I told him about this girl in Phoenix and the tragedy, his first comment was, "that's why we are in the clinical trial." What a blessing this trial is for our family, and we pray that the results bless many in return.
A mom wrote on a food allergy message board that she trains all of her teenage daughter's close friends on the signs of an allergic reaction and the administration of an EpiPen. Prior to letting her daughter go anywhere with her friends, she makes sure that they are all aware of where the EpiPen is and asks that they make sure it doesn't get left behind in the car. What a great tip.
In the meantime, we need to keep this young girl and her family in our prayers. I can't imagine what they must be going through or how much they are suffering.
Apparently, she was hanging out with some friends after school and they were eating Kellogg's Crunchy Nut cereal for a snack. The words "peanut" or "nutty" appear about 20 times on the cereal box. She did know the severity of her allergy. There is no mention of an epinephrine pen anywhere in the article. Her dad mentions that Benadryl had worked on past minor allergic episodes to MSG and preservatives. Here's the link if you'd like to read the full story and see the Fox News video clip interviewing the girls father.I really don't know how to comment. It's a very tragic tale that brings up more questions than answers. I can say this though. It's a perfect example of one of the main reasons that my husband and I decided to pursue the peanut clinical trial at Duke, and why we're putting Abigail as well as our family through repeated 290 mile round trips to the Duke Clinical Research Unit, multiple blood and skin tests and a daily regiment of drops for 3 years. We were very concerned of what would happen when our very strong-willed, opinionated daughter reached the pre-teen and teenage years and was no longer under the constant supervision of either ourselves or another adult. My husband agrees. Ironically, when I told him about this girl in Phoenix and the tragedy, his first comment was, "that's why we are in the clinical trial." What a blessing this trial is for our family, and we pray that the results bless many in return.
A mom wrote on a food allergy message board that she trains all of her teenage daughter's close friends on the signs of an allergic reaction and the administration of an EpiPen. Prior to letting her daughter go anywhere with her friends, she makes sure that they are all aware of where the EpiPen is and asks that they make sure it doesn't get left behind in the car. What a great tip.
In the meantime, we need to keep this young girl and her family in our prayers. I can't imagine what they must be going through or how much they are suffering.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Teenage Girl Dies of Anaphylaxis
Friday of last week a 7th grader with a peanut allergy died of anaphylaxis after eating Chinese food served at her class holiday party. I wanted to provide the link to the article in the Chicago Tribune in case you wanted to read the full story. It's really quite tragic, and I know the parents must be suffering. Apparently, the restaurant had been contacted to determine if the food was safe. Evidently, it wasn't, and if I've read the article correctly, the school was unable to inject the child with an EpiPen because there wasn't a health profile on file for her.
As usual, the Comments at the end of the article are infuriating and there appears to already be a lot of blame passing. It's unfortunate that the food was unsafe, but downright horrible that the school could only call 911. Parents, if you haven't taken the opportunity to go to the school and fill out all of the health forms for your food allergic child, please let this be a good reason.
I've been unsuccessful in linking the Peanut Allergy Action Plan that I give to all of Abigail's caregivers, but if you want to e-mail me at peanutallergyfree@gmail.com, I'll e-mail you a blank copy to complete. Also, don't forget to arm the school with antihistamine tablets and EpiPens!
As usual, the Comments at the end of the article are infuriating and there appears to already be a lot of blame passing. It's unfortunate that the food was unsafe, but downright horrible that the school could only call 911. Parents, if you haven't taken the opportunity to go to the school and fill out all of the health forms for your food allergic child, please let this be a good reason.
I've been unsuccessful in linking the Peanut Allergy Action Plan that I give to all of Abigail's caregivers, but if you want to e-mail me at peanutallergyfree@gmail.com, I'll e-mail you a blank copy to complete. Also, don't forget to arm the school with antihistamine tablets and EpiPens!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Not all Sunshine & Roses
There can be a darker side to participating in a peanut clinical trial as a mom in our community recently discovered. We had a "sunshine and roses" food challenge experience, i.e., it was all good. Her and her son....not so much. With her permission, I thought it important that you hear her story. And, don't worry, it's not all doom and gloom.
They had a rough go of it right from the start. Her son was one of the original and unlucky participants in the SLIT trial at Duke that was impacted by a lab snafu and had to re-start the trial. This was after having already driven back and forth for months. She lives a couple of towns over from me, and it's a long drive. I can attest to how horrible it would have been if Abigail had to start over. In her son's case he had been on the placebo drops and would have had to begin again anyway. In my opinion, I think that's somewhat a blessing. I think it would have been even harder to bear if a child had been on the peanut protein and still had to start over. Fortunately, these children were guaranteed that they would receive the peanut protein drops when they re-entered the study. Needing a break, they didn't immediately re-enter and ended up starting back after us. So, with Abigail's food challenge success fresh in her mind, they showed up for their 8 a.m. appointment.
He received the placebo during the morning challenge. During the peanut flour challenge that afternoon, all was going well, and he was showing no clinical signs (rash, hives, runny nose, stomach pains, vomiting, etc.) of a reaction. By the next to the last dose though his mom's gut instinct was kicking in, and she was ready to call it quits. It was that final dose that did it, and her son went into full anaphylaxis. From her account, our doctor and nurses handled the situation fabulously. They gave him Benadryl, and were ready to wait to see if that was enough. Seeing her child the reddest of reds, covered with baby hives and having difficulty breathing, she insisted that they give him an epinephrine injection.
Having made it through all the doses, I can just imagine the shock of seeing the worst of reactions with no signs leading up to that point. Our doctor recorded that he was able to tolerate 8 of the 9 doses. Her question though, and a very valid one, is what if it was a delayed reaction? What if given more time between dose increases, he would have had a reaction at a smaller dosage? Without another food challenge, it's probably impossible to say. And, given her experience, she confirmed that that wasn't going to happen again anytime soon.
Now, for the positive. Bottom line, he was able to consume peanuts, and with a starting IgE number of over 200 that's significant. He probably could even consume enough to eliminate considerable worry about the possibility of cross-contamination. And, more importantly, her son is no worse for the wear! He still takes his drops without worry. Can't say the same for mom. She's a little traumatized over the whole experience and says knowing that after consuming an unknown amount of peanuts, he can go from 0 to 100 without any type of warning had her doubling the amount of Epi Pens they kept on hand. She also feels guilt over having put him in that situation to begin with.
They're sticking with the study. Like us, I think they feel blessed that they do have the opportunity to participate. I know so many of you readers pray for that time when either the end results of these clinical trials are available for you or your children or such time when a clinical trial comes to a location nearby. We do this with the full realization that we're providing our children a different path down life's very difficult journey. Having had to experience an anaphylactic reaction really stinks, and it's not something even our doctors want to have happen. But, in her case, it was part of providing that different path...that path to becoming peanut allergy free!
They had a rough go of it right from the start. Her son was one of the original and unlucky participants in the SLIT trial at Duke that was impacted by a lab snafu and had to re-start the trial. This was after having already driven back and forth for months. She lives a couple of towns over from me, and it's a long drive. I can attest to how horrible it would have been if Abigail had to start over. In her son's case he had been on the placebo drops and would have had to begin again anyway. In my opinion, I think that's somewhat a blessing. I think it would have been even harder to bear if a child had been on the peanut protein and still had to start over. Fortunately, these children were guaranteed that they would receive the peanut protein drops when they re-entered the study. Needing a break, they didn't immediately re-enter and ended up starting back after us. So, with Abigail's food challenge success fresh in her mind, they showed up for their 8 a.m. appointment.
He received the placebo during the morning challenge. During the peanut flour challenge that afternoon, all was going well, and he was showing no clinical signs (rash, hives, runny nose, stomach pains, vomiting, etc.) of a reaction. By the next to the last dose though his mom's gut instinct was kicking in, and she was ready to call it quits. It was that final dose that did it, and her son went into full anaphylaxis. From her account, our doctor and nurses handled the situation fabulously. They gave him Benadryl, and were ready to wait to see if that was enough. Seeing her child the reddest of reds, covered with baby hives and having difficulty breathing, she insisted that they give him an epinephrine injection.
Having made it through all the doses, I can just imagine the shock of seeing the worst of reactions with no signs leading up to that point. Our doctor recorded that he was able to tolerate 8 of the 9 doses. Her question though, and a very valid one, is what if it was a delayed reaction? What if given more time between dose increases, he would have had a reaction at a smaller dosage? Without another food challenge, it's probably impossible to say. And, given her experience, she confirmed that that wasn't going to happen again anytime soon.
Now, for the positive. Bottom line, he was able to consume peanuts, and with a starting IgE number of over 200 that's significant. He probably could even consume enough to eliminate considerable worry about the possibility of cross-contamination. And, more importantly, her son is no worse for the wear! He still takes his drops without worry. Can't say the same for mom. She's a little traumatized over the whole experience and says knowing that after consuming an unknown amount of peanuts, he can go from 0 to 100 without any type of warning had her doubling the amount of Epi Pens they kept on hand. She also feels guilt over having put him in that situation to begin with.
They're sticking with the study. Like us, I think they feel blessed that they do have the opportunity to participate. I know so many of you readers pray for that time when either the end results of these clinical trials are available for you or your children or such time when a clinical trial comes to a location nearby. We do this with the full realization that we're providing our children a different path down life's very difficult journey. Having had to experience an anaphylactic reaction really stinks, and it's not something even our doctors want to have happen. But, in her case, it was part of providing that different path...that path to becoming peanut allergy free!
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