Talking Allergies

After a few months of explaining over and over to my family and in laws about the dangers of exposing my daughter to nuts, the prevalence of allergies in this generation, cross contamination, and reading labels without any real change in their attitude and behaviour toward the allergy and safety I decided to write a gentle but firmly worded letter explaining why we take the precautions that we do, what could happen, and how they can help to keep our little girl safe. It went over really well. That's not to say that some family members don't need constant reminders, but some people just have brains like sieve's!

I can send you a copy of the letter if you'd like to see it. It really helped us a lot.

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Mother of a fantastic little girl with peanut allergy, cat & dust sensitivities

Robin, that's good to hear. Any chance you'd remove names and share with all of us?

Or if long, a few key passages? Lots of people here struggle with the same.

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

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Mother of a fantastic little girl with peanut allergy, cat & dust sensitivities

Robinsegg, thank you for sharing your letter. You got to the basics without overwhelming others with the more scientific or in depth facts I know I at least tend to start to share. The more frantic I get trying to make my point the more I start throwing in every little bit of information I've learned. You kept it simple and it is very well written.

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

My thanks for referring me to this link.

I was just asked what do I feed my child. Although this may seem to be the problem, the real problem Is how do I prevent my son from coming in contact with milk, soy, wheat, eggs, peanuts , tree nuts or shellfish? We have become homebodies for sure. I do force myself out of my comfort zone and attend play gyms that do not allow food or are sensitive to cameron's allergies. My hands shake the entire time (especially when I see a hive) but my son enjoys these play times. I can't decide whether or not I am being brave or irresponsible for taking him out in a world filled with so many potential dangers for him.

Although my husband was a hard sell, after witnessing some of cameron's reactions from just touching an allergen our home is relatively free of the above (although it is soooo difficult to be completely allergen free...dried spices alone amaze me with the may contain info on the packet) we have always eaten a lot of vegetables...fortunately Cameron enjoys dark greens like broccoli and bok choy. We eat lean meats for protein. Not my favorite, but I worry about getting the nourishment we need.

I'm so sorry you're going through this, but I'm glad you found this group. It is a great source of information and comfort, since, as you have found, many people in real life (including - especially? family) just don't get it.

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DSs 7,7,9 all PA

Thanks, Becky. I have already found the support so much more comforting as it comes from the same painful empathetic place. Family and friends try to help, but they just don't really know what to say. They always tell me that he will outgrow everything, it isn't as serious as I think, he needs to be exposed to a little bit of everything to build up his immunity...and then the conversation always degenerates into pseudo-scientific "knowledge" that is basically just their opinion....arrrgggg...sometimes I swear if one more family member rolls their eyes at me when I don't allow Cameron to sit next to the can of mixed nuts or let the dog lick him all over I may smack them