Mar 11, 2010

Uticaria!!!!

A looooooooooong time ago when I was a Medical Assistant working in a family practice office, we had a bunch of Zyrtec drug reps come in. In between shoving patients in exam rooms, they would regal us MA's with the many wonders of this ultra hip medication. One of the uses was for uticaria (the super fancy medical term for hives). When they returned the next day, if we could spout off 3 of those fantastic uses, they would give us a smoothie. Not just any smoothie, this was a protein-packed-mango-berry-tropical-delight-frozen-yogurt-16-ounces-of-heaven from Jamba Juice. You betcha I memorized the clinical uses for Zyrtec, and still know them today! 
So, when Razz broke out into hives after consuming a huge bowlful of salad after refusing her lasagna (What a silly girl! I should count myself lucky it's not the other way around! I mean, who refuses lasagna??!?), I reached for my trusty bottle of Children's Zyrtec Syrup.....only it was empty!!!
 See how bright her lips are? Do you see that hive under her lip?
Need a closer look? Here you go!
AAaauughh! What was I to do!? The stores were long closed and I wasn't taking her to the ER for a teeny tiny hive. Never fear, I grabbed a bottle of adult Zyrtec, a knife, and cut that 10mg pill in half (Disclaimer: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER cut medication in half unless it was designed to be cut in half and you have express permission from your health care provider to do so! Also never give medication to a child that was designed for an adult. I broke a lot of rules here.) We gave Razz a big cup of water, the half pill, and cautioned her not to chew it up. After a couple of tries, she got it down, and none too soon! When she smiled at us I noticed another hive was popping up.
"Uh, Razz, how's your throat?" I asked.
"Kinda itchy!" she replied.
"Well, I don't think we're giving you anymore Italian dressing on your salad." said Mr. CB.
I totally agree with him.
We've know Razz has had some food allergies for a while. Usually her lips just turn bright red, or the, ahem, other end does, but nothing really serious. This hive thing, however, tells me that her allergic reaction is getting more severe. *Sigh* To the doctor's we go for allergy testing!

4 comments:

  1. smart thinking on your part! What a great background to have :) Did Mr. CB give you a smoothie for your troubles ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ooh! I'm sorry to hear she has food allergies! I know from experience they're no fun. Best of luck with the allergy testing! I'm glad her reaction wasn't more severe.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What's with the crazy font? And what do you think Razz is allergic to? And when are you going to finish the love story. You should have an entire story about how much you love your younger sister and how awesome she is! (Who's your favorite Auntie!)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I had hives once...I don't have any idea what for. :S I remember I had a friend spending the night when I had them thought.

    Hope little miss is doing okay!

    ReplyDelete