I'll just tell y'all real quick a little thing that happened last Friday. A few months ago, I was trying out those Crustables sandwiches on the girls. You know, the pre-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the crusts cut off. I'm not so lazy not to make it myself, but when I'm busy or if we're on the go, they'd be nice to have around. I've given them small bites of my own peanut butter sandwiches before and they seemed to like it. I set a half sandwich on each of their trays and turn back to the counter to cut up some strawberries. I hear them hacking a little, thinking they're fake coughing at each other like they do. I look at them, they're hacking, they're smiling, they wave to me. Then, I notice Harper's eyes seem smaller. And Piper Lee's cheeks are red. Then, they both start rubbing their noses, the hacking subsiding. Both of their eyes are now swollen and both sets of cheeks are red. Huh, well, that's an allergic reaction to something, I s'pose. I call Dad, he says to give them a swig (exactly measured dose) of Benadryl. I do and in about 3 minutes, their symptoms go away. I call the pediatrician and they recommend going to see an allergist. Ugh, another doctor's appointment. So, we go see this allergist...a world-renowned physician who specializes in pediatric asthma and allergies. I'm gonna tell you honestly, she is odd. Very good at her job, but just peculiar.
Anyways. They do a skin scratch test and test them for all kinds of nuts. They react mildly to the peanuts. I tell her I've given them peanut butter, peanut butter crackers, bites of Snickers bars, and other foods that have had peanuts in them before. She said it was common to be allergic to a certain type of peanut butter, but fine with others, but just to avoid peanuts altogether until we knew more. We had to get them little Epi-Pens. Those things are 'spensive.
We went to the children's hospital to have their blood drawn, that was an ordeal, so they could run tests. We went in this past Monday to get the results. Both of their numbers are so low, there's a good chance they'll outgrow the allergy, she said. YAY! Just avoid peanuts until they're 2, then we do a food challenge test (makes it sound like a show on Food Network) and get them used to peanuts. Simple enough. Well, the doc sees a gazillion kid patients a year, some with super severe asthma and allergies, so I'm sure patients start blending together. I had asthma as a baby and the girls had mild cases of it earlier this year when they had gotten sick from Mother's Day Out, but it wasn't a huge deal. We had the breathing machine and we haven't had to use that since March. She kept asking about the girls' asthma, how they were doing with their treatments, how they were doing with their allergy medicine (Benadryl or Zyrtec) and I guess I looked confused because she asked, "Have they not had to take anything?" And I was like, "No, nothing. And we haven't done a breathing treatment since mid-March." So, I guess maybe she thought they were a little more asthmatic/allergic than they were...and she kept using all this terminology that I'm sure someone who knew more about that would understand. But, I had no idea. So, I just kept saying "no" to all of her questions.
Gosh, I'm telling you this whole story to get you to the "punch line" and by the time I get there, y'all will be asleep.
SO...the girls are fine, no big deal, just don't give them peanuts, got it. We're heading out of the office and the doc stops me and says, "There are some S-U-C-K-E-R-S on the counter by the door if you need some for the trip home." I furrowed my brow trying to figure out the anagram. I asked, "Is that like an Epi-Pen?" thinking it was some more medicine jargon. She replied, "No, that's like a sucker." Then, she pointed to a bowl of Dum-Dums on the counter.
Duh.
So, now, she and the nurse probably think I'm an idiot. But wait...joke's on her, right, for thinking an 18-month can spell S-U-C-K-E-R-S. I'm 28 and can't even spell it.
