Today, my son H was diagnosed with a peanut allergy. Just a few days ago, on the way to his 15 month well visit, I fed him a piece of a PBJ sandwich (not his first) and when we got into the office, I noticed hives on his face. This led to an allergist appointment today, and he tested positive for a peanut allergy.
This was not on my radar at all. My husband and I have no food sensitivities (that we know of) and neither do my other two children. But, it is what it is, and a peanut allergy is what he has.
Honestly, my thought on the way home from the allergist, was the farthest thing from “I can’t believe that we have to deal with this” or “Why us?”. I thought, “Thank God there have been those strong women, those strong moms, that have paved the way for me.”
One of my very best friends is the mother of a child that has many food allergies and she herself has some as well. She deals everyday with a gluten, egg, dairy, and peanut allergy. Thank you to her because for as long as I have known her (and I am sure long before), she has fought. She fought for schools to be more proactive in dealing with allergies, family members and people in general that have not been so considerate of these allergies, and doctors that have been less than patient. Thank you to her.
Thank you to another friend whose a son had a peanut allergy (and has since outgrown it). That friend spent a long time talking with me on the phone about what to look for in packaging and brands that were peanut allergy friendly. Thank you to her for letting me in on the research that she has already done.
Thank you to the moms that I will meet and connect with because of this food allergy. The women that I know bring people in and offer support when another mom needs it because they know just how others are feeling. Thank you in advance to those moms because I can already think of a few of them out there.
Thank you to the moms that have spent time tirelessly advocating to the FDA for better food packaging so that I would not have to look through every single ingredient of every single food that my son will come in contact with. There are still many moms that have to do this every single meal of every single day. Thank you to those moms.
Believe me when I say this, I do not feel like we have it hard. Our family is happy and healthy and strong. We can deal with a peanut allergy. There are families, people that have it much worse. What I have is a path that many others have walked and written about, one that may be just a bit more difficult when it comes to thoughtless eating, but certainly one that has been traveled before.
Thank you to those trailblazers who have traveled it ahead of me.
It is challenging but it’s doable. We use sun butter instead of peanut butter (due to phenol content), and it’s EXCELLENT! (Made from sunflower seeds.) I even have a recipe for sun butter cups. Also if he can do nuts, the other butters are more to a lot more expensive, but they are FAR more healthier and taste better too! And whatever you do, don’t go near Texas Roadhouse Steak House…it’s pretty much wall to wall peanuts. Good luck.
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I’m so thankful for the labeling of products these days. After our diagnosis I was sad and had similar feelings of “why this? Why us?” But I quickly found myself grateful that if there was a time to have food allergies, better now than 20 years ago. Or 50 years ago! And it’s all because of those trailblazing moms!
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