A food can be deadly? I can remember those thoughts racing through my head a decade ago. Quite frankly, I thought it might be an over-exaggeration on someone's part. Growing up, I knew one kid that had an allergy to red food dye. That's it.
Then I married my husband. He had a niece with a tree nut allergy. Then, a few weeks after we were married, his nephew had a reaction to a brownie I had personally inspected. I saw no nuts. His dad looked, too. Not nuts. We didn't know for sure he was allergic but since his twin sister was, his parents wisely avoided.
So my nephew ate the brownie. No problems. Then a few hours later, his mom passed by his room and heard him gasping for air. They spent the rest of that night in the ER.
We did not find out until the next morning what a terrible night they had. I felt horrible that his dad and I somehow missed the nuts. Come to find out they were ground up in the brownie!!
Once I knew I had a niece and a nephew allergic to something that could actually kill them, I did what I do best. I worried. Would my kids have a life-threatening allergy? Would I be forced to carry an Epi-Pen everywhere I went? I felt the chances weren't huge, but still, I worried.
Fast forward three and a half years. Tyler was born. I don't remember thinking much about food allergies during those very early days. I had no idea that what I consumed during my pregnancy or nursing could cause him an allergy. It didn't take long, however, before we began to fear food allergies. At six weeks the eczema started. It was a bit of a long journey before we discovered his multiple food allergies. Now, we just deal with one, but the worst of all: a peanut allergy.
Sometimes I still catch myself thinking: How can a food that I used to love kill my son? It's hard to wrap your mind around, yet I must.
Sadly, not everyone fully understand how deadly food can be. The road we travel with our children often leads to lots and lots of the educating of others.
But this is our reality. My youngest child shows no signs of any food allergies. Tests will confirm that soon. Poor Tyler just got the genetics I had feared. Yet, life goes and on and you adjust.
Then I married my husband. He had a niece with a tree nut allergy. Then, a few weeks after we were married, his nephew had a reaction to a brownie I had personally inspected. I saw no nuts. His dad looked, too. Not nuts. We didn't know for sure he was allergic but since his twin sister was, his parents wisely avoided.
So my nephew ate the brownie. No problems. Then a few hours later, his mom passed by his room and heard him gasping for air. They spent the rest of that night in the ER.
We did not find out until the next morning what a terrible night they had. I felt horrible that his dad and I somehow missed the nuts. Come to find out they were ground up in the brownie!!
Once I knew I had a niece and a nephew allergic to something that could actually kill them, I did what I do best. I worried. Would my kids have a life-threatening allergy? Would I be forced to carry an Epi-Pen everywhere I went? I felt the chances weren't huge, but still, I worried.
Fast forward three and a half years. Tyler was born. I don't remember thinking much about food allergies during those very early days. I had no idea that what I consumed during my pregnancy or nursing could cause him an allergy. It didn't take long, however, before we began to fear food allergies. At six weeks the eczema started. It was a bit of a long journey before we discovered his multiple food allergies. Now, we just deal with one, but the worst of all: a peanut allergy.
Sometimes I still catch myself thinking: How can a food that I used to love kill my son? It's hard to wrap your mind around, yet I must.
Sadly, not everyone fully understand how deadly food can be. The road we travel with our children often leads to lots and lots of the educating of others.
But this is our reality. My youngest child shows no signs of any food allergies. Tests will confirm that soon. Poor Tyler just got the genetics I had feared. Yet, life goes and on and you adjust.
3 comments:
Do you find yourself noticing the nuts in the store and thinking "That can KILL my child?" It is mind boggling to me, still. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this and a bit about your journey.
Jane Anne- I totally know what you mean! I feel as if I am now programmed (I have a 4 year old PA child) that peanuts are dangerous whether she is with us or not! We travel a lot I would caution all parents to check around the beds in the hotel room because the vacuum cleaner pushes the nuts next to the furniture instead of vacuuming it up and to also wipe down surfaces upon check in.
Thanks,
Wendy
I love reading this blog! It is so nice to feel supported with dealing with our allergy situation. My little guy is 5 1/2 and has been allergic to peanut/tree nuts for 4 years or so. Life without peanuts/nuts was going smoothly for the most part. Now, he is allergic to soy protein. Ugghhh...talk about hard to avoid. Soy protein is everywhere and he's had his worst reaction from Campbell's soup containing soy protein. His lips blistered and he said it felt like a bee was stinging his throat. Scary. I was very close to giving him epi, but gave Benadryl and watched. He has never had a reaction like that before. I was (am still am) so worried about peanuts/nuts, but soy is just as scary. Anyway, my youngest son is 2 1/2 and shows no sign of any allergies. This is just something that we deal with and we truly lean on God to help us with these children we are so blessed with. Thanks for your blog site!
Kari
Post a Comment