Allergies are a tricky business, you cannot predict what sort of reaction someone might have from one day to the next, it really is a minefield. As well as trying to avoid normal food, places to eat, you have to dodge around the ever growing field of may contains and, produced in a factory, or we cannot guarantee the ingredients that come in though nothing we make contains nuts.
Now we have been dealing with her nut allergy for 3 years, her first reaction ( that we know for sure) was 3 years ago this week! She is allergic to tree nuts, specifically, walnuts, pecans and cashews. Not a great deal but we are told to avoid all including peanuts. As well as that she is currently intolerant to wheat and maize and has environmental allergies to weeds, trees, cats, dogs and all types of mould!
Its not horrific once you get used to it all, yes it is very daunting, and it is difficult some days, especially when we need to play around with food and do a food shop is incredibly stress full, Eating out is a nightmare! good job we don't normally do it!
What is frustrating and the reason I am writing the blog today, the carry two campaign. Madam carries two epi pens, she has this medicine for the very real possibility that she could have a severe allergic reaction and these pens are there to try and save her, and to make sure we are able to get to a hospital. Recently there have been medical professionals saying that people only need to carry one pen... one life saving, potentially, medicine.
What they fail to see however is the other factors that could be involved, epi pens do not magically cure what is going on, nor do they know the situation you are in currently. Ambulances need to get to you quickly.. (aslong as they think you are in urgent need of one!!) and can take anywhere from a few minutes and up to get to you. If they can. epi pens are there to keep you going but what if the first pen doesn't work? misfires? or simply just isn't enough for a very severe reaction. I am not just speculating, there have been very real cases of this happening, where ambulances haven't been sent as urgent, where a pen has been fired into a finger instead of a leg! etc.
As allergy parents/ advocates we are always fighting, sometimes you have to fight for people to simple listen, to see that xyz is causing reactions, that there is a real need to go for allergy tests, to get checked on now and then. you feel sometimes it is you against the world, you are your child's and your own biggest advocate. After all you know exactly what the normal is every day.
I will always support the carry two campaign. Why? because it is my babies life we are talking about! why at 9 with all the crap she deals with should she have to worry or think of the what if's of her medicine not working, if she can get to safety in time, she should have a normal as possible life as her friends. Her life is just as important. Isn't it?
