Epi-pen

[kateking]

So its official DS1 needs an Epi-pen for his peanut allergy. His risk is rated as severe. With that news came relief that it had been taken seriously (finially) and then a primal, gut wrenching, protective, anxious wave flowed through me as I was being trained in the pens application. The reality was almost too much.
My 1st baby...I want to put him back inside me and make it all go away.

[Rinelle]

*hugs* That must be really hard.

[lizlea]

But thank goodness for inventions like the epi-pen so he can be safe! Hope you are feeling better about it all soon.

[soulmama]

That is a huge responsibility to wear.... I am in awe of parents who need to do this. I'm sure I would freak out at the prospect too. :(

Clarity and strength for the journey your precious boy is on! :heart

[zookeeper]

We have one for our DS too. Was a bit of a shock but I definitely feel much more comfortable having it and knowing what to do should something happen. Ewan is allergic to cashew nuts. We are lucky that we don't have to avoid traces of but it is still hard especially when he's being babysat by someone else. Even close family members have forgotten at times what he's allergic too (eg bringing cashew nut dips to parties) so it's a bit of a worry when you have to trust others to remember and know what to do. It does get easier though.

The best thing for me is his older brother - Liam is fantastic with checking for nuts in food and always asking people if the food they're offering has nuts. Makes me feel much more confident about leaving them when they're together. The other great thing is that Ewan will never take food from people without checking with me first. We have talked about it with him right from the start - even though he didn't really understand it then - but it has definitely reinforced his nut allergy with him and he is aware of what it is and what he can't eat.

How old is your DS?

[marmee]

Agreed - the Epi-Pen actually took away much of my anxiety around the issue...esp having lived through DDs anaphylactic reaction.

I am so glad it has been taken seriously for you and your babe

[random]

My DD has a severe peanut allergy also, we found out when she was 18 months and she's now 4. I was anxious at first but it has become very normal for us, we have an epi-pen but haven't had to use it yet. We haven't had DS tested yet, which just treat him the same and I haven't left him in anyone else's care yet, but I will organise a test for him before he starts preschool.

[kateking]

Hi everyone, thanks for your support :)
The problem for me is that DS1 gets allergic asthma and when he gets that, it is very confusing to know whether its the "big" one that requires the epi-pen or not? I talked to the specialist and even she said it was a difficult case because you don't want to be jabbing him with an epi-pen everytime he has an attack but you don't want to delay too long either thinking it's "just asthma". That is the scary part for me.
I guess the fears will settle down in time.

[marmee]

That *does* sound scary. Sounds like you have found some good support in your specialist, though. Maybe they will help you to eventually see the "real" signs??

Hugs