Photo: Julie Ferrier Berghaus
A Texas mom wants parents to know thatallergic reactionslook nothing like they do on television — they’re much harder to detect.
Julie Ferrier Berghaus brought her 3-year-old daughter, Maren, in to the hospital for a controlled tree nut challenge — where doctors give her small doses of various nuts to monitor her reaction and check for any allergies. Maren had previously tested positive for allergies to all nuts, but she had since tried a few types “and had no reaction,” Julie tells PEOPLE, so the doctors wanted to double check.
Maren Berghaus.
Doctors gave Maren about one-tenth of a cashew and waited for her reaction. After five minutes she just had itchy ears. That progressed into a stomach ache and itching all over, so doctorsgave her an EpiPen shotand oral Zyrtec, which worked for ten minutes before Maren developed more intense itching and hives all over her body. They gave her a Prednisolone shot, and after another five minutes Maren started coughing, and a nurse confirmed that she was wheezing and had a fast pulse.
“Amazingly, she was still just playing, and just annoyed with the itchy hives!”Julie wrote on Facebook.
But “it all changed moments later,” Julie said, and Maren started blacking out, going in and out of consciousness for ten minutes as doctors gave her various anaphylaxis medications.
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Julie said that she was shocked to see thatan allergic reactionis almost undetectable for a long time.
“It was nothing like we expected to see. It snuck up on us so unexpectedly and quietly,” she wrote. “I expected to see choking, gasping, hear wheezing and see her grabbing at her chest and neck area. I expected the entire ordeal to be very fast and obvious and dramatic. It was actually very silent, and she didn’t show any severe trouble until very late in the game.”
Julie wants other parents — and anyone who ever watches her daughter — to know that theyneed to act quickly to prevent anaphylaxis.
“If she hadn’t already been given meds before she blacked out, I don’t want to think of how severe it could’ve been,” Julie said. “Please if you are one of the people that cares for my child or spends time with her, be careful what you eat around her, what you give her and DON’T be afraid to [use an EpiPen].”
Julie tells PEOPLE that seeing her daughter go through an allergic reaction changedher understanding of allergens.
source: people.com
