Our gorgeous daughter has suffered with allergies since she was a few months old, first dairy, then egg, then finally peanuts. She outgrew her dairy and is slowly outgrowing her egg. The peanut thing came as a bit of a shock as we thought were were 'over' the allergy thing. She'd had Nutella so we didn't really give nuts another thought. We had no idea peanut allergy and egg allergy go hand in hand.
She had a strong reaction to a tiny amount of peanut. I wasn't unduly worried. And then I googled...
It was then that I felt my whole world had come crashing down. The words 'life-long allergy' and 'life threatening' jumped out at me and made me feel quite sick. Our beautiful daughter would have to carry an adrenalin shot with her for the rest of her life.
3 months down the line and things are getting a little easier. We have had further tests and she has tested negative for 'tree nuts' but has now tested positive for shellfish. I've had to go into pre-school and attend some Epi-pen training with the staff who look after her, I've had to educate my friends and family too. I've needed to reiterate the seriousness of the allergy to everyone around my little girl.
It's so so difficult for others to understand though. At parties I'm constantly on my guard, watching her, checking her mouth, making sure she's not reacting, that her tongue's not swelling, that she's not having difficulty breathing. Her little friends at pre-school have been asked not to bring nuts in their lunch boxes and definitely no peanut butter! That's ok for now, but as she gets older, what will happen then? I'm going to have to trust her to look after herself. I can't even contemplate the teenage years!
But life goes on. It's an allergy. Children have to deal with far far worse. I'm slowly coming to terms with it. We'll be ok I think. I need to stop catastrophising though, and focus on the positives.
Our gorgeous daughter is 4 years old today. Beautiful on the inside and out. We are so lucky to have her in our life.
Bless - she is a darling! I have 4 children and 3 out of the 4 have had allegies so I know where you are coming from :)
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