There really is a lot of food out there that B can eat. It's not stuff you can just pick up though. It requires time, effort and lots of love. I wanted to create this as a tool to educate people. Especially those that will be around B. I know I will have to spend everyday that B has these allergies educating people about them. I've had to educate doctors and nurses and pharmacists about it. Some refuse to understand.
My friend who's son has more severe food allergies then my son is unfortunate enough to have in-laws who REFUSE to understand how serious it is. They have diabetic grandchild and constantly say that that is more severe then the allergies and that this child's allergies are in no way life threatening. Now diabetes is of course serious. I had an aunt pass away because of health issues related to her life long diabetes. Diabetic shock is terrifying. But so is anaphylactic shock. And anaphylaxis can happen in a situation out of the individual's control. Diabetic shock can come by the individual's choices to put food (or not put foods) into their body. Yes, they have to always be cautious. Anaphylactic shock can happen just by being in the same room or touching something that the individual did not know was contaminated. Thankfully my son is not this severe. But if you touch him after having any dairy, he will break out in hives. If he touches a toy that a child touched after touching dairy, he breaks out in hives.
Though he is not severe enough that any exposure other then ingesting dairy is life threatening, it is still life changing. Think about going to the playground- a kid enjoys an ice cream cone or a yogurt and plays on the equipment without washing their hands first. This could give my child hives and he gets sick. He sometimes feel 'down' for several days after an encounter. There are few restaurants that we can trust (or that will even serve us) to not have cross contamination. There are very few people I can leave B with. Making it hard to have a date with my husband. What if a child recently enjoyed a treat containing dairy in the shopping cart that I am now using? What if B wants to go to a friend's house? They have to clean all their toys. What if a someone comes to our house and doesn't wash their hands? We have to clean everything they touch.
These are just some of the ways that this allergy affects my son's life. It's not just the foods he cant' eat. It's the carefree, childlike life he can't have.
