What's the big deal??

Braxton has a peanut allergy. When he was a little over a year old we had him tested for allergies because he was having a reaction to milk. At the time they tested him for a lot of food and he had a reaction to a lot of them. This winter when we went beck he had grown out of some of his allergies. Milk was better, soy was better, and the egg was a little better. Most food allergies get better over time, most - not peanut. We try really hard to be careful and watch for nuts in things so that Braxton is not exposed because a peanut allergy only gets worse with each exposure and can potentially become life threating. We were given all this information and an epi-pen when he was first diagnosed. Labor Day weekend we went to Texas Road house in Tulsa and Braxton was playing with the peanuts in the floor. Not eating them - just touching and crunching. He starting rubbing his eye and starting swelling. Uncle Brent was there and came to our rescue by running to get some Benadryl, within 30 minutes of taking it the swelling was gone and we were back to normal. When I told the allergist about the reaction he said that it was a true reaction and that he was allergic to peanuts and that we needed to keep him away (sometimes the initial test can be a false positive). So I keep Benadryl in the diaper bag all the time. Well Tuesday night was were ready for bed and I was feeding Brayson and our house got quite - I called for the boys to see what they were into - it was just too quite. Braxton comes running in with a red streak on his face. I asked him what they had been into and after a minute he tells me that he found some M&M's in the bottom if the diaper bag that was in the floor. Andy and Karl came in about that time from the A&M vs. ISU game (our Aggies won Big) and Andy brought him in - his eyes were starting to swell, so we gave him some Benadryl. 30 minutes later the swelling had not gone down at all. In the mean time we had washed his face, given him a bath, and were trying real hard to keep him awake. I called my friend (and doctor) Michelle for suggestions - Take him in was the advice. I kept asking Braxton if he could breathe and he said yes, but at the same time I was wondering if a 3 year old could understand just what I was asking. I kept putting off using the epi-pen in hopes that the Benadryl would work like it always had in the past. After much debate we went to the ER. Any stayed with the boys and Karl went with me. After a few doses of some anti-histamines and some steroids and much waiting we came home - 2am. Braxton was exhausted and ready for bed. That is where he went to bed; they said at the ER he should be okay on meds till 6am. He was up at 7 ready to go. What caused all this adventure?? Peanuts?? NO I had a package of cashews in the diaper bag. They had been opened and also spilled in the bottom of the bag. The cashews and M & M's had come in contact with each other. He did not eat the cashews only a few M&M's and had been rubbing his eyes. It was an adventure and one I do not care to repeat any time soon. Here are some pictures of my poor kid in pain, but I wanted everyone to see just what happened.

Initial reaction - this is what he looked like just 10 minutes after eating the M&M

Wanting dad to hold him

A few spots starting to show on his chest

The next morning

Still had a lot of swelling.
It has been 3 days and there is still some swelling and redness but MUCH better, oh and while we were there in the middle of a 10 inch snow storm we found out he has an ear infection as well.
Things are getting better - the lesson in this post is DO NOT GIVE BRAXTON ANYTHING WITH NUTS!!!
Mom learned her lesson.