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Dealing With My Son’s Asthma and Food Allergies
Written by Elizabeth Williams. Monday, January 9th, 2012
The night my young son had his first life threatening anapyhlatic reaction was a night we will never forget. Not simply because he got so ill, so quickly but it happened at my best friends 40th Birthday Party. It was an 80′s revival party and my partner and I had decided to pay tribute to our favourite band since school, the Cure and were dressed up as goths.
My son has been asthmatic since I stopped breast feeding him and we were always warned not to let him have nuts, just in case. That night, as we were all having fun, my son was laughing under a table with his best buddy who was eating a bowl of peanuts. All his little friend did was touch his cheek with his hand and within minutes he couldn’t breathe. At first we thought it was an asthma attack but inhalers didn’t help and his face swelled so we had to take him to casualty. My son was so brave and so wonderful but the doctors and nurses thought my partner and I were complete freaks, especially when the other half fell asleep on my sons hospital bed looking like Edward Scissorhands.
The hospital did not diagnose a food allergy but shortly after demanding to be referred it was confirmed within seconds of a test in another hospital. When the doctor told me my son could die if he was exposed to any trace of peanut I felt the world spin; it was a dreadful thing to know and change our life to adapt around. He has the most severe form of the allergy they had seen.
School has been the hardest to deal with. So many do not believe life threatening food allergy is a real affliction and it is really hard for a child at school. Parties are a nightmare and everything has to be checked. As he’s got older it is easier. He accepts it more now. The worse thing is him not being able to share birthday cakes, sweets and chocolates when the other children are having them so we have a special goody box just for him the teacher keeps in the cupboard.. I’ve had to join scouts with him to ensure no mistakes are made.
