A Very Expensive Biscuit

As I was stuck for gift ideas for Mr Chic's Dad, I thought it would be nice to get the boys to make some bikkies. As FIL is diabetic I thought nuts on the top would be better than chocolate freckles or choc-chips. The boys were good helpers and were enthusiastically making the cookie dough with me and rolling the dough into balls and squashing them down on the oven trays. Then they put a pecan into the top of every biscuit - they looked great. Both boys had a couple of pecans along the way. Rowdy held his neck and was a bit distressed and said "Mum, the nut made me sick". I got him a drink of water, figuring the outside of the pecan probably got caught in his throat, as they do.

He went off and played with Crash for a while as the bikkies were baking but kept complaining about his throat. We opened a packet of cheezels, which he had fun sticking on his fingers and he probably ate half the packet. As he was eating, I noticed his eyelid going red and a bit bumpy. Within 10 minutes both eyelids were red and swollen and had raised bumps. Around his lips were going that way too. I gave him a dose of Aerius - thinking he may have an allergy and it could be hives. He was still pretty miserable and pointing to his throat so after Mr Chic phoned a nurse who lives in our street, we decided to take him to hospital.

The hospital were great and they took us straight in and kept him under observation while we waited for a doctor. By the time we saw a doctor (which didn't take long), I could tell that he was already recovering as the swelling was coming down and he was giggling and being cheeky again. Shortly after seeing the doctor we were allowed to go home.

The bizarre thing is Rowdy eats peanuts, he has peanut butter sandwiches and has never had a problem. But quite obviously he's allergic to pecans. Bizarre. If that is all he's allergic to then that will be very easy to control. But it changes everything. I've never ever worried before about what my kids eat "nah, they're right, they can eat anything". Now all that's changed and the thought of him trying something new is enough to put me in a panic attack. Thankfully he's old enough now that he can tell us when something is wrong.

waiting to see the doctor

Just after we'd seen the doctor - yeah I think he's going to be fine