My child has a peanut....and pecan and cashew and egg white allergy. WHAT?

First off, I don't want to come off like I am complaining. I am beyond thankful for my healthy children and I realize that there are so many parents that would love it if a peanut allergy was the only thing wrong with their child. I know I am one of the lucky ones. This is seriously never lost on me. With all that being said, I am a little bit stressed/worried/unsure/uneducated/unprepared for this diagnosis in Max. I've known for almost a year that he was allergic to peanuts and pecans, so I'm not sure why this is really hitting me hard lately. I guess it's because he is getting older, is totally mobile, and could very well get into something he shouldn't. It could also have to do with the visit to the allergist yesterday where I thought they would tell me he had grown out of it, and instead labeled it as "severe". The good new is that it looks like he is outgrowing his egg allergy almost completely

(first visit to the allergies 24 months)

 It's somewhat ironic, because for the first year of his life before his diagnosis, we used to joke about not giving him something because he might have a peanut allergy. I thought this whole allergy thing was a bit hyped up, and not nearly as common as people said. The first night he had a reaction, I had come home late from a movie with some friends. Cody said he was having a hard time falling asleep, and when I looked at the monitor, he was clawing at his skin and could not get comfortable. Even that night Cody said "uh oh, hope he didn't eat a peanut tonight". Hmmm not so funny anymore? We went to find his entire body covered in hives, and he was bleeding from all the itching. Off to the ER we went.

The second of our two ER visits happened about 5 months later, and this time his face was also swelling, and he vomited and went unconscious. Worst 20 minutes of our lives. We have no idea what caused this. After that experience we had him tested.

(second ER visit 17 months old)

Now onto the real reason of this post, and the concept I am struggling with. We haven't made that big of a deal about this so far. We haven't' stayed away from restaurants and birthday parties, and don't insist on making everything from scratch at home. He also hasn't had another reaction since his diagnosis, and we knew what to avoid, but am I doing enough? When you Google "Peanut Allergy Blogs" you will find countless numbers of "mom" blogs about their children with allergies, specifically peanut and  how it consumes every second of their lives. They don't allow their kids to go to preschool, slumber parties, or field trips.  Do I need to be like this? Like any toddler Max loves chicken tenders, and this is usually his go-to at restaurants. BUT according to these other mom's you should never allow a child with the allergy to have fried food because it could be friend in peanut oil. It's not likely, but possible. I would say that we have probably have chicken tenders from at least 20 different places with no reaction. However, I would NEVER want to put him at risk, so should I start making these changes?

So my big question is A) Do I continue to be extremely cautious of what he eats, while still allowing him to go out to restaurants, play with friends, and attend playgroup (where peanut butter cookies were recently served to the kids AND I wasn't with him-yikes) with the worst possible scenario being we have to use the Epi Pen I carry around with me. or B) Never even put ourselves in the situation. Cook from scratch at home, and enroll him in a peanut free preschool? This is the safest-duh, but it is necessary? I just don't know.

I recently learned that the elementary schools in our neighborhood force kids with allergies to sit alone at lunch. I'm praying that this decision can ultimately be up to the parents. I would much rather just reinforce to Max his limitations with food, and teach him never to touch other people's lunches than to banish him to a table all alone away from his friends, and make him feel like a freak. Oh it makes me SO sad to even think of it! Don't think I haven't already called the school to talk to the principal. They are going to laugh when they realize my child won't be coming for 3 years!

(Would you want your baby to sit here)?

(Will there be kids like this laughing at him)?

So anyway. My precious angel has a peanut allergy even though we don't know a single soul on either side of the family with ANY food allergies. That's life I guess. If you're reading this and have walked this road with your kids, or are currently doing so drop me a line to let me know how your family is dealing!

(He still looks happy to me. Now if he were allergic to water and mud that would be another story)!

Happy Tuesday. I taught my last class today, and now it's summer!