Lindsay Scallion
Halifax, NS
This is my daughter, Lindsay. She is 8 years old and wears her MedicAlert bracelet everyday. Lindsay was diagnosed with a latex allergy 2 years ago after she had two different kinds of allergic reactions.
Lindsay was very sick as a baby and has been to the operating room 30 times. With every hospital visit the registrar would post warning labels on Lindsay’s files marked, “Latex Precaution”. This was due to “over exposure” during her many surgeries.
Her first reaction happened after she was playing with silly putty. Her hands and arms got red and itchy on all of the surfaces where the putty had been. We didn’t know what was happening. I washed her then soothed her skin with cold water. Later, we would be told that was an allergic reaction to the latex in Silly Putty.
About 6 months later Lindsay’s Brownie unit participated in a neighborhood cleanup. Our local fire department supplied us with a box of gloves and each girl was given gloves and a bag to collect garbage. We spent the whole morning cleaning our local elementary school yard. After returning from our outing, Lindsay started complaining that her eyes were itchy. I thought she looked like she had “pink eye”. A short while later she got worse. Both eyes swelled up, her nose and lips swelled, her lips turned blue then she started complaining of a stuffy nose.
I dropped everything. Her dad and I rushed her to the IWK Children’s Hospital in Halifax, NS where she was quickly treated as having an allergic reaction to the LATEX gloves she was wearing during the cleanup. Lindsay later told us that she had blown the glove up like a balloon, using her mouth. That would explain why this resulted in another allergic reaction.
Soon after that hospital visit Lindsay had an appointment in the Allergy clinic. Tests revealed positive that she was allergic to latex. The doctor and staff at the clinic educated Lindsay and her family of the precautions and procedures that we would need to follow to prevent and treat another episode. We were given a brochure for MedicAlert and told she needs to wear her bracelet at all times. Her bracelet says that she “uses epi-pen” and is “allergic to Latex.”
We are very grateful to the doctors and staff at the IWK and to MedicAlert for helping us take care of our little girl. Her bracelet has helped us feel more secure about her needs when she is not with us and enables Lindsay to live a more “normal” life with her friends.
Lindsay’s favorite color is yellow and she was excited to learn that MedicAlert had a child size, yellow sports bracelet. I placed the order over the phone and it arrived less then a week later. She only takes it off when she is bathing or swimming because she doesn’t want it to get wet. Thank you again MedicAlert for making us feel better prepared.
Carol Scallion,
Lindsay’s Mom
