Mason this past September 2013 at the Houston FARE walk for allergy awareness...posing at the Epi-Pen stand with his own personal epi pen.
If you look at Mason's allergy testing you will see he is allergic to 4 things:
Peanuts
Cow's Milk
Eggs
Soy
However, he can tolerate all things soy (even edamame!!!) He can also tolerate cooked eggs and milk, so we are very lucky in that sense. He can have baked goods as long as they are nut free! Raw milk however will cause him to bust out in hives and vomit. Yuck.
We kicked off Food Allergy Awareness week this year wearing the tshirts we got at last Year's FARE walk.
Wearing his food allergy walk tshirt for preschool to help raise awareness!
Some people have said to me "I don't know how you do it" in reference to Mason's food allergies. I remind them that you don't know how strong you are until you have to be strong. I don't have a choice. I have to be the anti-allergen nazi to keep my kid alive.
When we go to a party I have to keep a super close eye on him...what if someone offers him a piece of candy with nuts in it? Or something with uncooked milk like homemade buttercream frosting or any kind of "dip" (oh the vomit that will ensue!)?
We were home for Christmas this year and were at my cousin's house and the kids were all running around playing and I hear my other cousin say "Mason's not supposed to have peanuts right?" and immediately I felt the blood drain from my face. The way it was worded was as if he was in the act of eating them. I whirled around to discover she was offering all the kids candy out of a bag and he chose a peanut butter cup. She said what triggered her memory about his allergy is his allergy alert bracelet. I don't see my family more than maybe once a year so in reality they have no actual clue about his allergies, and I don't expect them to be his allergy warriors. That's my job. And I almost failed.
What if Theresa hadn't remembered about his allergy, or seen his bracelet, and what if, what if, he opened that peanut butter cup and ate it?? My eyes are welling up as I think about how real the fear is that that could happen.
We've already had one ambulance ride to the ER while visiting home in NY this past September, and I've also used an epi pen on Mason. (You can read about that
here.)
On a side note do you know how much an ambulance ride with Kunkel costs? $500.
An allergy-related trip to the Faxton-St. Luke's ER? $220.
But when you're in a panic because you're fearing for your child's life, money doesn't matter.
You inject that damn epi pen and you call 911.
You just do it. And you remain thankful that your Mom happens to be with you to keep you calm and to follow the ambulance in your car with Aidan while you ride with Mason to keep him calm.
On a daily basis I have to remember/worry about things that normal moms don't. Did I bring the epi pens and the benadryl? I have to turn around and go back if I forget them. Did I bring a Mason-friendly snack, in case the other kids are eating something he can't have?
There was a day we were supposed to meet Brittany at the Zoo, and we got there and as I was loading up the stroller with our stuff I realized I left them home because he had school that morning and they were in his backpack, not my purse. So with a screaming Mason who was pissed we had to leave, we had to get back in the car and head home.
I have to watch him as he eats in restaurants, because I'm just sitting there waiting for there to be a reaction from some sort of cross-contamination in the kitchen. We can't eat in Asian restaurants because they use lots of peanuts in their cooking, and the risk of cross-contamination is WAY too great.
He can't have cake at Birthday Parties because the frosting is either buttercream or the "whipped" dairy frosting, and that will make him vomit. Thanks to a tip from a friend from PA I can buy him the canned frosting to use on cakes because believe it or not, most of them contain NO MILK. I shudder to think about what's actually in it then. I always used to make my own frosting from my great Aunt Edna's recipe....but hey if Mason can't have it...canned garbage it is.
We went out to a concert Friday night and the boys were with people we really trust (otherwise this allergy mama wouldn't have left them), yet I was checking my phone every 5 minutes to make sure I didn't have any messages from home.
Everyone who gets left with my kid gets a lesson on epi-pens, signs of anaphylaxis, and what foods are prohibited. It's nice when someone watches them in my own home because we are a nut-free home. I don't have to worry about peanut butter cups or granola bars with nuts being accidentally ingested. Ok, so we have one hidden jar of Peanut Butter on the top shelf of the pantry for nights when the boys are sleeping and Ry and I have to give in and have a taste....but other than that. No nuts.
For his second day at preschool during the week, he represented with his "It only takes one bite", "Team Mase Face" shirt that I created for the allergy walk last september. And his boots. He always wears his boots. a True Texan. ;)
I am that lady scouring and double/triple/quadruple checking ingredient lists on foods at the grocery store. Not because I want to, but because I'm trying to ensure that the label doesn't say something like "May contain peanuts/tree nuts, processed on the same equipment that processes peanuts/peanut butter, may contain traces of nuts".
And candy bars? Forget it. Way too risky. Sorry kid, no chocolate bunny for you at Easter!
Do you know how many brands of pretzels contain the warning "processed on shared equipment that also processes peanut butter"? Tons. Because peanut-butter filled pretzels are a thing, and that's why something as simple as pretzels, that YOU may not think would be related to a peanut allergy can affect my shopping experience.
My days are filled with worry and anxiety. I fear the day he goes to Kindergarten and he is out of my sight. Yes, he goes to preschool now, but it's a small class, and they never leave the room they're in. What happens when he's in Kindergarten with hundreds of other kids and walking in hallways and eating lunch in a large cafeteria where an adult who personally knows Mason can't say "hey Mason don't eat that!". Little kids are sneaky, I worry he'll be offered a peanut-laden snack on the playground or the school bus where he can't be helped. I lose sleep over it. So many kids die accidentally like that. Most days I hide it pretty well, but rest assured I am constantly worried and full of anxiety about his allergy. It doesn't end. I think about worst-case scenarios all day long. I am a helicopter mom and I am forced to be. If I don't look out for him, who will?
