Friday, January 21, 2011

Where Do I Go Now? : Adjusting to Life After a Positive Allergy Diagnosis (Part 1)

After you have been to the Dr. and received a diagnosis that you do indeed have an intolerance, or allergies, life changes. Environmental allergies and food allergies alike, have the ability to drastically change your daily life. For us that change was drastic and the popular phrase "It rocked my world" is the best way to describe it.

Over the next few posts I hope to give insight into areas our lives changed and help in making that transition smoother.

I explained in earlier posts how my daughters diagnosis changed the way I grocery shop. Truth be told, there are no areas of our lives that are untouched by my daughters allergies. I realize this is in part due to the severity, combined with the amount of allergies she has. The other reason that we have a totally different world, after allergies, than before is because of how many people in my family struggle with allergies. I understand that for some people the things that I do to maintain our allergies and to keep them under control is drastic. I would imagine there are some that would say I am incredibly lenient in the way I handle our allergy concerns.

I am not using this post as a means to tell you what you should do. It's here simply to suggest some ideas (in bold below) and show some results that we saw when we made those changes. I hope it is helpful to you!

My little girls food allergies are severe. We carry Epi-Pens everywhere, I also carry Benedryl, and a topical steroid cream - all to be used in the event of an emergency. An emergency that can take place anytime. We have had our oldest go into anaphylactic shock multiple times, so we know that there is no "easy way" to handle her allergies.

When I came home from our first Dr. appointment, I knew we had to majorly overhaul the way we practiced our food handling. I was certain that there would be massive changes in our home. I was willing to do anything, as long as it meant that I could keep her safe, while she was home.

I came home that day, emptied the cabinets of ALL the food she tested positive for, and began a new grocery list. As I began setting things in a box to be sent to the local food bank and friends I realized we were getting rid of EVERYTHING. At least, it felt that way.

Once I cleared the house of food that would harm my daughter I realized that was just the beginning of the changes. The way I cooked, cleaned, and separated food would have to be drastically changed. I took time to do some research, but from by conversation with my Allergist I knew that "cross-contamination" was a high risk if I didn't plan to have a home that was completely free of all the foods my daughter was allergic to.

When I began the process, I initially thought we could clear all allergy foods out of our home - however that became an issue with the more children we had and the more allergies we picked up.

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