I decided to start this blog after my son was diagnosed with food allergies. For the first seven months of his life he suffered with terrible eczema and after a trip to the ER we found out he is allergic to milk, soy, eggs, sesame and peanuts. As a parent of a child with food allergies it is a constant emotional rollercoaster. I have cried at grocery stores, at birthday parties and at night. He has had the Epi injection twice and spent too much time in the ER.

Current allergies: Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, Tree nuts
Outgrew: Sesame, Soy

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Vacation

The three of us went to Florida the week after Easter.  There was so much planning. So much anxiety. So many phone calls. So many conversations.  But after all of that we had a fantastic time in Florida and Aiden had just a few mild reaction and nothing dramatic. 

We were very disappointed that JetBlue could not announce on board that there was someone with sever food allergies and to please not eat peanuts.  It's actually illegal to announce it because it's discriminating against those that want peanuts.  I could have really gone to town on that comment but then I would have been arrested.  They did move our seat to the back of the plane where there was no one sitting but I still wish they could have made a friendly announcement. Aiden did have a mild reaction on that flight but Benadryl took care of it.   

Our hotel room was perfect. We had a fridge and a hot stove so I was able to cook everything for him. We shipped a box with his food/milk to the hotel a week earlier which was a HUGE help.  There were a few times where we had to be more cautious than ever before.  He would run through the hallway  in the hotel and we saw a peanut on the floor for a few days.   Someone also dropped ice cream on the floor near the pool and it took a full day to be cleaned up.  I also saw a little girl spilling a white drink (looked like milk) into the pool.  I spoke to the girl, only to get an attitude from her dad.  It turned out it was a pina-colada and it was completely okay to pour it into the pool, as the dad said.  Ok.  I forgot that we should all go get fruity drinks and just pour them into the pool because it's completely normal.

My husband and I took turns to go eat and only ate together a few times when Aiden was either sleeping or when we had Elmo on the IPAD.  But most breakfast and lunch we ate alone.  We did make it to two restaurants outside of the resort and the first one he had a slight reaction on his face so I'm pretty sure it's because I didn't clean his high chair carefully enough.  Second time was perfect. We were even able to order guacamole from the menu and Aiden devoured it.

Our flight back was completely full.  My husband spoke to the flight attendant and she said she can't make an announcement because it's illegal but she can mention something to the row in front and the row in back of us.  Fine.  About 10 minutes passes by and she still didn't say anything and people started opening up their bags of goodies.  Right behind my husband's seat a lady opens a peanut bar. I even smelled the peanuts.  We kindly asked if she could put it away and she did.  My husband went and spoke to the flight attendant again and she finally spoke to the two rows.  When they walked around with snacks they offered cashews and the guy sitting right in front of my son's seat asked for a bag. The flight attendant said she can't give him a bag and he asked 2 more times. What part of a nut allergy do you not understand? I felt like screaming.  

Aiden did have some swelling on his body after that flight. But nothing sever and we were finally home.

We thought if flying with Aiden wasn't so bad, we can deal with anything.  We were wrong.  We went to a family reunion the day after returning from Florida.  There was a peanut cake.  My husband's cousin did put it away immediately but we were told that there are always peanut products in that house.   The entire day I felt like we were constantly being annoying.  I felt like Aiden's allergies were bothering everyone else.  His cousin did make a huge afford to constantly ask us question and be as polite as possible.  They are so sweet.  Thankfully the weather was nice and we were in the back yard most of the day.  I still felt like I was constantly Aiden's shadow, not even allowing the cousins to play together because they were constantly around food.  Kids were touching Aiden so we had to hold him most of the time.  Adults were touching Aiden so I had to be the bitch and say please don't touch him because you just touched pastries. I was never rude but I was persistent because it seemed that very few get it.  I received dirty looks from my immediate family which just made me burst into tears as soon as I got into the car.  I'm overly emotional because I'm pregnant.  But I'm also annoyed because the people that should get it the most (grandparents), don't.  Instead they give us a hard time and start putting a guilt trip about other issues they have.  When we got home Aiden's body was getting so much worse.  He had huge red blotches all over the back of his legs and on his face.  His back was even more swollen than after the flight.  It feels like a constant battle.  A battle with food allergies and a battle with family.  I feel like some friends get it more than family.  Very frustrating.


2 comments:

  1. Hi! I found your blog through thebump, and I am so glad I did. My 3 year old son has severe food allergies as well (peanuts, eggs, sesame, legumes), and my 14 month old daughter is allergic to eggs and bananas. I can totally relate to the anxiety of having a child with food allergies. It is tough. It is encouraging to know that your son outgrew his sesame allergy! We were told that specific allergy is usually lifelong. I am so hopeful that my kids will outgrow their allergies before they have to start school.

    Your son is adorable by the way!

    ReplyDelete
  2. thank you Bradles! Food allergies really suck. I can't wait until all of our kids outgrow it or there is a safe cure for it. Until then.. we do what we have to do and vent as much as we can vent ;)

    ReplyDelete