Let me start with my love for peanut butter. Oh, how I loved your perfect components, you are a healthy choice and easy sell to a lot of kids. You are inexpensive and a staple to every American packed lunch. But something happened, children started dying from a deadly reaction to your luscious tummy filling essence.
Sandwiches, cookies, ice cream, crackers, and PEANUT BUTTER CUPS, all took on a deadly shroud when we discovered our oldest is allergic. He oozed puss from open rashes at 4 months, learned later my love for peanut butter and breastfeeding him were most likely the cause. He'd break out in hives with an open jar in the room at 6 months. At one he was tested and we said goodbye to all peanut products, armed with Epi-pens and later teaching him to be a completely anal retentive person and read labels and asking about ingredients.
We have only had to administer the Epi-Shot when he was two, rogue unlabeled cookie, he began vomiting, breathing funny and wheezy. We acted fast gave him the shot, which is huge. His reaction stopped. The ER folks were really uplifting that night. We joked about tossing cookies, made him laugh. I am so thankful that it all worked, as sometimes it doesn't.
Just this past weekend I read about a 13 year old girl who died, even after administering two shots of Epidrene.
Early on in school, he'd have to sit at a separate table with a chosen friend. We were all okay with that. We are still okay with that, but love that the tables are changing as there are other choices to send your kid to school with!
Altogether, over the 14.5 years, we have had other incidences, eyes swollen shut from exposure to peanut oil, etc. but overall, we have been lucky!
I wish Saucon teachers would have taken the stance back then that they are now by sending pleas to parents to not send in peanut products. I also do appreciate that the elementary school, in particular, is becoming actively aware of the dangers.
My next hope is for the Athletics Department to stop with the bagels and Peanut Butter. What a bummer as an allergic kid knows he can't trust a knife that may have been used for more than cream cheese.
In closing, I am very happy to say my younger children do not have the allergy as we banned it from the home before they were born. They also support their big brother in swearing peanuts off as gross. Which is funny as the big guy and I LOVE almond butter, just recently. It's a bit different, but mmm good.
Alternate conspiracy ending:The sensitivities and the fact that they are becoming more common might be due to GMO's. I'm just going to throw that out there.
