Pick Me Up! Special – September 2019

Hewas

injected

tobuyus

sometime

e blood tests.’

What if he ate

ething?’ I

ested to Paul,

couldn’t think

ything.

2am, as I slept

o Paulie-

y, he went into

again and

d another shot

enaline.

an’t have been

his time.

hat is causing

cried.

no one could

any answers.

Wewere

discharged from the hospital the

next morning, and I was given an

EpiPen for him.

I was terrified and I watched him

like a hawk.

But, to my disbelief, he was

already back to his hyper self,

playing with cars and watching

Peppa Pig on the telly.

‘I’m cutting out nuts, gluten, and

foods with gelatine,’ I told Paul.

I even changed the washing

powder to a different brand.

Then, a few weeks after the initial

shock, we had the results back.

He’d had something called

opathic anaphylaxis, but it had

no known cause.

‘What can we do?’ I panicked.

‘Nothing, I’m afraid,’ the

consultant said.

‘Unfortunately it’s like playing

Russian roulette.’

I didn’t understand how this could

have happened.

Paulie-Sonny was such a carefree

child, and now we had to worry

about everything.

One minute he could be fine, and

the next, he could have a shock.

The doctor told us that when he

has a shock, we only have four

minutes to inject him with the

EpiPen, otherwise he would be

brain dead.

What about when he sleeps? I

thought, worried.

I was living life on the edge,

constantly checking in on him

during the night.

‘Go and eat those in the other

room,’ I’d whisper to the other boys

if I gave them sweets.

I was a wreck with nerves, but

weeks turned into months and

Paulie-Sonny was fine.

He was always playing with the

boys and causing mischief with his

dad’s boxing gloves.

‘Maybe the doctors got it wrong,’

I said to Paul.

Eventually, after 18 months, I

decided to start reintroducing

certain foods.

‘I’ve got some

Haribos, is that OK?’

my neighbour Suzie

asked, as we all hung

out in the front garden.

‘Yup,’ I smiled.

It was during the

heatwave last year, and

Paulie-Sonny was

scooting up and down

the road on his trike.

We were having such

a good day, but then,

Paulie-Sonny came

rushing back,

screaming in pain.

‘Mummy, I’ve been

stung,’ he sobbed.

As I looked at his

forearm, I could see

the sting, and that

familiar terrifying

swelling...

‘He’s having a

reaction,’ I screamed,

running in to fetch

his EpiPen.

Suzie ran in behind me to help,

but my hands were shaking.

‘What if I do it wrong?’ I cried.

‘I need someone else to do it.’

By now, Paulie-Sonny had gone

floppy, so I bundled him into the car

and rushed to the nearest chemist.

‘Help him,’ I screamed, running

in with him in myarms

The

pharmacist

rushed over and

plunged the

needle into

his thigh.

Nothing

happened, but I

knew it was

buying us time.

When the

ambulance

arrived, we were

rushed to hospita

Paulie-Sonny

was given more

adrenaline,andwithina fewhours,

he was back to normal.

‘This was definitely a wasp

sting,’ the doctor told me.

Another thing to watch out for!

But at least we knew what to do.

When we got home, I shut all the

windows and refused to let him go

in the garden.

‘I want to play,’ he’d cry, sadly

watching his brothers from the

upstairs window.

‘We can’t keep him trapped

inside forever,’ Paul said.

‘I know,’ I admitted.

I just didn’t want to lose him.

So, every morning before Paulie-

Sonny left the house, I would lather

him in repellent.

We purchased mosquito nets and

put them around his trampoline and

bedroom windows.

It felt like a prison, but I just

wanted to protect him.

However, since then he still

managed to get two more stings an

was rushed to A&E.

He’s reacting to more things as

well – like some drops when he

had an eye test recently.

We are living life on the edge,

which is especially sad, as Paulie-

Sonny is so full of life!

Our friends and family are

terrified of looking after him, and I

can’t blame them.

We’ve since moved to France,

and I just hope that the

wasps and everything

else are kinder to him

over here!

It’s been challenging

having to adapt to our

new lifestyle.

With six young

boys, I have to have

eyes everywhere all the

time, but now I need to have a

constant watch on Paulie-Sonny.

Of course, when he recovers from

one of his shocks, he is none the

wiser to our worry.

He still runs around, jabbing his

boxing gloves.

He really is the happiest little kid

you’veevermet.

ATENING REAL LIFE

I’m trying to keep him safe

Taking no chances

I’m terrified about

letting him out to play

F