Can I tell you about my day? *Update in post 24*

[LarsMal]

I just want to crawl into bed and start a new day...

I dropped DS off at school and headed to the ped with the girls about an hour later. C somehow managed to leak out of 2 diapers in about 10 minutes. I turned to get the new diaper and turned back just in time to catch her as she was rolling off the table. Guess she's rolling now!! With baby in arms I turned back to get a new outfit out of the bag only to find it had been soaked by DS's leaking water bottle. So, baby C had nothing but a pair of pants to wear. No biggie, just getting DS from school and heading home...HA!!!

I was getting braced for the girls' shots when my cell phone rang. It was DS's teacher calling to tell me he was having a reaction. Okay...so we made it an entire school year last year w/o a single incident. Week one and already being called for a reaction. Not so good. Even worse- when I asked where the EpiPen was the teacher told me...wait for it..."I don't know where it is." (I think I can hear Melissa (Bubbaray) gasping from here!). Yep, they didn't know where his epi was. I told her I had left it with the director the other day. "Oh, she's not here." Insert head exploding smilie here!

He was breathing fine, but wouldn't put his tongue in his mouth or swallow. I was literally 2 minutes away so I told the nurse to hurry with the shots, threw a screaming C into her car seat and ran out the door. Got into DS's school, grabbed him and went back to the peds office (after giving him some Benedryl, decided Epi wasn't necessary). We ran in there and the ped said to go over to the ER-in the next building. So, off to the ER we went and by the time they got us back the Benedryl had done it's thing and he was doing fine. He's on steroids for a few days, but he's okay. And now I'm convinced we'll all have H1N1 by next week!

I had to feed my half-naked baby so I sat in the car while DH (who had come to help me) went to get paperwork I forgot. He gets back, I put half-naked baby back in the car...and the car won't start! Lovely! An hour later, after talking to the car people about a funky light that was showing, we called a tow truck. He came out and jumped the van and we were off...great! Off to the shop to have my battery replaced. Battery is supposedly fine- weird.

Started my day at 11:30, walked back in the door at 7PM.

Oh yeah...and I was cleaning out the car waiting for the tow truck and thought I was throwing away a wrapped up dirty diaper. NOPE! I threw away C's wet clothes from the dr's office.

So, the advice I need...How should I handle DS's school situation? My mom wants me to pull him out and get the director fired for negligence, but I don't think that's necessary. I do need to be firm, though. DS's teacher did call tonight and we talked for a while, but I still need to sit down with her and the director and work out some kinks- and let them know that not knowing where an Epi is is unacceptable. I'm just so bad at this kind of stuff- much better at writing a letter! I need to do this face-to-face, though. HELP!

[Clarity]

It is absolutely unacceptable that they didn't have an epi on hand...did they not have access to benadryl either? FWIW, my dd's epi and benadryl is kept in the first aid kit in her classroom. Which leads me to ask...who has control of other first aid items? The teacher? If so, why doesn't she have the epi?
Frankly, I think you do need to sit down with the teacher and director and discuss/review the procedures that have to be followed to keep your son safe from allergens AND have everyone, including yourself, know exactly where that epipen is stored, how to access it, use it, etc. I can't believe that this even happened. As a mom with a newly diagnosed kwfa, it really scares me that it could!
What did he react to?

[bubbaray]

Huge hugs momma! I would have LOST it on the school.

BTDT with the diapers. Some of our dr's offices stock them for that reason (who knew? They are in the examining table drawers at our Children's hospital).

That SUCKS about your car. SUCKS. Oh, and the outfit too (but its one less thing to wash!).

As for your mom thinking you should remove your DS from the school, hmmm. Not sure what I would do. I would try to work with them, I think, on a last chance basis. If it happened again, I would report them to licensing and just go postal on them, though. I would insist on Epi training for all staff and to see documentation that it has been completed.

Huge hugs

[ThreeofUs]

Wow. That's quite a day. Let me buy you a virtual glass of wine as we sit and talk about it.

I think most schools have it clear that kids with allergies need to be taken seriously, and need to be close to their epipens, and that to do otherwise is risking a child's life.

Your school (if you choose to stay there) seems to have two problems. It allowed your DS to have something that caused a reaction, and it vested the epi with a staffer who is - although the director - unreliable. You will need to work closely with them to solve both problems, but I think you should be clear that they are responsible for your DS and that their negligence could have caused him great harm today. I understand your mom's reaction; it's hard to trust a place that's done this.

Bottom line is that they need to accept that responsibility and come up with a better system to keep track of foods and the epi, and they probably need to rebuild your trust in them.

I'm really sorry this happened to your DS. May the situation resolve well for you.

[SnuggleBuggles]

What a horrible, awful day!!! I am so sorry!!

They need to come up with a solution for the Epi Pen that makes sense. The teacher should have it with her in the classroom, I think. I hope you can get this worked out.

Beth

[JTsMom]

Holy criminy woman! That day has got to be a record breaker! I have no idea what you should do about the school, but I couldn't read that and not send some .

[AshleyAnn]

I think I'd kill someone if they told me they couldn't find the epipen. I would schedule a meeting with the director and if you cannot send your DS back until you do. Just to show how important it is and that you're very serious. I would ask them what ideas they have to improve the problem and basically tell them if they cannot come up with a satisfactory solution you're going to go someplace that can and you want it fixed NOW.

[JTsMom]

Your school (if you choose to stay there) seems to have two problems. It allowed your DS to have something that caused a reaction, and it vested the epi with a staffer who is - although the director - unreliable.

Oh wow, that's a good point. I didn't even think of that, but they really did make 2 major errors.

[sste]

Agreeing that this is totally unacceptable.

Is there a place that they can put the epi pen that the kids can't reach but is 1) in the same place in every room that kids use; 2) publicly accessible - - that is not in a locked drawer. Or can every staff member carry an epi pen on their person?

My thinking is that people tend to lose things in their desks and substitute teachers or others in the classroom may not know where the epi-pen is if it isn't standardized from room to room. Maybe ask around here what other schools do so that you can make some concrete suggestions when you talk to the director. Quite frankly, these people sound a little disorganized so I think you want to come up with a fail-proof epi-pen plan!

[KpbS]

DS1's epi is always in his backpack in a special red bag. Always. Always in any room w/ him at any type of lesson or school. I would insist that his be stored in his classroom (not w/ the director or nurse, if they want to have an additional epi pen that is fine) in the event of an emergency. Ask for benadryl to be kept on hand as well.

If you choose to return, I would go in with a laminated sheet listing his allergen(s) and foods that are forbidden (possibly with a photo of your DS as well) and ask for it to be displayed on the wall of his classroom to prevent future mistakes. I always felt better knowing the allergy information was listed clearly on the wall so that any substitute teachers would have it displayed to prevent incidents like today's.

I would also write the director a letter outlining what exactly happened today, how it should have been prevented, and the potential life threatening consequences. Some people just need things to be spelled out for them.

So sorry.......(((hugs))))