When Jackson was a little boy, he attended Kiddie Keeper Day Care. He would always complain about eating Tuna Fish. He said that when he ate it, it would make his back hurt. We thought that maybe he was having a hard time swallowing and we also thought that maybe he just didn't like it and would tell us that so he wouldn't have to eat it. We don't eat alot of fish at our house, so it was no big deal.
It was many years later that Jason took the boys on a Father and Son Campout at Payson Lakes. They fished and had a great time! When they got home, they cooked up the fish they had caught and ate it for lunch. Once Jackson had eaten, his throat starting tightening up and he couldn't swallow. He would spit into a cup because he could not swallow - the entire cup was filled with saliva in about 5 minutes! He was talking funny and finally we realized he was having an allergic reaction to the trout. I ran up to Harmon's and told the pharmacist what was happening and he suggested to give him some Benadryl. I got some quick dissolving strips for him to put on his tongue and it took care of the symptoms. From then on, he has stayed away from fish and he also carried the Benadryl strips in his wallet . . . just in case. I look back and thank my lucky stars that nothing more serious happened!
This past July, he went to Vernal with Jenny. They caught a whole boat load of fish and had a great time. Jenny's dad cooked up the fish. Jackson took one bite and the whole tightening of the throat started happening again. So he did not eat any more.
It's kind of funny when Jackson tells people about his mission call to Tijuana. He gets many different reactions, but one that is fairly common is that he will get the opportunity of eating some wonderful, fresh seafood. My brother-in-law, Jim told us that they have the best fish tacos imaginable down in the Baja and they don't even taste "fishy". Jason and I decided that we really probably ought to get Jackson to an allergist to see exactly what he is allergic to.
Today was the day!
Jackson told the doctor about the experiences that he had previously encountered with fish. They decided to test him for all fin fish as well as shell fish. They marked his back with a pen to identify each allergen that will be tested. Then they injected a small amount of the allergen just under the skin to see what effect the allergen will have.
Here is Jackson as the beginning of the test.
After 5 minutes . . .
After 10 minutes . . .
After 30 minutes . . .
You can see that Jackson is definitely allergic to all fin fish and all but 2 of the shell fish. Looks like he can eat clams and oysters.
The doctor felt like this allergy was pretty severe and told Jackson he had to be extremely careful when he was even around fish. He mentioned that he thought Jackson was very lucky not to have had any serious complications so far.
The doctor did prescribe him an Epi Pen and told him he needed to carry it at all times. I was so glad that we got him into the doctor before he goes to Tijuana. Looks like it's going to be rice and beans for my boy! Oh and some clams and oysters! YUM!
Now that we think back to when Jackson was a little boy and complained about eating Tuna at Kiddie Keeper, we wonder if that really had something to do with the allergy . . . who knows!?! I guess we are just thankful nothing serious happened because he truly does have a severe allergy to fish!
