First thing in the morning, Kyle played with Sienna and her new animals she got for Christmas. It's so nice when they get a little playtime in before he heads out for the day. She also got a little snuggle time in with Janie before we left. That poor cat haha. Sienna terrorizes her most of the day and she just takes it.
We went to the Early Years Center in the morning. One of the wonderful things about Kitchener is the countless things to do with your child at little or no cost. The EYC doesn't cost anything so that's huge in my books. It's a drop in time for the kids (and parents). There's tons of toys, crafts and other kids to play with. There are also programs you can either drop in or sign up for. Music, movement, crafting, it's endless really. Celia and I were meeting there at 11. My mom decided she would like to come too...check out what I'd been talking about which was really nice. Sienna had a blast as usual, played like mad and made a craft for Daddy. We had a quick lunch/snack and then Kyle came to pick us up at 12:30. Sienna had her second doctor's appointment of the week, this time to discuss her peanut allergy.
The reaction happened back in May, when she was 18 months old. We had just arrived in Ontario, Kyle was still in Victoria finishing up a movie. My parents took us out to a Vietnamese restaurant and Sienna was playing with chopsticks. She dipped one of her chopsticks in the peanut sauce for the salad rolls and licked it. Less than 5 minutes later she started scratching at her face and neck. Almost immediately a rash appeared that quickly turned into hives. Right from then my mom knew she was having a reaction. I was in denial...how could my little girl who ate anything and everything be allergic to something?? Sienna started to panic, my mom and I grabbed her and drove her to Grand River hospital, about 5 minutes away. By the time we got there she was hysterical, coughing and grabbing her throat. Her cries were very deep from her throat swelling. It was really scary. We ran into the ER and they took us right away. For some reason I was completely calm. It took 3 grown men, 2 nurses and me to hold her down. I had no idea how strong she was. They finally got the drugs in her and she started to calm down. A nurse (I don't remember her name...I wish I did) came to me and looked me in the eyes and said "It's ok...if there's anything you need let me know." For some reason that set me off and I just bawled. I guess the shock had worn off and I had a chance to be upset about what had just happened. We were there until 1am. It was truly the scariest thing I've ever experienced. The fact that Kyle wasn't there made it so much worse, although my mom stayed with us and was wonderful. So were all the nurses and doctors that took care of us. Just amazing really. When the doctor came to talk to us before she was released he said he didn't think they tested children for allergies until 3 now. He then went on to say that once we had our family doctor and were settled to get him or her to refer us to an allergist (and that the wait time was probably close to a year). So yesterday, that appointment finally came. We ended up having a different doctor than before. She was horrible. She had no bedside manner, was very condescending and rude. I won't go into great detail but here's a little snippet of the conversation:
Dr: "So what can I do for you?"
Me: "Well when Sienna was 18 months she had an allergic reaction to peanuts...well what we think was peanuts. She dipped her chopstick in peanut sauce at a Vietnamese restaurant and had an anaphylactic reaction." (I then went on to tell the story and details of the reaction) "We just want to know what to do from here."
Dr: (laughing) "Hahaha. You THINK?? She ate the sauce then had a reaction what is there to THINK about?? Hahaha"
Me: (looking at her blankly) "Uhm...what I meant was that it was a sauce so how can I be sure it was the peanuts? There were all kinds of different ingredients in it"
Ugh. I could've punched her. You'd think since it was such a horrifying experience (which I'm SURE she could imagine) she would've had a little more compassion and understanding than that. Anyway, she talked to me like I was an idiot through the whole appointment. After we left Kyle said "well, we won't be going to her again." Pretty disappointing. There were a few other things she said that I knew weren't true. She didn't offer and information or advice. Definitely rushed us out. We did however, get a referral and are supposed to hear from the specialist within the next 4 weeks. I've dealt with a lot of doctors in my life and I know some are better to deal with than others but its just incredibly disheartening when you experience it. ESPECIALLY when it has to do with your 2 year old child. Hopefully the allergist will be a little more helpful and informative.
On our way home from the doctors 
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