My Daughter is a level 5 peanut allergy sufferer. Which, for those of you who do not know what a level 5 is, I will explain. There are Six levels to food allergies. The first is "Very Low", which would be a level #1. The second is "Low", which is a level #2. Next comes "Moderate", which is a level #4. "High", comes next which is where my daughter is level #5. Lastly "Very High", which is a level #6. all of these levels are calculated by a blood test for accuracy. So, for a Mother of a Daughter with such a High level peanut allergy sufferer, I am always stressed out. Constantly on guard for my Daughter's safety, making sure all her food choices and the food around her is safe.
My sons however, do not have any food allergies that we know of, and in order to insure they do not develop any peanut food allergies, per my daughters doctor, we needed to introduce them to peanuts as soon as they turned one year of age. Which is hard to do with a Sister that's heavily allergic. I have created "safe areas" in our home for her younger brothers to eat things with peanuts in them. So far this has worked out great for our family.
With this type of oral immunotherapy my daughter isn't allowed to do much physical activity. Thirty minutes prior to dosing, and Two to Four hours after dosing. Reason being, too much activity could alter her reaction to the dose and cause her to have some type of reaction. Which of course, we do not want. I am very strict with her during this time. This part is the hardest of the whole treatment. Having a 5 year old sit still and play quietly for a few hours in the morning and an hour and a half before bed has been my biggest hurdle. As the week has gone by we have embarked on a new routine and it is slowly getting easier.
Today we went in for our weekly visit to the Doctor for her new dosing for the upcoming week. I was a bit nervous about starting this new dose, because she had broken out in hives last week on the exact dose they were planning on starting her this week. As they administered the dose I was literally waiting for it to fail and have a reaction take place. To my surprise, no reaction. After the appointment we spoke to the Doctor in charge. He was so pleased that she did not have a reaction. He pointed out to me how her body is starting to tolerate a dose of peanut that she would normally react to. He clarified how amazing this is. How incredible it is that her body is truly beginning to tolerate peanuts. We are so excited to embark on this journey, and feel very lucky to have the chance to do this. Any mother would want to give their child the best opportunities for them and I am so glad that I could do this for my Daughter.
It saddens me that so many children who suffer from food allergies get teased, tormented, and even misunderstood as to how serious a food allergy is by their own peers and even by adults. I hope to be a voice to those who do not understand these allergies. I hope that one day soon all children with food allergies will be able to get the help we are getting so they can feel "Normal". so they wont have to sit at a lunchroom table all by themselves in school, so they can go to parties and not worry about the ingredients in the food around them. So they can feel like they are just like every other kid in the world. and most importantly so their lives are not put at risk every day by something as little and as tiny peanut.
Do you or anyone you know suffer from a food allergy? What kinds of hurdles have you had to endure with your allergy? I love hearing from my readers so please comment!!!
My kids don't havecfood allergies. Just the hubs. I've never heard of this type of therapy. That's amazing! Our schools are peanut free and Iit is not allowed in. I thought more schools were doing that instead of seperating the children.
ReplyDeleteSchools keep classrooms for the most part peanut free, However they cant control what kids bring to school lunch. so they will separate the kids with peanut allergies and make them sit at a table alone.
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ReplyDeleteI am John Smith. I was suffering from chronic allergy since many years. I consulted many doctors but in vain. Recently, one of my friend gave me a reference of this society specially dedicated to the patients suffering from asthma, Columbus Asthma Society. I consulted their main doctor Dr. Summit Shah and now I am recovering rapidly owing to their allergy shots. I would strongly recommend you guys to check Columbus Asthma Society and get the best treatment for all asthma related problems.
ReplyDeleteReference: ColumbusAsthma.com
We don't have asthma in our family but thank you for your comment.
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