I'm not sure how religious I am, but I certainly believe in karma.
Three and a half years ago, my neighbors and I decided to throw a joint Halloween party for our kids, the kids on the block, and a few close friends. I had been making brownies for the party- Ghiradelli box brownies to be exact- when I received a call from neighbor. She wanted to make sure that whatever I was baking was nut-free. "Of course!", I replied, as there were no walnuts, or any nuts in the mix. Neighbor further pressed me to check the box, as her friend's child had a nut allergy. Exasperated, I looked at the box, quickly scanning the ingredients. "Nope, no nuts."...pause..."WAIT....here's something about it being processed in a facility....". Needless to say, the child could not eat them. I was annoyed, because I thought they were being just a bit over-reactive; it was processed in a facility, but what were the chances of contamination? And really, to deny anyone the bliss that is a Ghiredelli brownie? Blasphemy. Now, let it be noted that at the time, my children were under 3, so I had not yet attempted to give them nuts.
Fast-forward around 6 months, to March, 2008. My friends, my husband and I had taken my daughter, Jamison (aged 3) and my son Reid (aged 16 mths) to a childrens museum. Said museum had a snack bar. Said snack bar served peanut butter crackers. Reid had a bite of my friends pb cracker. Within 15 minutes, his lips started swelling, and his face developed hives. I sent my husband to go get Benadryl while I called the pediatrician and described what was happening. The doctor's advice was to rush him to the ER if he "developed an anaphylactic reaction". "What's that?", I asked, frantically watching as his eyes began turning red and swollen. "If he develops hives," (check) "If he begins vomiting.""If his throat begins to close." "How do I know if his throat is closing?", I naively asked. "If he starts making little coughing noises like he's trying to clear his throat.", she replied. That's when I lost it.
I begged my husband to get the car immediately. He protested that I was (as usual) over-reacting (see, folks? KARMA.) He wanted to go home, keep an eye on him and wait for the Benadryl to kick in. I was having absolutely NONE of that. He grudgingly got the car, and began driving to the closest hospital. In the car, my baby started making little coughing noises. Noises that sounded like he was trying to clear his throat. My heart stopped. I screamed at my husband to step on it. We argued the entire way there, but he did listen to me. When I ran into the ER, holding my son covered in hives, and screamed "HE HAD PEANUTS", someone dragged me into the pediatric ward where the nurses had me strip Reid down. When I took his clothing off, his entire body was covered in hives and his throat had already started closing up. I had to hold his tiny body down while they jabbed both thighs with Epinephrine, and then held an oxygen mask to his face. I held him while he went limp from the toll this had taken on him, sweaty and exhausted. I will carry this memory to my grave.
This was the day my life forever changed. This was the day we learned that eating was no longer a fun, carefree experience. This was the day we began a never-ending journey of research. I remember lying on the floor of his room that night crying, wondering how we would keep him alive. This is something no parent should ever have to wonder.
Thankfully, the next day I found FAAN, a non-profit organization completely dedicated to bringing about a better understanding of the issues surrounding food allergies (ALL food allergies) and providing helpful resources. They were my savior immediately after what is now known to us as 'Reid's Incident'.
So, when this past summer, my daughter, after eating a chocolate peanut butter bar, had an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts, we were prepared. Don't get me wrong- we were shocked. How is it possible that BOTH of our kids are allergic to nuts when neither me nor my husband have a nut allergy? What are the chances?! But it wasn't as much of a shock as the first time. Now we carry 4 epis everywhere instead of 2. I have to order double the amount of Divvies. And Team Reid for the FAAN walk became Team Reid and Jamison.
I was motivated to put these thoughts down because of something particularly disheartening happening in the news today. A 6 yr old little girl down in Florida has a life-threatening nut allergy. Her school thoughtfully instituted policies forcing kids to wash hands twice a day to keep her safe. This made the news because a group of parents from that school are protesting this on the grounds that it takes away too much time from the kids' school day. They want this little girl to be home-schooled. I read about this and I cried. This could be about my children.
As I had earlier described, when you do not have a child with allergies, the hoops you may sometimes have to jump through for others can be annoying. They may seem to be over-reactive. I've been on that side of the fence. Hell, I lived there. Unfortunately, I was forcibly evicted from that side. I now reside on the other side of the fence. And believe me, it's REALLY not greener here. So, I understand where the protesting parents are coming from. However, anyone who has a child with food allergies knows that everyday events like parties, playdates, eating in the school cafeteria, going on an airplane, eating in a restaurant- all become complicated and fraught with tension. You have to balance keeping them safe with trying to make sure they live as normal a life as possible. So if one child's life can be saved, isn't it worth the few minutes of washing?
Stepping off my soapbox (for now). I'm looking forward to using this site as a means to share my thoughts and experiences, as well as hear yours. And maybe through this, we can all make ourselves a little less nuts.
xo
Jodi
