Banana Allergy – A Personal Story

Well, Ethan made it to a year we can be proud of that. He made a year of hardly ever being sick and never needing to make extra trips to the doctor. Even the doctor has commented on how healthy Ethan is and how he never sees us. Until yesterday. At 9 in the morning, I was carting everyone off to an emergency trip to the pediatrician after Ethan ate peanut butter.

At 7 in the morning, I decided (trust me, the guilt is unbelivable) to give Ethan a piece of toast with no more than a thin layer of peanut butter on it. He took the first bite and ate it. The second bite was chewed and spit out and the third bite wasn’t a hit at all. By this point, I noticed what seemed like a rash on his chin. Then he started to sneeze and scratch his eyes. I started to panic a little and watch his breathing. I pretty much sat on the phone waiting to call 911 if necessary. I took the peanut butter away and tried to get him to drink some milk. I took him out of his highchair and called an emergency nurse line. They said he would probably be fine but that I should call his doctor. Right after got off the phone, Ethan vomited. I put Ethan in the bath and noticed some small spots on his chest and behind his ear. Then he had two large bowel movements in the tub.

After cleaning him up, he looked much better but after speaking to someone at the doctor’s office we were off for our visit. Once there, Ethan was completely fine but I had taken pictures to show the doctor what he had looked like and the diagnosis was given. Ethan has an allergy to peanuts. In addition, I told the doctor about Ethan always throwing up four times whgen he eats bananas (we thought this was funny and that he had a huge dislike of bananas). The doctor thinks he’s allergic to those as well and says that he’s probably also allergic to latex since a banana allergy and a latex allergy often go hand-in-hand. Ethan had a blood test to see if he has any other food allergies. We should find out what that test says in the next few days.

For now, Ethan is great. He’s not eating peanut butter and we have removed all penaut products or items made on a peanut line from the house. He now has an epi-pen so any body who watches him has to learn how to use it but hopefully we’ll never need to use it.

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