Jackson is allergic to milk, soy, eggs, peanuts, treenuts, wheat, bananas, dogs, and has seasonal allergies, and the beginnings of asthma. At two months old he started getting eczema and rashes. We did the RAST blood test and thus started our scary journey of keeping him away from foods that he tested "positive" for. We were perscribed the Epi-Pen and my fears tripled. Would I really have to inject my son with this needle to save his life? Could we ever leave him with babysitters? What if we ate something and kissed his little cheeks, would he go into anaphylatic shock? Oh the fear, the fear. Unless you have a child with food allergies I think it is impossible to understand the reality of it. I think people feel that food allergies give our kids a tummy ache, or a little rash on their belly. Most people don't understand that coming in contact with some peanut butter accidently left behind on a toy by playful fingers could take our child's very life. People don't understand that going out to dinner or going to a birthday party causes severe anxiety in the parent of a child with food allergies. A trip to Disneyland or other public places becomes a battle of what and where we can eat that will be safe for our little ones and the hope of public areas being free of any food left behind on shared surfaces. An innocent bite of a cookie from a friend or relative could mean an ambulance ride and a hospital stay. An accidental cross contamination in a cereal box could be life threatening. Having a child with food allergies is stressful, sad, discouraging and a purposeful daily responsibility of keeping your own child from tragedy. But there is always hope, prayer and fun......Jackson is evidence of that!
When Jackson was 11 months old he had the skin prick testing done and the results conflicted with the RAST test, hence causing endless confusion to what was causing so much pain for my little boy. If you have a child with food allergies, you know that the diagnosis is always not 100% accurate. It's frightening.....the only way to know if they are truly allergic to the food is to see if they have a reaction when they eat it...no thank you!
We saw dermatologists, received second and third opinions, tried many perscription creams and medicines, gave him strong allergy medicines and watched as he would scratch his wrists and knees until they were bloody and raw. I was often depressed and frustrated that I could not find the help my son needed and would spend hours on chat boards, searching the internet, DESPERATELY trying to find a solution to this scary journey. I prayed and prayed for his healing (and I still do) as I know God is our Healer, but realized quickly that this is our journey with Jackson. A journey to keep him away from FOOD.
As Jackson became a toddler we realized that he is afraid of food too. He is very picky and sometimes I feel that God made him that way to protect him. He generally eats about 7 of the same foods and really drinks orange juice instead of eating. As frustrating as his picky eating is, it does slightly give me a break from worry, knowing that he won't grab something and eat it. Most foods don't appeal to him at all. He attends a peanut-free preschool and is a very silly, happy, funny, loving, and very sensitive little boy. He is absolutely the joy of our lives along with his little sister Presley (who also has some food allergies). He is now aware that some foods are "danger" and is starting to be very much aware that he is different. He cries at school when other kids celebrate birthdays and get to eat cupcakes (even though I don't think he would try one) and he sometimes will eat something he knows he can't have just to test us. I know I have instilled fear in him, and that makes me sad, but it was definitely not intentional.
In November of 2008, the day I feared the most arrived. Jackson's allergist had given us the okay to try milk products because Jackson seemed to be tolerating foods that had milk baked into them...ie chicken nuggets, eggo waffles, other cookies and snacks. Trusting the allergist, I gave him a new snack that had milk in it, and moments later he was in anaphylatic shock. Epi-pen, ER, ect. Thankfully, he was fine, but the excitedness, hope, celebration and relief that I had the day before was stolen out of my head and heart, and FEAR returned on a greater scale. I was so hopeful that he was growing out of these allergies. He'll be 3 years old in June and it doesn't seem like much is changing. His eczema is much better than when he was a baby, and he seems to tolerate soy oil and milk that is baked into some foods, but that's just it, SOME foods. We never know if he'll react to a new food, so most of the time I think we're all to afraid to try it.
Our daughter Presley who will be two years old in July has only tested positive to peanut, eggs and dogs. Well I guess I shouldn't say ONLY....as the peanut allergy scares me. She is not picky, she wants to eat everything we do and we also carry an Epi-pen for her as well. We plan on doing the NAET program with her as well. I am so thankful that she does not have as many allergies as Jackson. God is good.
My prayer is that the following posts will bring encouragement, information and hope for anyone who reads about Jackson's journey. I will explain the NAET program and you can journey with us as we try it out as a hopeful option for Jackson's healing. Please pray for us and for Jackson. I know and believe that God will heal Jackson, and will use people, places and our experiences to do so. Feel free to contact me with any questions or prayer requests sroth220@sbcglobal.net
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