Well, that's not what you want to come home to...

When I came home this evening, I was greeted by a young boy walking toward me slowly and his mother saying, "Wait until he's come home properly". So I was already a bit, what?

Then Yvonne told me that they had taken Stella to the hospital. And from the open window upstairs, our upstairs neighbour came and said that Stella had eaten some peanut and had gone into anaphylactic shock, and she had gone upstairs to them (since their son works for the Johanniter) and they had called an ambulance. Apparently, a helicopter had even been called but had been called off again when the ambulance arrived and they found it wasn't quite so critical.

They didn't know where Stella had been taken, because the ambulance had come and gone so quickly, so our neighbour suggested I call 112 and tell them Mrs. Lingsteding had called them to our street and could they tell me where she had been brought.

So I did, and they said that she had been taken to the general hospital here in Harburg. So I called their switchboard, they asked me for Stella's date of birth, and confirmed that she had been admitted to the ER, and put me through to them. I asked how Stella was and they said she would be able to tell me herself.

A couple of minutes later, the phone rang and Stella was on the line. She said that she was already feeling better, that they had given her some kind of medicine and that they were going to observe her, and that if everything worked out all right, she might get discharged this evening (or so she understood it). She did say she'd try to call me if she ended up having to spend the night there.

So we'll see what will happen.

A bit later on, another neighbour called to inquire how I was and to offer their help—for example, if I wanted someone to accompany me to the hospital or to take care of Amy. Mrs. Lingsteding, who had taken care of Amy since Stella got taken away, had also offered to take her again if I wanted to go to the hospital by myself. (She said she had enough toys since they had grandkids, and that Amy had been playing quite happily until I came back.)

I've brushed Amy's teeth and put on her pyjamas. Since I thought Stella had told me this afternoon that Amy had taken a nap, I didn't send her to bed since chances are she wouldn't be able to fall asleep earlier than nine or so anyway, but told her to stay in her room with the door closed.

So now let's see.

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Update. (Executive summary: she's back, throat seems fine, circulation still wobbly, she's gone to bed.)

Update on Stella

Update 20:30: Stella came back home again about half an hour ago.

She was a bit wobbly and said her circulation was still iffy, and the doctors would have preferred to keep her there overnight, but she signed a waiver and took a taxi home. (She told Amy it's because she didn't want her to be alone.) She had something to eat and wants to see how she feels then.

She's cuddling in Amy's bed with her right now.

She said the doctors suggested she get an emergency packet to keep with her in case something similar happens in the future (presumably with an epi-pen or something similar).

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20:45: She said that after she had eaten the peanut thing, her tongue felt as if it had swollen up. She tried drinking some water and brushing her teeth to see whether that would make it go away, but it didn't. And when her knees started feeling wobbly, she went upstairs to the neighbours.

They called the ambulance, and the medics(?) took her blood pressure and said they'd prefer to take her to hospital, where she spent a while on a gurney until a doctor had time for her.

An ENT doctor looked at her throat but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. They gave her some cortisone and something else and said they'd be back a bit later. When they came back to check up on her, she said that she didn't feel any different, and they said they'd like to keep her overnight.

She said her throat felt fine again and it was just her circulation which was still down, and the doctor said she could go home if she insisted but only if she signed the waiver, which she did.

She's still wobbly and has now gone to bed. But the worst seems to be over. And she'll see a doctor about getting an epi-pen or whatever so the next time will, hopefully, not be as frightening.

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Thank you all for your thoughts.