A sad day.

I received an email from one of my friends in my "allergic kids" group. I usually open those emails with glee, knowing that the person writing is one of the few people who really understand what raising a child with severe food allergies is like. Never mind the constant "it's all in your head" approach, or the "let your damn kids get dirty and develop an immune system" approach. The group of women and men I correspond with online have all developed close friendships based on the one thing: raising our children in a world where even the smallest morsel of the wrong food could make our child very ill, or worse.

I sat staring at the computer screen for at least a half hour. The "or worse" scenario was playing out right in front of my eyes. My friend sent me an email that her eight year old son with a severe nut allergy had come in skin contact with peanut oil, stopped breathing, went into a coma, and died right before Thanksgiving. My heart ached as I watched my own son playing on the floor.

Moments like these make me wonder why I chose to enroll my child in a public school. No matter how hard I try to protect him, short of placing him into a bubble I can not. It is not society's problem that my child has food allergies, the burden is mine to carry. My son is has severe food allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, soy, citrus, pineapple, onion, nightshades (eggplant), and to a lesser degree, milk, cinnamon and egg. I face constant battles to find "safe" foods that he can tolerate.

The thought that a small amount of peanut oil on his skin could kill my son makes my blood run cold. The blood test that my son has every year placed him at a "level VI" for peanut. Just a small amount could cause his airway to swell and fluid to fill his lungs in seconds. Yes, I can be a paraniod parent when my child is in public. I believe I am as cautious as I can be and still allow him to have as normal of a life as possible.

I can only hope that the ones that think food allergies are trivial will find this blog and say a prayer for the little boy who died because he touched peanut oil.

'Nuff said.