Happy Anniversary...of sorts

Well, not a typical anniversary but certainly something worth celebrating. It's been one year since we've been in an emergency room! Not that we make a habit of visiting local ERs or have been so often that we ask about the doctors' kids by name or have the vending machine selections memorized or have reserved parking spots...but enough.

The date of this particular trip to the ER stands out because I was across the country. I travel twice a year for my job and this was one of those times. When I called home and there was no answer, I didn't think anything other than Donnie must have been putting Bug to bed or letting Clara out. When my call wasn't returned and it was past Bug's bedtime, I tried again...no answer. Okay, odd but still not a panic. About 30 seconds later a friend called my cell and I was greeted with "Hi Maggie, it's Jen, we're at the ER but everything is fine."

I thought Jen was at the ER with her son so I started to ask about him. Before I could get many words out I learned that the ER visit was for Bug and our friends went with Donnie to the hospital. Donnie and Bug were invited to our friends' house for dinner. They know about Bug's allergies and he ate foods Donnie knew were safe but yet he had some sort of allergic reaction. This was different than previous reactions because in addition to the symptoms we've seen before Bug also had difficulty breathing.

By time I heard what had happened, Bug was back to his lively self at the hospital and the EPI-pen had been used--twice. (The first time Jen accidentally gave the shot to herself while Donnie held Bug...luckily, EPI-pens come as a 2-pack!) Donnie said he was scolded by the ER doctor for using an EPI-pen because, "it made the evidence go away and we now we don't know what caused the reaction."* Did the doctor NOT hear the part about Bug having trouble breathing or the immediate swelling/rash? Sigh.

I told Donnie I could get a flight home in the morning but he assured me that everything was under control and that Bug was fine. I had one more day to work and simply went through the motions. I had already checked out and was on my way back to Bug. Going to the ER is tough but it's certainly not any less painful (no pun intended) when you're 2,500 miles away.

As anniversaries go, this may be only one year and while that theme is paper I'm thinking it's more golden. Here's hoping there are many more...

*We later realized the most likely cause of Bug's reaction was that his burger was cooked on a grill where fish had previously been prepared.