We took dd to an aquarium today. We went to see the alligator exhibit outside. It was in a tented area. There was a strong odor in that area (not due to the alligators though). DH and I can't figure out what it was. Suddenly dd starts sneezing and her eyes are watering like crazy.
Dh and I decide to get her inside and away from the area. We look at her face and sure enough she has one hive on her face. I took out the Benadryl and gave her a dose. It took a while, but the sneezing stopped. We had to wait quite a while for the hive to disappear and the runny nose and watery eyes to stop.
She had not eaten anything at the aquarium. We were there 2 1/2 hours after lunch. I did notice a cart outside (not too far from the alligator exhibit) that was selling hot pretzels and snacks. I can't tell exactly what was on that cart. I'll call tomorrow to find out.
On the other side of the building there was an ice cream truck that was, of course, selling ice cream with nuts on it.
Our guess is it must have been some kind of contact reaction. Maybe some other children were eating food that contained nuts and touched things near the exhibit. We don't know.
I think it's scary when you don't know the source because then you don't know how to avoid it! I refuse to keep my child at home. I want her to experience life. I really don't think there is anything we could have done differently to protect her either.
This is her 4th contact reaction since her diagnosis in May. I found out what caused the other three reactions and I now know how to avoid them, but this one....I just don't know what else I can do.
(Yet she made it through a baseball game just fine on Friday! Go figure!)
