Missing You (Song for Hannah), part 5

(Continued from this page.)

The conclusion of the story:

Nearly a year passed.  Florida is famous for its beaches; one weekend in March 2006, we went to Vilano Beach in St. Augustine.  Now, one of our favorite meals is pancakes–I used to make them on the weekends–and one day we started our morning at the International House of Pancakes.  We then left for some exercise, walking up and down the beach.

About 3 miles away from our room, Hannah started itching.

Now, if you’ve read the other sections of this article, you know that was the signal preceding an attack of the hives.  It was the mark of the mystery allergy, a prelude to anaphylactic shock.  We tried to get back to our hotel as fast as we could; the faster we went, the worse she got.  By the time we got to the room, she was passing out; I called an ambulance.

We spent most of our day in a hospital.

We still had no idea what was causing this illness.  Then, one of the nurses happened to mention that her boyfriend had Exercise Induced Anaphylaxis, triggered by a combination of wheat and exercise.

Suddenly, the pieces of the puzzle fit together:

• Why did the attacks most frequently occur on the weekend?  Because we would have “working” breakfasts such as fruit and oatmeal during the week, and “fun” breakfasts such as pancakes on the weekend — wheat.
• Why did the attacks happen more in the morning?  Same reason.  Also, we walked the dogs in the morning, which was the other part of the trigger — exercise.

Neither wheat nor exercise is the sole cause–only a combination of the two.  Knowing this, we have, by and large, been able to prevent any further serious attacks.

Which is good, because “Missing You (Song for Hannah)” was probably the most difficult song I ever wrote.