No wheat please!

I had EJ tested for allergies back in February. He tested positive for peanut, milk, wheat, eggs and some tree nuts. I left the office with an Rx for an EpiPen. My mind was racing and I was scared. How do you avoid all of those foods in everyday life? How allergic is he?? I instantly joined allergy Facebook groups for support. Worst thing I could have ever done. Post after post of parents talking about how they had to Epi their child today. It made my anxiety levels go through the roof. I wasn't sleeping, jumping at every cough he made, watching him for scratching, basically I was making myself crazy. I unjoined those groups and read up on the facts and how and when to use the EpiPen. I felt I had gotten to a place where I felt empowered and in control. But I also understood how quickly things can go south.
One thing I didn't do, remove all the allergens from our house with the exception of peanuts. Sophia is 4 and I never wanted to penalize her by removing the snacks from the cabinets.
On Tuesday, the kids were having a snack while I got together Sophia's ballet bag. EJ was having his rice crackers (in a purple bag) and Sophia had a little snack pack of Annie's bunny grahams (in a purple bag). She left her bag on the table and EJ managed to reach for it. When I came back downstairs, he was holding the bag and sharing them with the Grandparents. I could tell he had eaten at least one since he had crumbs on his mouth and a little bit of redness on his chin. I ran him upstairs and wiped his mouth off and gave him a dose of Benadryl. My heart and mind were racing. It was only wheat, no peanuts....we'll be OK. We'll be OK. After 30 minutes, the redness around his mouth was gone. Whew, no other symptoms. I felt relief and honestly some excitement thinking that maybe he wasn't really allergic to wheat!
We headed out to lunch and as we were ordering lunch, EJ starts vomiting. I start cleaning him up and he starts yelling, "OUCHIE, OUCHIE, OUCHIE!" I bring him out to the car to change his clothes and as I removed his pants, his legs are covered in welts. Welts that are spreading fast all over his body. I start wiping off his skin with a baby wipe to get the skin clear from any throw up. He starts vomiting on me and then coughing. My mind is racing, is he coughing from vomiting or is he having trouble breathing. I grab his inhaler and give him a couple of puffs as I run back into the restaurant to grab my in-laws.
At this point, I know I need to use the EpiPen. The EpiPen, I never wanted to use. I have my MIL call 911. They agree I need to use the EpiPen. I pull the blue pin out and hit the side of his thigh and it pops. EJ let out the loudest scream and grabs at my hand. I count out-loud; "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10." I remove it from his leg and quickly grab him, holding my poor little boy on my chest. Within a minute the paramedics arrive. The hives are subsiding and he's breathing normally. They escort us quickly into the ambulance.
We arrive at the ER and suddenly his entire body is swollen, hives start forming and he starts coughing again. It's even worse this time and he's screaming in pain. They administer another Epi, more Benadryl and oral steroids. I'm terrified knowing how quickly things can go south. This is his rebound and it's worse than the initial reaction. After all that he falls asleep on me.

(I took these photos in order to document his reaction so I could show them to his doctors. They actually came in very handy when being transferred to Stanford. They thought he still looked pretty bad until I showed them these photos and then agreed he was improving and didn't need more treatment.)

After an hour, I started seeing the redness and hives disappearing. It was such a relief. A wheat cracker did this. A WHEAT cracker?!?! We ended up having to stay the night at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. Luckily we didn't have anymore rebounds and no other treatment was needed. 

It's so hard to keep calm around food now. Having to worry about contamination, will he react this way to any other foods?

We are seeing his doctor in the morning and we'll have to put together a new plan of action. Stay tuned......