HAVING A CHILD WITH A PEANUT ALLERGY

- Victoria Wachtel, Contributing Writer

Well it’s that time of year again 'Back to school'. Over the past few weeks we have started getting the back to school clothes,

Back pack, lunchbox ect. My daughter Elizabeth has a nut allergy- so the most important thing that I need to do is to get a new Epi-pen!  She is going into a new grade and I need to let the teachers know of Elizabeth’s allergy to peanuts.

I must admit that it has been very frustrating over the years, having the only child in the class who has a nut allergy.  I would look at other mothers with envy since they never had to worry what their children ate at classroom parties or events.  I will never forget my panic and fear the first day that Elizabeth started Kindergarten and I had to trust that the school would take over guarding her and be as vigilant as I was about the food that she ate or the food that she could perhaps come in touch with.  With time it has gotten slightly easier, and now that Elizabeth is older (she is 9) and she understands her allergy, she is actually more vigilant with her food than I am as I have learned the ingredients of practically every known packet of food that sits upon the shelves in the markets. Elizabeth won't even take chances even if she is told that something does not contain nuts unless she trusts the person who is telling her.  She would rather not eat it. I must admit it can be incredibly frustrating at times when I am cooking for her and she even asks me if the food has nuts in it!

I know that other mothers face this challenge and that there are some children who can't even be in the same room when the lid of a peanut jar is unscrewed. When I think of them, I know that I am lucky that Elizabeth’s allergy is relatively easy to control. I have a girlfriend whose son is allergic to eggs, milk, butter and a whole host of other things, and that it has been very difficult and challenging for her to go through this.

Also, it’s important to remember how difficult it is for the child to go through this.  It has really affected my daughter in terms of how she feels about “fitting in”.  Fortunately, last year in 3rd grade there was another little girl, Natalie, in her class who shared the same allergy.  This made a big difference to Elizabeth as she suddenly did not feel like the odd one out -- when they sat together sometimes they felt like the two “special girls” sharing this allergy together, as if they were part of some special club!  Unfortunately there have been a few horrifying instances when another child thought it would be funny to spread Elizabeth's lunch with peanut butter, but as I have said, she is now of the age where she can lookout for herself!  It still does not take my worry away, but it does alleviate it.

Next week, as school goes back, I will still need to go into the classroom and let Elizabeth's new teacher know of her allergy and ask her to be on alert when any goodies are brought into the classroom by parents.  And I usually make my rounds to the parents and let them know, too, so if they are ever baking for the class they can take her into consideration.

I will never forget the first day that I found out about Elizabeth’s peanut allergy.  I was in a restaurant in London and had ordered a salad that came with a peanut dressing. Elizabeth was around a year old and had just discovered tomatoes. I must have been talking to a girlfriend and not noticed that Elizabeth snuck a tomato. As we were packing up to leave and I went to put her into her stroller, I took one look at her face and she was completely distorted. Her eyes were almost closed shut and her lips were really puffy and swollen.  I gasped and shouted to my friend, who happened to be a doctor, and she told me to get Elizabeth to the emergency room straight away!  I will never forget running like a crazy woman, screaming at people to move out of the way.  My first instinct was to get to the pharmacy immediately and get Piriton, an English medicine that’s similar to Benadryl down her throat.  So I ran into the chemist, panicking, and raced up to a counter, grabbed a bottle of piriton and gave it to her right there and then. I continued in the direction of the hospital, but sure enough, Elizabeth’s swelling started to subside. I found out at a much later date that when Elizabeth went along for a peanut test in our local hospital, that this was the best thing I could have done.  I mention it in case any other mothers reading this are ever in a similar position.

Check out Lizzy's own blog!