A to Z Challenge – A is for Allergy

I recently discovered a fun challenge for bloggers called the A to Z Challenge.  It’s a giant link up party where all the linkees agree to spend every day in April except Sundays, we get them off for good behavior, writing blog posts themed on the letter of the alphabet assigned to that day.  Then you are encouraged to visit the link up, check out other bloggers’ posts and leave them encouraging comments.

I’m really excited about the opportunity to participate!  Not only will this hopefully keep me posting on my blog this month, it will be a chance to gain new readers.    If you’re a blogger, check out the challenge; it’s a fun way to discover new blogs and explore the blogging world.  Today is the official kick-off, and therefore today’s A-themed post will be about my experience learning about Little Man’s peanut allergy.  Today’s post is a long one, and for that I apologize in advance, but this is a subject I just can’t shortcut.

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  is for Allergy

My first clue that Little Man was allergic to peanuts occurred this past November.  Looking back on it now, it seems so obvious, but I just didn’t catch it.  For several days Little Man was vomiting and couldn’t seem to keep any food down.  Initially, I attributed it to a stomach bug because I had read on a local moms’ group facebook page about a stomach bug that was sweeping through the community.  I was babysitting a friend’s two children that week because her husband, who normally stayed home with her two-year-old, had travelled out of town to assist with animal rescue after Hurricane Sandy had destroyed much of the New England coastline.

What I didn’t look at or even consider for a second, even though neither of my friend’s children caught the stomach bug that I was sure Little Man would share with them, was that Little Man’s vomiting might be caused by a food allergy.  At that time, Little Man was still nursing full time; so not only could a food that he ate cause the reaction, a food I ate could cause it as well.  And in retrospect I’m certain that’s what it was.  You see, my friend had brought me a plate full of chocolate and peanut butter bars that were so delicious that I couldn’t stop eating them, even though I don’t really care for chocolate or peanut butter!  I dubbed the treats “crack bars” and threatened her life if she ever brought me more because I don’t think I shared them with anyone!

That week I ate the crack bars every day.  It was the most peanut butter I had eaten in years, but it was so delicious!  And then Little Man vomited for two days, just long enough to worry me, and the bars were gone and so was the vomiting.  But I didn’t make the connection until nearly a month later.

On December 6th, 2012 I decided to give Little Man his first taste of a peanut butter sandwich in the hopes of finding a healthy protein he would eat.  I smeared a small amount of creamy peanut butter on whole wheat bread, cut it into squares small enough for Little Man to eat without fear of choking, and served it to him.  He immediately tried the sandwich; I remember feeling so hopeful that peanut butter would be a good way to get protein in him on a regular basis as he refused most other protein sources I offered him.

A few minutes later Little Man vomited everything he had eaten and his face started looking splotchy.  Now, I can’t really explain it, but with Little Man I had been extremely careful with what he ate; making certain he didn’t get any food with peanuts before his first birthday.  When his face started to look splotchy, I immediately suspected he was having an allergic reaction to the peanut butter.  And I GOT SCARED!

I’ve read enough to know that peanut allergies can be life threatening.  And I live in a rural area that’s normally a 25 minute drive from the nearest emergency room.  Even worse, I was well aware that our local ambulance service, an all-volunteer organization, had been struggling to provide service because of internal organizational troubles and might not respond at all.

I quickly began trying to formulate a plan in my head for how to handle this situation; I was home alone with Little Man, I knew I could get to the nearest ER in about 15 minutes if I drove like a maniac on dangerous two-lane canyon roads, and I knew it would take longer than those 15 minutes for an ambulance to get to my house.  I knew I had to stay calm so I could assess the situation rationally.  I grabbed my camera and took a picture of Little Man so that I could assess in a few minutes if he was getting worse or staying the same.

At this point, Little Man was drooling profusely, his lips were swollen, and he was rubbing his right eye like it was itching severely.  Thankfully he didn’t appear to be having any difficulty breathing.  I worked hard to stay calm, taking photos every few minutes and comparing the newest shots to the photos taken before them.  I called Little Man’s doctor’s office when it appeared his reaction was getting better instead of worse; they set an appointment for us to come in a few hours later.  By thirty minutes later most signs of the reaction had gone away.

(LEFT – 10 minutes after initial photo.  RIGHT -  30 minutes later)

                

We saw the doctor later that day, who agreed from my description and the photos that we should do further testing.  It took over a month to get in to see the allergist (who was a 2 hour drive away.)  Skin tests and blood tests confirmed that Little Man is allergic to peanuts.

We now carry two EpiPens, auto-injecting syringes filled with epinephrine, with us at all times.  I’ve done tons of research on living with peanut allergies and potential treatment for peanut allergies.  Right now, the only option for Little Man is to avoid all foods that contain peanuts or may contain peanuts.  This is more difficult than I initially believed it would be; peanuts are hidden in all kinds of foods.  And even if a food doesn’t contain peanuts, it may be manufactured on equipment that also processes peanuts.  Adding difficulty to the situation are the laws to protect people with food allergies.


The law requires that all food labels in the US disclose if they contain any of the top 8 allergens:  Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, Tree nuts (such as almonds, cashews, walnuts), Fish (such as bass, cod, flounder), Shellfish (such as crab, lobster, shrimp), Soy, and Wheat.  Unfortunately, US laws currently do not require food manufacturers to disclose when foods are manufactured on equipment or in facilities that also handle these allergens.  While some companies choose to disclose when their foods may potentially contain a top 8 allergen by listing on the label what the food MAY CONTAIN, many other companies choose not to.


There’s no way to guarantee that Little Man’s next allergic reaction will be the same as his last.  There’s still hope that Little Man will be one of the 20% of children with a peanut allergy that will outgrow the allergy.  While it’s encouraging that his first reaction didn’t include difficulty breathing, there are so many factors that can effect the severity of a reaction.

So, we keep our EpiPens handy; two always with us, two more on my desk at home.  I’ll have to teach Little Man not to accept food from anyone unless DH or I say it’s a safe food.  I’ll have to stay vigilant and educated.  And even with all of the care in the world, disaster could still strike.  It’s a new reality; one I never imagined I would face.  The reality of potentially life-threatening allergies.  It’s an ever-changing reality that I could go on and on and on about. But for today, this is more than enough.

This is a long post, but I warned you it would be!  I promise I won’t be throwing this wall of text at you every day this month!  I’ve got some fun subjects coming up; I hope you’ll come back to read more!  For now, I leave you with some useful information about food allergies.  I encourage you to educate yourself; food allergies in children are growing at astronomical rates and chances are if you aren’t dealing with it in your own children, you will need the information for their friends.

The Food Allergy Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN)
American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
AllergicChild.com
New York Times Article:  The Allergy Buster

Have you dealt with food allergies?  I'd love to hear about your experiences or read your feedback!  Leave a comment below!