I loved this doctor! The gist I got from him was that this whole allergy thing has been blown way out of proportion. Just because it "can cause death", everyone jumps right to assuming the worst. He spouted off a bunch of statistics and facts to me which eventually led me to ask why he has a job.
Here are some I found:
About three percent of children have clinically proven allergic reactions to foods
Although most people have experienced a reaction to something they have eaten, only 1% of the adult population suffers from true immune reactions
Approximately 100 Americans, usually children, die annually from food-induced anaphylaxis
While it is truly terrible that 100 people die every year, it ends up being a very, very small percentage. The hype that goes along with food allergies just seems out of proportion to the problem that it actually is.
Aiden was tested for the peanut allergy and it came out positive. We were given an epi-pen to keep on hand. The doctor said its mostly a deterrent for grandparents who set out to prove that his allergy is not real. Apparently when people are diagnosed with food allergies, often the family will do a little "experiment" because they don't believe its real.
Thankfully, Aiden's grandparents are much more concerned and conscientious than I about such things and would never try something like that, but we'll still keep it in the diaper bag.
There are no food allergies anywhere in my family or Shaun's and Aiden was breast-fed for 13 months. Oddly though, his one-year old cousin was recently diagnosed with egg and peanut allergies as well.
This whole thing is strange and I for sure didn't think I'd be dealing with it, but we will. I whole-heartedly agree with the doctor (did I mention I love him?) that its really not a big deal, just don't feed him peanut stuff.
As we were leaving I asked the doctor if he would take care of ALL our medical needs. :) Its rarer and rarer these days to find someone who is willing to say, Don't worry about it...its not a big deal. Most are all too anxious to throw you a prescription and get you out the door. I love it when they downplay things and reiterate that this is not something to lose sleep over.
Bread and butter always works. :)
Bread and butter always works. :)
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Psalm 139:13,14
I had lots of food allergies as a child, peanuts being one of them. I out grew most of them, but find that if I eat a lot of peanuts or peanut butter now, I get canker sores.
ReplyDeleteAnd my son, Jason, had egg and tomato allergies as a baby about aidens age..both of which he out grew. We carried an epi pen with him too....mainly because eggs were in so many things.
how did you stumble upon thinking he had an allergy? Kamden has fully grown out of his intolerance of milk. Peanut butter is not one of my favorite things to clean off a baby, now you don't have to. Ha
ReplyDeleteIt's been our experience that any food allergy is a big deal, yet I also understand keeping the diagnosis in perspective.
ReplyDeleteMy son started off with a peanut allergy and began showing signs of allergies to multiple other foods. Currently he has life threatening allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, fish and shellfish.
Statistics show that 80% of peanut allergic reactions involve breathing difficulties. Please watch labels that state "May contain peanuts" because in fact many of them do. Depending upon how sensitive your child is, these products can cause allergic reactions.
I have an abundance of information about food allergies on my website AllergicChild.com
Ah, Peanups! We'll have to figure out an alternative for Uncle Lee to give to him when he's old enough to participate - pistachios?! :)
ReplyDeleteI love this post! :o) Peanut butter is stinky anyways! hehe!
ReplyDelete