Simon has outgrown his peanut allergy! Hallelujah – last year he tested negative for cows’ milk, this year for peanuts, and those are the two food allergies we’ve dealt with since he was just a little over one year old. We knew it was likely he would outgrow the milk issue, but we were pleasantly surprised that it happened last year. And although the chance he’s outgrow the peanut problem was much lower, I believed he would, but again I didn’t think it’d be this soon.
What a relief! I don’t think I’d realized, until there was the chance it was over, how much time and mental energy we’ve had to put into this subject – checking and double-checking ingredients, making sure we always have his Epi-pen and little bottles of Xyxal or Benadryl, worrying about preschool and school and Bible School and visiting friends’ houses and everything. Educating everyone that even if you’d never think something would have peanuts in it, you still have to check. … and Simon’s never even really been that sensitive (he can sit next to a kid with a PB&J), and hasn’t ever had a life-threatening reaction – I can’t imagine what other parents go through.
And wow, Simon has just recently (last 6 months or so) demonstrated a better understanding of the issue, and has taken the lead on always asking us if he can eat a particular thing, such as at a church potluck. But I hope this experience has helped us all understand what it’s like for other kids, and maybe one day Simon will have a buddy with an allergy and will help watch out for him/her and help their other friends understand it’s not so unusual.
( I used to be one of those people who had zero understanding of, and zero patience/empathy with parents of kids with food allergies, especially peanuts, so I suppose I was destined to have a kid with one. Ah, yes, now I get it – you parents aren’t being deliberately obnoxious, it’s just that you’re following your doctor’s directions and are trying to keep your kid, you know, alive. )
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