A principal once told me the above, and ever since then I am “spreading” his saying when I explain others about my son’s anaphylaxis peanut allergy.
The word ALLERGY itself, usually means to the majority “itchiness of the skin, sneezing, being sick for few days, red
eyes” etc.
This is not so when it comes to an ANAPHYLAXIS ALLERGY.
ANAPHYLAXIS ALLERGY is a state of life and death. Once the child is in contact with the allergen, it’s all downhill towards DEATH. The reaction is really fast. 10-20 minutes. Large hives on the body, that develop to the whole skin being so itchy. it was reported that people were trying to rip their skin off. After that the lips start to swell. This is the critical stage. This means that the airways are starting to block. And then, yes you guessed right, it’s death by chocking.
It is not the common allergy of watery eyes, itchy nose, and rash. No. It is an ANAPHILAXIS allergy. Which means there is no way back.
There is no being sick; there is no sneezing for 24 hours. In an ANAPHYLAXIS allergy basically the child is being chocked from within his body. The only thing that might save the child is the EpiPen (adrenalin shot).
Education no 1 – THERE IS NO CURE
Unfortunately it wasn’t invented yet and the only way to cure an anaphylaxis allergy is simply by avoiding the trigger – the Allergan.
Education no 2 – EPIPEN (adrenalin shot) DOES NOT ALWAYS HELP
Someone once told me “oh well, at the most you will inject your son the EpiPen and he’ll be fine”.
I felt sick hearing that! Why? Because a lot of people think the same. And they are wrong. Epipen doesn’t always help. Epipen might also cause a heart attack. But EpiPen is the only thing there is in the market that might help. So we have to carry it with us wherever we go, what ever we do. And hope it will help when there’s a need.
Education no 3. – TRACES CAN KILL
A lot of people think that the warning “may contain traces of…” is basically a joke. “What can happen from a small tiny tiny tiny piece of peanut?”
What can happen? A BIG BIG BIG DEATH. It happened before, lots of times. So please, when you have an anaphylaxis child with you – read all the labels. Don’t just look for the warning. Read also the ingredients. I know – it takes a lot of time and the letters are so small. But you get used to it. What used to be a half an hour of grocery shopping, is now approx two hours shopping. Just because of the label reading. But that’s a small price to pay when it comes to someone’s life.
Education no 4 - IF IT NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE, IT DOESN’T MEAN IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN.
We are blessed for not having any anaphylaxis accident with our son. Since the day we discovered he is allergic to peanuts (skin test at the age of 18 months old), we have “cleaned” the house from peanuts and nuts foods, and we don’t buy anything that is risky. So we never had a sever allergy attack so far. Someone once told me “well, that’s great, maybe he’s not allergic. Lets try to give him…”
NO. Don’t try! Don’t experiment in a child’s life. If the Doctor determined that your child is anaphylaxis – then that’s what he/she is. So don’t push it to the limit “just to see if the Doctor was right”. Because you will end up wrong.
Education no 5 – CHECK EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING! YOU’D BE SURPRISED FROM WHAT YOU’LL FIND
Up until discovering my son has peanut allergy, I was uneducated about this issue too. And I never thought that herbs and spices could have peanut traces. Or that some mustard and tomato sauces brands have peanut traces. Or that even some ice-blocks have peanut traces.
So please – check everything! Everything!
Don’t buy loose foods (butcher is risky!). Buy only foods that are packed and that have ingredients printed on them. And if you suspect – don’t buy.
Education no 6 – BEING IN THE PRESENCE OF SOMEONE WHO JUST ATE PEANUTS, MIGHT KILL THE ANAPHYLAXIS CHILD
This sounds really weird, but it is so true. If a child had peanut-butter sandwich in school, and after that this child went to play on the slide, and after that my son touches the dirty-sticky-finger-prints on that slide – my son is actually now touching PEANUT TRACES. And then my son will scratch his nose. And the traces of peanuts that are now stuck on his little fingers, those he got from the other child’s little fingers, will end up into his nose and into his body.
And that’s it. There will be no way back.
Education no 7 – EDUCATE YOUR ANAPHYLACIT CHILD – BUT NEVER TRUST YOUR CHILD WHEN IT COMES TO HIS/HERS ANAPHYLAXIS ALLERGY
A parent once said to me: “you should educate your son not to eat peanuts. And he should know by now”
Well, my almost 6 years-old son has been and is being and will be “pumped” with this subject every single day. Trust me, his father and I have NEVER STOPPED educating him.
But, and there is always that “but”, he is, after all, A CHILD. And he is among the company of CHILDREN.
Tell me something HONESTLY – can you really trust your child NOT to pick up things from the floor? Can you trust them not to share drink bottles with their friends? My son once came back from pre-school and told me that “Eden said to me that he’s bringing a cake tomorrow and that it has no nuts! Eden said! Eden knows! Can I have it?”
So educate your child. Keep repeating over and over what will happen. Keep explaining. Keep answering to their questions. And on the same time – educate their surrounding. The teachers, the parents, the family, the friends. EVERYONE.
I would like to tell you 2 stories:
A teacher in my son’s pre-school once told the kids that if my son will eat peanuts he would get very sick. When I heard that I was very (mildly speaking) upset. I talked to the teacher and said to her that this is the wrong thing to say to the kids because that is not the truth. My son won’t get sick – he will die. The teacher answered, “yes I know that, but I can’t tell kids something so harsh as the word DEATH. Besides – kids don’t really understand what death means”. For that I had 2 answers for her: 1. If you’ll keep saying to the kids that my son will get sick from peanuts, he and them might believe you, and one day my son will take peanut or will be forced to take peanuts by one of his “friends” just to see how “sick” he can get. Besides, for most kids being sick is actually fun – you get to stay at home and watch TV all day… 2. In regards to the understanding the meaning of DEATH – kids these days are more understanding than we used to be. And for sure, they know, that once they stepped (on purpose) on an ant – that ant is DEAD. And can no longer move, carry food etc. Same goes for the flies we keep squashing in front of our kids. So the bottom line is that they do understand what death is. It means there will be no more of that child. It is as simple as that.
The other story has to do with the “understanding” of children to the word “death”. It involves again another teacher that told the kids in my son’s pre-school that he will DIE if he’ll eat peanuts. One of the girls, approx 4 years old. Said “but that’s good!” The teacher, shocked, asked her why. The girl answer was “when he’ll die he’ll go to heaven and have fun all the time there and that means also that he’s good that he got to go to heaven”. This teacher, luckily a smart one, answered to that girl “maybe so, but that still means that we won’t see G (my son) anymore”.
So whatever your belief is, in regards to death, still emphasize to your kids that death means that the person is gone. For good.
There is a lot more to say about this issue, and lots more to say over and over again. Please help me spread the word. Help me educate others. So the world would be a safer place for my son and all anaphylaxis children.
Thank you.
(February 2008) (
- yes you're right, it all comes to the intelligent humans.
