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I Nearly Lost You There
2003-10-11 - 8:17 p.m.

It was the scariest 24hours of my life. Last night, I nearly lost my son. It was one of those freak incidents you hear about that happened to someone else's kid and you think, "Geez, that poor kid". But this time it was my son. Thankfully, my instincts were tuned in a little so I didn't hesitate. That saved his life.

It started with Glen and I going shopping yesterday to buy screws and bolts in hopes of getting the sattelite dish mounted and running. When we pulled down the driveway I saw Dylan running by giving us a grin and a wave as he chased the other boys through the other yards. I smiled and waved back. I went into the house and started putting jars of food up and trying to decide what would be for dinner. Glen popped his head in the door and said, "Want me to get Dylan?" and I told him to go ahead and call him because he'd need to wash up for dinner. About 5 minutes later he came in crying hysterically and holding his head. I heard him ask Glen, "Where's Mom?" the rest was something about his head but he was crying so hard I couldn't understand. I knew in times like this I needed to remain calm in order to help him so I walked up and asked "Dylan, whats wrong, baby?" and I shhhed so he wouldnt cry so hard. He said he was stung twice in the head by a bee and then he cried harder. I touched his head and said, "It's OK, hold still and I'll have a look." I felt something MOVE in his hair and I started to say "there's somethi..." but he ran out the door screaming and thrashing his hair. When I reached him the insect was gone. I took him by the hand and walked him upstairs trying to calm him. He wanted to wet his head so I told him to go ahead while I got out the Sting-EEZ. He'd been stung before so he knew the drill. I sat down and put his head in my lap since the pain was in the back. I searched for a lump or stinger but I couldn't see anything. It was hard to tell. I put the medicine on the spots he said hurt. I lifted his head up to ask him, "All better?". That's when I noticed white bumps flaring up on his face. I thought, "well that's a new one." I've seen and had hives myself, so, I thought he probably just has hives from all the fear. At any rate I took him over to the neighbors house. She just happens to be the Embassys registered nurse. She looked at him and told me it looked like hives and sent her daughter to fetch some Benedryl. We gave it to him and I was talking to her for a few minutes instead of just going home. Normally, I would've just walked him home and told him to lay down and let the Benedryl kick in. But, last night I lingered there an extra 5 minutes. During that time, his nose started to swell and I thought that was odd. The nurse, Mary, told me I might want to take him to a hospital for some steroids maybe. But she didnt see it as immediate and I didn't either. I mean why would I? But for some reason I didn't even wait to walk him up to our house. I called Glen and told him to drive down and pick us up. Dylan ran and jumped in the car, still seeming OK. It was a 20 minute drive to the only place we knew to go to.

On the way, Dylan started scratching and saying his neck was itching and his head hurt. I figured it hurt of course, because he got stung. I told him to hold tight because we would get to the doctors soon. The only thing he was really worried about was wether he'd get to play baseball the next day because he had a game. I told him if he felt better then sure, he could play.

When we pulled into the entrance area and he got out I was in shock. His eyelids were so swollen out they were nearly shut and his nose seemed huge. He had white patches around his face but mostly hives the size of dimes covering every inch of his face, neck, shoulders, back, and arms. My poor baby, my little boy, looked monsterish. People stopped and stare as we walked in. I asked if anyone Spreckin Sie English and luckily, they did speak enough. I told them my son needed help and he was stung by bees. They handed me a sheet of paper. All I wrote was my name address and phone number. Glen came in with and did the rest. Dylan said his stomach hurt really bad and he sat down. A doctor walked in and he stood up. Suddenly he started to panic and cry, "I can't see! I can't see" and I noticed the white patches were greenish and he was about to fall on the floor. He started rolling his head and I said, "My God he's going into shock!"

The nurses and doctors rushed around him, put him in a wheelchair and we all rushed upstairs. It's a Privat Klinik so we didnt have to deal with the typical ER we are accustomed to.

The nurses kept tapping his cheek and speaking to him trying to keep him with us. His blood pressure was 80/60 and dropping. They stuck an IV in and injected him with a large quantity of something. They kept speaking German. I kept asking, "is he OK? Is he OK?" And they would nod. Another Doctor told me he would have to stay over night and he was placed in a room with a 30-something Austrian who didn't speak a word of English. They hovered around Dylan putting up bags of saline and checking his heart and blood pressure. I wanted to crawl up beside him but I couldn't. His nose swelled closed and he couldn't breath out of it. And I was silently praying he'd be all right.

I couldn't stay the night so I stayed until I was sure he was OK and he had eaten and fell asleep. I helped him eat. I saw my boy shrink down into a little hazel eyed two-year-old. The man in the next bed saw my fear and told the nurse he would look after our son for us. She relayed the message to us. I thought, how kind. He kept looking at me with those large hazel-green eyes and swollen face and he tried to smile. I put my arms around him and held him. He layed down then and I stroked his hair until he was ready to fall asleep. Then we turned out the light and left.

I didn't know how I'd get to sleep. I came home and called my mom. I called Dylans coach to let him know Dylan would'nt make it to the game and I let him know what happened.

Then, when Emi and Kelly were in bed, I poured a huge glass of Jim Beam and diet coke. I sucked it down and prayed the same thing, over and over again. "Please God watch over my son, please don't let anything happen to him. Please God, I don't want to lose my son." I didn't know that during that time the medication was working on him and he was already half-way out of the woods.

When I woke up this morning I got dressed and got everyone ready to go. We headed up to the hospital and Dylan was sitting up, happy to see us. I knew he'd be bored. His face looked good. Other than a dark dicoloration on both eyelids and the surrounding area. He told us how bored he was and how he saw faces in the chandelier. You know, like cloud watching, only no clouds. His hair was a mess and his socks were dirty but he was OK. I breathed a sigh of relief. He asked if we missed him and in unision we said "Yea we missed him alot." the house wasn't the same without him. Even the cat behaved weird.

We got the report back from the doctor. The allergic reaction was so severe that had I have waited even 30 minutes longer to bring him there, he would not be with us now. I get chills at the thought. He will have to get an EpiPen and keep it with him everytime he is out as a safety procaution. As well as Steroids and blockers here at the house. Playing outdoors has suddenly taken on a whole new meaning. It's a depressing thought.

My son can drive me crazy. He hates doing chores, forgets to bathe, hates schoolwork, and sneaks chips. He can be very sensitive and moody and always has to get the last word in. He makes way too many poop jokes and has the personality of a comedian and a jokester. His grades aren't the best and his pants always seem to drop down under his belly. He can never keep his shoes tied and he is usually the loudest kid in the group. He is also very caring and loving. He is the first to stand between two fighting boys attempting to break it up. He tells his teammates, "I believe in you". He is ready to help anyone in need if he can. He still hugs and kisses me in public. His room is always cleaner than his big sisters. He plays and wrestles with his little sister. Even though he's only 9 he has me fix his hair with gel in the mornings as he cocks his fingers up and winks telling me its "for the ladies". He is my only son. He drives me crazy but I would be so lost without him.

Today, his coach came by. The Giants won the game 9 to 4. All the boys signed a ball and the coach brought it to Dylan. He was so proud and felt so loved in that moment. He was smiling so broadly and his face was glowing. He looked at his ball and said, "I'm going to keep this forever" I told him, "You do that Dylan, you do that".

Don't ever think these things only happen to other kids. My son wasn't allergic to bees before but since he got multiple stings to the head and neck by several bees his body couldn't fight it. One of those freak incidents you don't think about. He had a guardian angel who must have been nudging me along,too. One thing for sure, the little things about him that make me crazy are just that, little things. I am just grateful that I can hug him and see him smile another day, dirty face and all.

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