I really, really need to process tomatoes but they're going to have to wait until tomorrow. I've got absolutely no energy today. I've been fighting an annoying cold (sore throat and post-nasal drip) and didn't sleep well last night. As a result, my tail has been dragging all day. I've got tomatoes staring at me from the counter but I just can't bear to start. So, tomorrow it is. I just hope they keep.
Today, as I was on the way home, V called- not necessarily in a panic, but concerned- asking where the benadryl was. K12 came home all broken out in hives. Fortunately, I keep liquid antihistamines on hand (as well as some tabs) because the liquid absorbs more quickly if you really need it. After some meds and a cool shower, he is feeling better but we still don't know what triggered it. He thinks it was the cooked spinach from lunch yesterday but I'm thinking probably not- he has had spinach before and if by chance there was something on it, I would have thought he would have reacted before this. More likely it was something he had today but he can't think of anything different that he had. He said he had teriyaki beef dippers for lunch today so I'm wondering about MSG (if they use that in school lunches) since I know that can cause reactions. I do know that people can develop allergies to things that have been fine before so who knows. He has never had anything like that happen before so didn't think to mention it to any of his teachers and suffered through the last couple of hours of school all itchy and broken out. I do have to wonder about the observation skills of his teachers since V took one look at him and went running for antihistamines. We gave him the lecture about allergic reactions and how they could be quite dangerous or even life threatening if they got bad enough. I think he was uncomfortable enough that he actually heard us for once. He's still a bit pink around the edges so I'll probably dose him with antihistamines again before I send him off to bed.
In fact, I think I may take something before bed as well as I'm still not feeling quite up to speed. After all... tomorrow is another day... and tomatoes beckon....
Hope you feel better. And K12 too. Allergies can be hard to figure out sometimes. Take care.
ReplyDeleteWe're both feeling much better, thanks.
DeleteI fear I have WAY more experience with allergies than I care to think about. At one point I had hives EVERY DAY for 9 months! The doctors all said it was idiopathic hives and I just had to deal with it. Turned out I was allergic to my shampoo - well that and about a zillion other things, but some ingredient in the shampoo seemed to be the trigger this time around.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow K12 has my sympathies, allergies totally suck! But trust me, if he starts having more severe reactions he'll start taking them more seriously - I don't go anywhere without my epipen! And this is a total shot in the dark, but sesame is the first likely candidate that springs to mind where teriyaki is concerned.
And on the tomato front, I have never tried this but my parents swear by it. Apparently if you're overwhelmed with tomatoes, you can simply wash them, dry them and toss them whole into ziplock bags and then freeze them. When you defrost them the skins reportedly slip right off and they are ready to add to your favorite recipe. I doubt I'll get a big enough harvest this year to have any to put up, but I keep meaning to try it one of these days.
Hang in there, and feel better soon!
Thanks for the ideas. I'd think sesame but he eats things with sesame seeds in/on it and I use sesame oil sometimes when I cook so I'm not thinking that's it.
DeleteAnd I thought about freezing tomatoes- but- LOL, as my blog title indicates- my freezer is full- BOTH of them! I really need to get in and reorganize the veggie freezer because I know that there is some room down there under the baskets but a year of having children add things into the freezer has left it a disaster area.
You may have already done this, but if not, you might want to consider having some allergy skin tests done. Different doctors have different views on them, and they can't give you a 100 percent accurate diagnosis, but when I had mine done it was very eye opening. Most of my allergies tend to cluster around nuts, seeds, seafood, and two plant/herb families. It can't tell me for sure what I'm reacting to, but it really helps give me a starting point to narrow it down as to what the likely culprits may be. At this point it might not be worth the hassle, because some kids outgrow their allergies - adult allergies, on the other hand, tend to get more sensitive as the years progress. Anyhow, just thought I'd toss that out there because I've found it to be very helpful...
DeleteThe other thing is that hives can be triggered by random stuff like cold, pressure, scratching or even exercise. I've got a really weird condition where I have rather minor food allergies, but if I exercise while the food is in my system it can provoke full blown anaphylaxis. Anyhow, you might want to just keep all that in mind when looking at what might have triggered an outbreak and see if any patterns emerge.
Good luck with it - and I totally understand about the full freezer! It seems frozen food expands to fill the space allotted!
Not fun for you all with the hives. Good that you keep Benadryl on hand. I get hives for no reason and I take a 24 hour non-drowsy antihistamine when I feel they are flaring up and it usually knocks them out for days. Hope your cold is much better after a night of sleep.
ReplyDeleteI try to keep a pretty well stocked medicine cabinet on hand for just such emergencies. We did send him off to school on Thursday with some non-drowsy meds on board since he was still looking a bit splotchy. And, yes, I just needed a good night's sleep. The cold/sore throat virus has been making it's rounds on the hospital unit I work on. Blah. It seems too early for that stuff.
DeleteHope you all feel better in the morning. I would call the school and let them know that in case they didn't notice k12 came home covered in hives and should that happen again you would like to be notified immediately. Nicely, of course.
ReplyDeleteLOL.. Nicely, of course!!
DeleteI had a hive incident like that around his age--our Dr. said I may never know what caused it, and it probably would never happen again, and that's what turned out to be the case. I suppose the body overreacts on occasion! Here's hoping that's the case here too :)
ReplyDeletePS: Also--I second the freezing tomatoes. When my counter fruit is getting a little too overripe, I just sauce it all and throw it into the freezer in useful portions for pizza or pasta. Also if it's not too hot I roast them first, which makes almost instant sauce after you run them through a food mill (and it tastes awesome).
DeleteI've had reactions before out of the blue- that's why we keep meds on hand. And I love the term 'counter fruit'. LOL! That's what it is!
DeleteYou ain't go no oomph, honey, because you've been working too hard too long! You need some kind of a rest. But don't we all know that's easy to say but so hard to do when harvest season is hard upon us. As for the tomatoes, why don't you try the 'freezing whole' trick and deal with them later? You need to take care of yourself 'cause you know EVERYTHING will fall apart if you aren't veritcal and operating!!
ReplyDeleteI don't work any harder than you do and you know it, LOL! But I do feel better after a good night's sleep.
Deleteglad he was okay! Hope you both feel better :)
ReplyDelete