So we started our day at the allergists' office.  We were scheduled to do a food trial for my oldest son.  Two and a half hours later and he can eat soy.  Yay!  We started out 6 years ago with a one year old child whose body was so messed up from his allergens that he could not eat any foods.  He was on a formula-only diet for two years.  We thought we were blessed beyond belief when he was able to eat foods at the age of 3.  To imagine him actually eating the foods he was allergic to at that point was beyond anything I considered. 

But, after 6 long years of sacrifice, of being "over protective" and keeping him away from anything that might set back our efforts we have seen even more blessings. This year he regained wheat, barley and now soy.  WOW!  You guys without allergies can eat a lot of fun foods.  Oreo cookies, here we come!  LOL!

However, that's not the strange part of the day.  My day actually wasn't so strange but poor DH- he had a doozey.  He came home from a shopping trip, my birthday gift in his arms and tripped.  The gift kept him from catching himself, so he hit his head on our front door putting a mark on the top of his head and on the door.  Ouch! 

So, though he wasn't fully recovered from his frightening fall, he and I went out to eat.  We had seafood, which is something we eat often.  DH does not, or "did not" I should say, have any allergies.  We come home and he takes some aspirin and a bath to assist his recovery from the fall.  Then he notices that his hands are itchy.  Then he notices that his tongue feels a little funny.  He has a little congestion in his throat and... HIVES!

Now, as an allergy mom I am trained to respond one way.  Two symptoms= epi-pen and ER.  I didn't give him the epi-pen because the hives weren't that big  but I did pack up DH and all three kids and off to the ER we went.  The hospital handled things great and he didn't have to have the epi-pen, just benadryl and steroids.  But all the staff agreed that we did the right thing by coming in (DH did have an epi ready to go in the car and if he'd started coughing or the hives had gotten bigger we would've jabbed him!) 

So now poor DH is either allergic to shellfish or aspirin and will have to get tested to find out which.  I am stunned that my first allergy ER trip was for my spouse and not my child and we are all home for the next few days as DH can't take Benadryl on his job. 

DH has also learned a great deal of empathy today.  He's a very empathetic guy anyway, but he'd never fallen hard or had a severe allergic reaction (I have).  He said of both experiences that they were "scary."   Oh, and since we were there anyway, the ER doc also made sure he got a tetanus shot for his head injury. 

 Very strange day.

ETA: Someone asked about the tetanus shot, so I'll just add a little explanation.  The head wound actually was open- there were two parallel scratches where he'd hit the door frame/brick.  It wasn't anything requiring stitches, but it wasn't just a bruise either.  The door is an exterior door where our cat and others have "marked" and I'm sure there were many other contaminants as well.  Tetanus can be present in dirt and other matter so the doctor offered as a precaution and we accepted.   Who are we to say that the sole reason he had a reaction was because he needed to be there to get that shot?   I am opposed to mandatory vaccination, but not opposed to vaccines themselves.  I was pleased that the doctor even bothered to check his fall injuries since we were there for other reasons.  We actually saw the same physician a year ago when we took my daughter in for severe vomitting and I found her to be very competent.