Wednesday, April 15, 2009

the peanut saga continues



We are back from a week long romp to the land o' corn. 1792 miles of driving over 7 days with 2 tots in tow. They did great, definitely better than we would have ever dared wish for. We all really enjoyed the trip and seeing all of Hubs family. I have oodles of photos to share and random land o' corn observations. But alas, you have to read about peanuts first.

Disclaimer: I really, really like peanuts. So does Hubs. All of our dates revolve around the pesky little legume now. We eat Chinese and Thai food with peanut sauce chased down with reese's cups and butterfinger shakes. Although after the last 7 days, I may swear them off all together.

I HATE what PEANUTS do to my baby boy. And peanut dust. And peanut oil. And any product containing any atom of peanut particles.

My in-laws, God bless each one of them, went way beyond what we could have ever asked them to do in regards to keeping Moo safe. Grandpa and Grandma did everything short of ripping out the carpet and dismantling their HVAC system to get peanuts out of where Moo would be. My sister in laws scoured labels and threatened to beat up a man eating peanuts at the zoo. My nieces and nephews suffered through an egg hunt without their favorite candies. One niece even fasted in protest of her suffering. If she couldn't have pb&J she just wasn't eating.

But, it didn't stop Moo from reacting. Every night from about 7pm on we were battling to keep him from wheezing and from such intense coughing he was throwing up mucous. His entire chest was just rock hard as every muscle he had was being used to get him to breathe.

I hate it.

He is sensitive enough that if we even walk in a store or restaurant that serves peanuts he starts coughing instantly signaling it's time for us to leave. He will be so excited to go somewhere and he breathes in the air with peanut dust in it and you can tell he starts to feel bad instantly. At this point, I don't think it's reasonable to think we will be able to send him to school in 2 years.

I hate it.

I hate that Hubs and I have to be so hyper aware as parents when we really want to give our kids space to be kids. Ack. I AM the helicopter mom. I am so frustrated. I want to be able to send my kid to preschool without feeling like I am sending him into war unarmed.

We go tomorrow to get him reevaluated and hopefully some better options for treatment. Poor kid is so tired he won't even wake up for treatments or when he throws up. He put himself down for a nap today, now that's exhausted.

That was cathartic. Thanks.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

:( My SIL has a severe nut allergy- just the SMELL of peanut butter makes her vomit. The good news is that she is 32 and still going strong, so hopefully Moo can learn to function around his allergy. Hope he is feeling better soon.