Yes, I had dreams of being alone all day long, and having some time to actually get things accomplished. No, I didn't believe that it would ever really happen.
Camp started on Tuesday. J fell apart Monday night and I knew he wasn't going to make it. Day One went well for the other kids; Day Two, not so much.
Nick went to pick them up, and discovered that E's EpiPen bag was gone. Turns out they'd left it at the pool, a couple of miles away!
It's a good thing that it was Nick and not me, because I probably would have had a coronary right then and there. Especially since he'd discovered the day before that they'd locked up E's EpiPen with the other meds, so he didn't have it when they went off to the playground down the street. Nick explained that, if E were to have a reaction at the playground, it would be too late by the time someone ran back to the building to get the EpiPen!
Then E told us that they'd given him a snack. He told them he has allergies and brings his own snack. They told him to eat it anyway. And, for once in his life, my little non-compliant child did as he was told.
One more way to send this momma over the edge...
I spent a few minutes pulling myself together and then I called the director. No answer. So, I sent her a lengthy email. I was polite but didn't pull any punches.
My phone rang five minutes later.
The director took it very seriously, saying that she felt sick to her stomach after reading my email.
Yeah, I can relate.
I told her that we'd done everything we were supposed to do. Everything was in place, but somewhere along the line, there was a communications breakdown. I was angry because we're not talking about a Tylenol here; we're talking about something that can make the difference between life and death in the event of an allergic reaction! And, since it's supposed to be a peanut-free facility, but in fact is not, the potential for E to have had a reaction is very real!
In spite of my desire to take him home and never let him leave the house again, he returned to camp yesterday. He now has an adult buddy who is responsible for carrying his EpiPen and supervising lunch and snacks. (His PCAs also go with him, but those things happened in the short period of time when they weren't there with him!) The director held a meeting with the staff, and also sent out notices to the parents, banning peanuts from the facility, so I feel like this won't happen again.
I'm sure praying it doesn't!
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