Being a parent means responding to all of life's little emergencies: the falls, the bumps, the bug bites.
Part of our job is making sure the emergencies stay small.
Recently, that took on new meaning for my sister-in-law, Lamar.
She called last week after a big scare: Her 2-year-old daughter, Eliana, had a severe allergic reaction.
It didn't seem severe at first: "Mommy, ant bite," Eliana said.
They live north of Dallas, where fire ants are common. Lamar didn't think too much about it, until Eliana's face and hands started to swell.
Lamar called her doctor. A nurse walked Lamar through what to do: two doses of Benadryl. If Eliana sounded hoarse, started drooling or vomiting, then it was time to call 911.
Eliana did all three, and Lamar made the call.
"I kept telling her, it's going to be OK," Lamar says. "I think I was telling myself that, too!"
When the ambulance arrived, Eliana was doing better.
But her body had sent her a message, says Dr. Cliff O'Callahan, a pediatrician based in Middletown.
"A body-wide reaction indicates the next time might be more severe, and you have to prepare," he said.
Worse-case scenario: The body could go into anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction. This is often treated with epinephrine, or an EpiPen.
Eliana will have to keep an EpiPen nearby; she will be allergy-tested to see if there are any other triggers.
"Kids have to live life and have fun," O'Callahan says. "But with significant allergies, you have to modify life and prepare."
We can't protect our kids from everything.
They will fall learning to walk. Tears will fall, and bugs will bite.
But knowledge is power, and it can save your child's life.
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