Bryce Is Home!

Bryce looking out the window of his room-I knew he was feeling better when he scrambled up to take a peek.


After 5 hours in the ER and more than 24 hours in the hospital, Bryce was released after dinner and we came home. We are so relieved he is well and are so thankful for the prayers and support from our friends and family. I, personally, am so thankful for Facebook-it was a great way to spread the need for prayer and to get some much needed cheerleeding and positive statements. It really boosted both Brad and I knowing how much everyone else was praying and supporting our little guy.

His official diagnosis was "not H1N1" as well dehydration, low blood sugar and post-anaphylaxis. He ate well late yesterday while at the hospital, asking for a "baba" (bottle) and then seeing jars of babyfood I ordered in lieu of trusting the food services, he demanded those, as well. Between 1:30pm and 3:30pm yesterday he ate:

8oz bottle
4 oz applesauce
4 oz pears
4 oz MORE applesauce
several bites of carrots
and about 2 more oz bottle.

Then at 5, he took another 8oz bottle. We came home from U of M and he had some french fries, water, and a piece of bologna. He took another 6oz of bottle, had a bath and went to bed at 8. He slept well and is probably about 80% of his normal self. He has quite the hair trigger, has 2 allergic shiners (typical post-reaction look for Bryce) is going for an early nap.

The thing about the H1N1 is that while I'm glad he didn't have it, it's also kind of a bummer that he didn't have it. Once you have it, you won't get it again. Bryce can't have the vaccine (or any flu vaccine) as it's cultured in eggs, so he's unprotected. The flu kills people every year, but as H1N1 seems to be hitting young, healthy folks the hardest, you worry about your kids. We still plan on vaxing everyone BUT Bryce, to give him some herd immunity here at home.

From a food allergy standpoint, this whole thing was very frustrating. It's frustrating that he had a reaction at the doctor's office, it's frustrating that the food services didn't really have good "replacements" for a food-allergic kid, and it's frustrating that the doctor on the floor yesterday afternoon wanted to downplay his reaction at the office and chalk it up as "viral rash.". Right. His reaction was witnessed by a doctor who never ONCE indicated the hives were a sudden outbreak of "viral rash", and it was this same doctor who told me to give him his epi. I think the doctor at the hospital was trying to minimize the fact that Bryce came into airborne contact with something at the doctors office. Ridiculous.

Lessons learned/notes to self:
1) Babies and toddlers go downhill quickly! Watch for dehydration!
2) Keep a stash of emergency items in the car-bottled water, pop (so I have caffeine), energy bars, change of clothes for Bryce, allergy-safe food for Bryce. We know now that he can end up in the hospital at the drop of a hat, and it would be nice to have comfort items from home for both of us.
3) Always question every bit of food coming into your child's room. Even a large teaching hospital like U of M still isn't 100% trained on food allergies.
4) Ask for help & prayers.

Some photos from my cell phone.


Bryce having his reaction at the pediatrician's office.

Bryce in the ER, exhausted, dehydrated, taking a much needed nap.


Bryce perked up a bit, just before bed his first night in the hospital.