Peanut Allergies and Me

Photo Source

Peanuts suck.

I found out my son was allergic to peanuts when he was 6 months old. Obviously he had never had peanuts before, so when his blood test came back as him having a class III/IV peanut allergy, it wasn't such a big deal for us.. We would just avoid it. On that same test we found out that he had several other allergies as well, such as a class III milk allergy, a class II soy allergy, and a class III egg whites allergy. My son was formula fed because of difficulties with me producing my own milk, so the formulas were all milk or soy based, so it was hard on my son. Fast forward to his first birthday, and he had pretty much outgrown all of his allergies, just on introducing it little by little into his diet through desensitization. Sometimes he still has an issue with soy, but it's not a bad reaction. However, peanuts still terrify me.

A few days ago we went into the doctor's office to follow up on his blood tests he had for his physical, as well as an added test I had done for my own peace of mind, an allergy panel. All of his allergies came back great! Lots of class I and II, but those aren't very concerning levels, seeing as he's exposed to all of these things every day. However, the doctor recommended that I go and see an allergist, and put a RUSHED referral into my insurance for us to go see one.. I concerned me because I had gotten the referral a few days prior to the visit, and it was never discussed, which freaked me out! Turns out, his peanut allergy level was alarming to the doctor... Which is understandable! His levels came back as a class V/VI peanut allergy. o.o What? His numbers had risen dramatically, instead of going down as I had hoped. Up to this point, he has still never ingested a peanut, or peanut product. A topically he's had some pretty bad reactions just from contact after I've eaten a peanut butter sandwich or coming across some peanut M&Ms. (I know, we are crazy for having this around, but supposedly he was supposed to get BETTER >.<)

A while ago my husband and I had decided that we want to homeschool our son. For me, this is a no brainer.. I'm TERRIFIED of leaving him with anyone unless it's one-on-one because of things that could happen. What happens when I send him to school, where there is one teacher and 35 kids? One of those kids could have some type of peanut product, and easily cross contaminate.. Having a child going into anaphylactic shock in their classroom is not something I'd ever want to put a teacher through.. Also, if it ended terribly, I would never want that child to feel badly about it, the teacher, or the parents of the child that had the products. I just feel that since I'm able to do so for the time being, I'm going to go ahead and handle his schooling until I feel confident in his ability to understand his issues and his own body, as well as how to treat himself if accidentally exposed.

I've researched a lot about kids and peanut allergies, and feel passionately about educating people on the severity of this allergy. As I find useful information, I will write a post. I know I don't get very much traffic, but I hope the people who really want to learn about this issue can, as well as me being able to educate the people I love in my and my son's life all in one place. =)


Much love,

Ashley =)