the enemies.this is the first of several posts about PANDAS and why it is evil. this is a long story, and unlike the paint chips one it actually has a beginning, a middle and (hopefully soon) an end. to set the scene, let us go back a few months...to october 2006...to gus' second worst day ever.
the day started off badly--gus wouldn't get dressed for school, wouldn't eat breakfast, and was just all around being difficult. he got to school late, which drives him crazy, so he ran from where i dropped him off to his classroom. as he got to the door he stumbled a little and hit his head on the adobe door frame. he went in the classroom, totally dazed, and his teacher sent him right off to the nurse, who in turn called me to come and get him because he was so nauseated and confused. i picked him up, took him to the doctor; she diagnosed him with a mild concussion and suggested that since he was there he should go ahead and get a flu shot.
he got the shot and we left as soon as he was done and got in the car to go to taco cabana next door for some lunch. while we were in line at the drive thru, gus started complaining that his arm was red. my best-mom-ever reaction was to tell him that everyone's arm is red at the site of an injection after they get a shot and to just get over it (i was a little frustrated at how the day was progressing). twenty minutes later we got home, sat down to eat lunch, and i looked at him: he was broken out in hives, head to toe. his arm was indeed red. and splotchy. and itchy. and then he said his tongue felt big and his sinuses were feeling swollen... i loaded gus up with benadryl, grabbed sophie and off we headed to the emergency room. 2 1/2 hours later we still had not seen a doctor (we saw a triage nurse for about 30 seconds when we got there) and we were sitting in a 6 x 15 foot room with more than a dozen other people. it was hell for everyone, especially because i was adding a screaming sophie to the environment. i was also adding an exposed me because sophie had to eat. gus learned a lot about human interactions that day...
rich eventually showed up after his clinic across town was over and saved us. he got him an epi-pen to keep on hand; gus stayed on a high dose of benadryl for about a week and amazingly was able to go to school and function (i would have been comatose on that much benadryl). now this is the important part: gus asked me once, maybe twice, throughout this whole ordeal if he was going to be okay. of course, thank god, he was.
fast forward to a few weeks ago, and join me tomorrow for part two...
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