Shrimp Allergy?
Seafood is my favorite food, and I have been eating shrimps for as long as I can remember. Tonight I steamed the Fresh & Easy extra large raw shrimp from Peru (Lot# A53089-01 UPC 2 10385 30695 0). And just as I was serving dinner, my husband called. So I left the big platter of cooked shrimp on the dining table for the kids to enjoy, and I went into the bedroom to chat with my husband, who is out of town for a work conference.
After I was done with my phone conversation with my hubby, I was shocked to see that there was no shrimp left on the table. So I checked the kitchen trash can, and to my astonishment, my “tried to be helpful” son had trashed everything—including the shrimps the kids could not finish—after they were done with dinner.
Being the bean counter, I was not going to waste my $7.99/lb shrimps. I said to myself, “I had just changed the trash bag this morning, and the shrimps were still on the paper plate. It’s ok…” So I rescued all the uneaten shrimps from the trash can, rinsed them in cold water, and reboiled them in a new pot of water for a couple minutes.
My daughter still had to finish writing a biography on Taylor Swift, so I sent my son to bed and ate my shrimps as I helped my daughter with her assignment. Within 15 minutes, I started to feel some itchiness on my face. I started scratching and scratching and thought to myself “may be I need to take a shower first.” Then my scalp started to itch, and it was so irritating that I felt like I had to wash my hair immediately. It felt like I had lice in my hair!
My daughter kept writing as I scratched my face and my scalp, but the itching got worse and worse, and I started to feel a burning sensation all over my face. I asked my daughter, “Is my face red?”
My daughter stared at me with her eyes wide open, “Yes, mom, you are becoming very red.” I went to look in the mirror and was shocked to see that not only was I red, I had broken out in hives, and the patches and bumps were visibly getting bigger and bigger right in front of my eyes!
I looked at the clock. It was already 9:30 p.m. I told my daughter I had to get some Benadryl from CVS before it closed at 10. I instructed her to wrap up her report and to go to bed. I thought I would be back within 10 minutes, but as I drove to CVS, I started to feel worse. My eyes started to swell and burn; I started to wonder if I could even make it to CVS.
As soon as the pharmacist saw me, she knew why I was there. She came out and walked me to the aisle where allergy medications were. But she made this comment, “You are having a really bad reaction. It would not hurt to see a doctor. You probably need a shot. You can try, but I don’t think Benadryl will help you.”
I thought to myself, “This timing is just great. My husband is out of town. Urgent Care is closing in 15 minutes, and I really don’t have time to call or to ask anyone to come watch my kids or to drop off my kids somewhere.”
And I really didn’t want to end up waiting in Emergency Room, so I simply rushed back into the car, sped like a mad woman, and called my daughter and husband from the car. I thought that if I could make it in time to Urgent Care, then I should be in-and-out just like that and be back at home rather quickly.
I made it to Urgent Care, right at 10 p.m. before they closed. But because my reaction was really bad, the doctor wanted to give me a shot immediately. I almost did not feel anything when the shot was given to me in my hip. But while I was waiting to be released, my hip started to swell, and it became the most painful shot I had ever experienced. I never realized that a shot could sting so badly afterwards. I almost had to ask for some Tylenol and could not sit up or move. The doctor kept me there for a little while for observation. I also had to be on steroids for a week. So I was gone for almost 2 hours before I got back home. I was just thankful and glad that by the time I made it home, my two kids were already sound asleep, and everything at home was peaceful.
I don’t know what had caused such a bad reaction. The shrimps were not supposed to expire until after April 4, 2012, so they were fresh. Even the Fresh-Check Indicator sticker on the tray showed the shrimps as “fresh.” It could be a bad shrimp in the batch. It could be something in the trash can or may be even trash bag. Since we had just fumigated in December, may be there was some chemical residue in the trash bags stored in the garage. Who knows? But this I know for sure: next time I will not rescue the shrimps from the trash can ever again! Ironically, between the Urgent Care co-pay and the medication, I ended up spending almost $50—quadruple the amount of the cost of the shrimps that I wanted to save!
