My son was very young when he started carrying his epi-pens. He was also very physical so finding a way to protect his body from accidental injection was of utmost importance. I used cigar tubes attached to a belt. Then I bought a belt from MedicAlert. It worked well but was bulky and heavy. He wore it anyways. I just found a cool site that sells anaphylactic allergy accessories. Really well done. Wow, have things changed. http://www.allergyapparel.com/epinephrine-carriers-1/. Kids can fit in with everyone else with this stuff!
I taught him how to self-inject when he was around 5 years old. There was nurse down the street who had us over to help teach me and my son. I am scared of needles and the last thing in the world that I wanted to do was hurt him. The nurse looked at me like I was crazy. Seriously. She said "Who cares if it hurts him? If the needle breaks off...so what? He will be alive!" Huh. That was a life changer for me. True enough. My worries were silly and unfounded and could have risked his life.
I have since injected him several times with no issues whatsoever. I do strongly suggest that you drop their pants though.
One time, my brother-in-law injected him through his jeans. The needle bent in half. Yikes. Luckily I had another.
So, first strategy: Teach your child how to self-inject in an emergency.
Unfortunately, this is a life-skill for them and we parents cannot always be there.
Deathly allergic kids must be very practical and self-sufficient. They have to know that they are responsible for themselves. Such is life.
Monday, 16 February 2015
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Anaphylactic Shock.
Anaphylaxis reactions run in my family. However, we (my Dad and I) just avoided the allergen and voilà we were fine. I am anaphylactic allergic to salmon, tuna and other red fleshed fish. My dad told me the very last time I saw him before he passed that he "always had problems with walnuts and could never eat them". Oh boy.
There I was with a little boy so so allergic and my father was finally mentioning that he had had nut allergies. Well guess what? So does my son.
He is deathly allergic to peanuts, nuts, seeds, seafood and sulpha. He has to carry two epipens at all times. Even as a wee boy, he had to be responsible for his own epipens. I had to obtain a doctor's note so that the school allowed him to carry his own emergency medication. Most kids leave it in the nurses office but we did not have that as an option.
This is a really problematic medical problem on so many levels. I had to find a way to best protect my son while allowing him to lead the most normal life possible. Home, school, daycare, friends, camps etc. I lived with stress, anxiety and worry every single day of his life.
He has not had a reaction in 11 years. Why not? Because he still follows the strategies and rules that we set up when he was young.
There I was with a little boy so so allergic and my father was finally mentioning that he had had nut allergies. Well guess what? So does my son.
He is deathly allergic to peanuts, nuts, seeds, seafood and sulpha. He has to carry two epipens at all times. Even as a wee boy, he had to be responsible for his own epipens. I had to obtain a doctor's note so that the school allowed him to carry his own emergency medication. Most kids leave it in the nurses office but we did not have that as an option.
This is a really problematic medical problem on so many levels. I had to find a way to best protect my son while allowing him to lead the most normal life possible. Home, school, daycare, friends, camps etc. I lived with stress, anxiety and worry every single day of his life.
He has not had a reaction in 11 years. Why not? Because he still follows the strategies and rules that we set up when he was young.
Sunday, 1 February 2015
Allergy education
So as I have said, I had to self educate to help my son to grow and thrive. In those days, there were naturopaths but not many and they were considered "quacks" by most people. I had been to one myself to help with my allergies and most people thought that it was a bunch of nonsense. It really helped me however, and I applied much of what I went through to how I fed my son.
Why didn't I take him to the naturopath? Excellent question. I think that it was because I was young and broke and had no medical coverage. Perhaps, I believed that he needed a medical doctor or people would think that I was a neglectful mother. Lots of people called me a "hippy" (thank you) anyways because of the fact that I tried to avoid medication. People scoffed at my belief that he was allergic and rolled their eyes. To my face. I think that I believed that I knew to eliminate all allergens from him and that that in truth was the only solution. Reflecting back, I wish that I had taken him for the vitamin and mineral support as well as the natural healing. I would not hesitate with my other children now.
From the time he started eating to now, food was a source of joy but also became a life threatening experience. We are still frightened to this day.
Soon after I stopped nursing my eldest son, he had his first anaphylactic reaction. He was eating a pretty good varied diet at that point but that soon came to a screeching halt.
What an utter shock.
Why didn't I take him to the naturopath? Excellent question. I think that it was because I was young and broke and had no medical coverage. Perhaps, I believed that he needed a medical doctor or people would think that I was a neglectful mother. Lots of people called me a "hippy" (thank you) anyways because of the fact that I tried to avoid medication. People scoffed at my belief that he was allergic and rolled their eyes. To my face. I think that I believed that I knew to eliminate all allergens from him and that that in truth was the only solution. Reflecting back, I wish that I had taken him for the vitamin and mineral support as well as the natural healing. I would not hesitate with my other children now.
From the time he started eating to now, food was a source of joy but also became a life threatening experience. We are still frightened to this day.
Soon after I stopped nursing my eldest son, he had his first anaphylactic reaction. He was eating a pretty good varied diet at that point but that soon came to a screeching halt.
What an utter shock.
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