Emily had no idea her one year-old son, Patrick, had allergies, until he ate a peanut and suffered an anaphylactic reaction. Now 11, Patrick is allergic to eggs, nuts, kiwi fruit, sesame seeds and shellfish. Learning to live with food allergies is hard, but educating other’s about the seriousness of the condition is harder in some cases.
Above image: Patrick (fourth from left) with his mum, brothers and friend.
Here’s their story…
“It never entered my mind that my son, Patrick, could have allergies or anaphylaxis. There was no family history of any conditions at all, other than my Dad having asthma. Patrick was just 4 months old when my maternal health nurse was looking at his skin and monitoring his breathing and said he had asthma and eczema – I just looked at her in shock and disbelief. I thought, ‘that can’t be right – where could he have gotten these conditions from?’
It was when he was age one that we got an even bigger shock. Patrick’s Grandfather had quite innocently given him a peanut. Within 10 minutes his mouth and whole face was swollen. I didn’t really understand what was happening at the time, but I jumped in the car and took him to the chemist, who advised me to take him straight to the hospital. He was quickly diagnosed as having an anaphylactic reaction, given medication to open up his airways and his breathing was monitored for several hours until he stabilised.
A series of tests revealed Patrick was allergic to peanuts and eggs. I didn’t know the first thing about allergies or anaphylaxis so had to educate myself fast. From then on, we carried an adrenaline auto-injector with us everywhere we went. All first-time foods were gently rubbed on the inside of his lip and given in tiny amounts to monitor any swelling in his mouth or face and his breathing. We became vigilant at home, not having eggs in the house, and checking the ingredients on everything we bought.
Patrick (far right) with his brother and friend.
It was when he was 4 that I discovered he was allergic to kiwi fruit. We were at home and within 10 minutes of eating one, Patrick went limp, his face swelled and I rushed him to the hospital – he had an anaphylactic reaction. His third anaphylactic reaction was at age 5. He was eating a focaccia in the car and after just two mouthfuls he slumped back into his car seat and went limp, and I rushed him to the hospital.
While we are vigilant with his foods, he’d been tested by specialists and because kiwi fruit and sesame seeds hadn’t shown up, we thought they were safe foods. What we hadn’t realised was that allergies and anaphylaxis is an evolving condition. We found out this the hard way. Patrick had been eating egg-free battered fish from our local fish and chip shop for years, when suddenly, at age , he felt tingling in his mouth and sick in the stomach – another anaphylactic and allergic symptom. We added fish and shellfish to the allergy list. Similarly, he’d been eating tinned pineapple pieces for years, then suddenly, after eating a small fresh pineapple, he suffered a fourth anaphylactic reaction and was rushed to hospital. The specialist explained that the heating process that occurs with preserved and tinned pineapple eliminates the allergens, but fresh pineapple retains them.
Anaphylaxis and allergies don’t just impact the food choices we make though, the effects filter through every aspect of your life. I remember when he was little was invited on play dates, I’d have to explain his condition to mums. One mum said, ‘Oh, my son lives on peanut butter sandwiches’. You have to work with it and find safe alternatives, so it became easier to have play dates at our house – a safe food zone, or when he was a bit older and went to friend’s homes, I’d pack food for him.
Patrick (left) taking his little friend for a spin on his farm.
Many friends are understanding and supportive, but there’s a lot of people who are completely ignorant or unaware of the seriousness. It really hit home when it was time for Patrick to go to primary school. I met with the principal of the first school, (I had Patrick with me, age 5, his younger brother Jess, 3, and my youngest son Dusty, 1). I asked what allergy policies they had. The Principal replied ‘none, children can take care of themselves by age 5’. The second school Principal told me they don’t have ‘those children’ at their school – referring to children with allergies and anaphylaxis. It was horrible. But then the third school was the opposite – they took me into the sick bay and showed me all the notices on the wall with the children who have conditions and action plans. They have a ‘safe food policy’ at school, so children don’t take peanuts and other high risk foods into the playground. And the children with allergies all have a yellow ribbon around their school hats so that if something happens, people know immediately that it could be anaphylaxis or an allergic reaction and can call an ambulance and administer the adrenaline auto-injector. Patrick is now 11, and it’s really lovely that the little kids in the playground with yellow ribbons look up to him as a big kid role model with his yellow ribbon.
You can’t ever presume everything will be ok though. I’d sworn that Patrick would never go on a school camp – it was just too risky. But then the whole class was excited about it and I relented. Despite calling the camp and being advised that they were ‘allergy aware’ and had great policies, I checked the menus and asked what the ‘crumbed chicken’ was made with, and the lady replied, ‘egg and sesames’, followed by a, ‘Oh, right, he’s allergic to those.’ Then they took things to the other extreme, and while all the other children had sausages in white bread for lunch, Patrick was given a sausage on a flat hard piece of pitta. White bread is completely safe. He was so upset and didn’t want to go on another camp, but changed his mind and this year and had a fantastic experience. The cook was fantastic and went through every single ingredient on the menu with me, developing a ‘safe meal plan’, rather than serving up last minute improvised meals for Patrick, alienating him from everyone else.
Patrick knows a thing or two about creating arts and crafts masterpieces.
Next year will be another milestone, with Patrick starting high school. We need to make sure all the canteen foods are safe continually – even the slightest change, such as changing bakeries and suddenly egg is used in the pie pastry, could have life threatening affect. I talked to Patrick’s 11 year old friend, who’ll be going to the same high school, about how to use the adrenaline auto-injectot if Patrick needs it. It’s scary sending him out into unfamiliar places on his own, and leaving the responsibility of investigating every food ingredient in his hands, whereas now, I have that role and control. I think about how it will affect his life when he’s independent, like travelling to places like Thailand and Indonesia, where everything is made with peanuts.
It’s one thing for Patrick or I to ask, but people still don’t realise that allergic reaction and anaphylaxis are real and life threatening. The more people that respect the condition, the better it will be for the kids who are affected.
About Allergies and Anaphylaxis
The Carousel has teamed up with the ‘Raise Your Hands for Anaphylaxis’ campaign to raise awareness and support for children suffering allergies and anaphylaxis, with the aim of educating people and encouraging schools to educate students. For more stories, see…
Allergies & Anaphylaxis: Could Your Child Be Susceptible? Find Out…
This is a sponsored post by Alphafarm . All opinions expressed by the author are authentic and written in their own words.
Scary stuff, I feel so lucky that Ava doesn’t have any allergies. At orientation, one of the Mums at the primary school spoke about her daughter’s allergies and why the school was nut free. I think it really made a lot of the parents think about their lunch box choices.
Thanks for your comments Naomi – it’s so important parents think about their lunch box choices.