MOTHER BEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once upon a time...I used to eat nuts all the time! I LOVE them!!! Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, peanut butter cookies, SCOTCHEROOS, Nutrageous, Snickers, m&m's, PEANUT m&m's, cashews, chicken pasta salad with a whole can of cashews thrown in and tastes so stinking good it isn't even funny, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, p.b.&j sandwiches (either of these on regular bread or toasted...YUM!), those cute little peanut butter cookies with the Hershey Kisses in the middle, I could go on and on and on!!! I LOVE nuts!!! My second son used to LOVE m&m's! One time when he had just turned one year old I decided to give him a Reece's Pieces and it LITERALLY flew out of his mouth across the room! I looked at him strangely and slowly put another into his mouth and it FLEW across the room, too! It was as if someone scooped their hand into his mouth and flung it out with their finger tips. It was a little freaky so I decided, ok, no Reece's Pieces for you! One day a few weeks later I gave him a peanut butter sandwich. He wouldn't eat it but only played with it. I was trying to shove a piece of it in his little mouth because sometimes if they just taste something they like it but his teeth were clenched like you wouldn't believe so I just gave in and decided to give him something else. After a few minutes I noticed that his whole body was covered in hives. I called the Dr.'s office because I immediately wondered if he was having an allergic reaction to the peanut butter. They said since he wasn't having a problem breathing to just stop by some time and have his blood tested for nut allergies. Brian gave him a bath and the hives went away. We should have also given him Benedryl but didn't know. Anyway, they tested him and sure enough he is allergic to peanuts. They said ONLY peanuts but not other nuts. Several months later Brian gave him a pistachio when I was picking up our oldest son from kindergarten. When I drove up he came running out to the car with my almost 2 year old baby in his arms covered in hives and doing this weird clearing his throat thing like my sister Stephanie does when she has an itchy throat and ears from allergies. We rushed him to the E.R. which thankfully was only like a mile from our house. They immediately rushed us back to a room. Only me and my baby because there could only be one other family member with him. The Dr. came in immediately and told me they would give him the epi pen and at least one other shot and a breathing treatment right away. I sat in that little room watching my rambuncious little perfectly healthy boy go from having a little problem to writhing around on the bed with a panicked look on his face as his throat swelled more and more closed. He was grabbing for me, sitting on my lap, going back to the bed, writhing around some more, grabbing for me again saying, mama and looking like 'aren't you going to help me?' It seemed like an ETERNITY before the nurse came in. When he started to be LETHARGIC I ran out and said HE NEEDS HIS SHOT!!! She ambled in and took her time getting his shot stuff ready and giving it to him chatting away as if I was there for a yearly flu shot or something. I was absolutely TERRIFIED!!! He had to have a medication for a week after. They said if we missed even a dose of it his reaction would be much much worse than the original reaction. It seemed like hours between the time he ate the nut to the time he got the shot, but it was only about 15 minutes. I thank my Heavenly Father every day that he was ok then and beg him to help us keep him safe every day! I firmly believe he has a little guardian angel that shot those Reece's Pieces across the room a few weeks earlier! We took him to an allergy specialist that did the scratch test and said that he is allergic to all nuts except almonds. Try finding almonds that aren't cooked in peanut oil or with other tree nuts. He's not allergic to the peanut oil it's the protein in them but I don't trust that peanut oils are refined enough. Apparently he is REALLY, REALLY allergic to cashews as well. The welt from the scratch test was huge and lasted for 3 days with him taking Zertec for it for the entire 3 days. The Dr. said, "don't EVER let this child have a cashew!!!" about 10 times while we were there so we're really careful about cashews too! Think of a peanut. Think of how yummy and salty and delicious they are! Now think of when a little peanut breaks in half and there is that little tiny piece of peanut right between the two halves at the end of it. Now imagine that if your baby had even that much of a peanut his throat would swell shut and he would die unless he is around someone at the time that knows he is allergic to peanuts and can give him an epi pen shot and rush him to the E.R. Ok now imagine that now he's 6 years old and in all day kindergarten and eating at school now. Every day the "other option" for picky kids is an Uncrustable PB&J sandwich. I talked with the lunch room lady and his teacher and they decided that every day he would sit on the end of a table and the lunch room teacher assigned for his class would make sure that no one ever sits by him that has a PB&J sandwich. Now imagine that 6 days this month they are serving peanut butter and honey cups with their rolls at lunch. I decided on those days I'll send home lunch for him so I can make sure there isn't any cross contamination or anything. I don't take chances! Not worth his life! Now imagine a lovely little student sitting next to him waves his peanut butter and honey cup in your sons face TRYING to hurt him KNOWING he is deathly allergic to peanut butter. What do you do about that?! Some mean kid was trying to hurt my sweet, little, quiet, shy, son!!! Thank goodness his lunch room teacher saw and put a stop to it and punished him when they got to class. The MOTHER BEAR is awake!!!!!! LOOK OUT!!! I didn't find this out from my son. I found this out from a concerned parent of another sweet little child that was so freaked out by that kid doing that that he talked to his mother about it. The only reason they have the peanut butter and honey cups is that the nutritionist for the school district has decided she can justify putting mac-n-cheese on the menu if she throws a little protein in the mix. She also believes that ketchup is a vegetable!!!! What the crap?! Anyhoo, they don't offer a peanut free table or anything. I am so freaked out! Now, I have heard so many people over the last 5 years act like it is such an inconvenience for them that my son is allergic to nuts. They act like it's just me saying please don't let my kid have mustard because it might stain his shirt or something. Now I know you have tons of stuff planned with mustard but don't let my kid anywhere near it because I don't like dealing with stains. It's not just some fluff thing it's literally LIFE OR DEATH!!! How would you feel if it was your kid?! Is a peanut or having peanut butter honey cups worth a child's life? I mean really!!! I know a boy that if he is in the same car or room with someone who opens a peanut candy bar he automatically starts going into anaphylactic shock. Putting that nut cup in his face could have killed him! My son has to either eat it or touch it to have a problem. I am just so freaked out! I don't know what to do! When he was 18 months old and started going to nursery at church the teacher told me maybe I shouldn't bring him because she didn't want that kind of responsibility and she liked making pb&j sandwiches for snack time and bringing Reece's Peanut Butter Cups for snacks. I for one thought it was more important for him to be there learning about Jesus than that the other kids get a freaking sandwich!!! So did the Primary President, thankfully! It was decided that I would make a very very long list of all the many things he CAN eat and they would stick to that list! Hello....ever heard of Goldfish crackers?! Since then I have read many articles and watched many news programs on the subject. I know that people who like their kids to eat peanut butter are just as adamant (for some weird reason) about their kids getting to eat peanut butter as I am about my kid NOT eating it! If that is the ONLY thing your kid will eat...you've got some REAL problems!!!! I have NEVER expected people to stop having nuts in their lives all together because of my son! I only say that at family functions I would appreciate it if people would just tell me if the dessert they make has it in it so I can keep him away from it. I did think it was wierd that less than a week after I sent the family letter out telling everyone about his allergy when he was almost 2 asking everyone just to let me know if nuts were in something they make, that at a family function there was a very, very large fruit bowl full of peanuts in the shell on the counter for everyone to eat. SCARY!!! Just leave a loaded gun on the coffee table why don't you?! I also find it weird when people bring peanut candy for all the kids to eat and touch my kid with peanut covered hands knowing it could kill him but I don't say a word, not one single word. I just try to warn him as best I can and pray a LOT!!! His teacher asked if the classroom needs to be peanut free since they use a lot of candy for counting and stuff? I said not necessarily. I said he can eat quite a lot of candy. I offered to bring a bag of different kinds of candy for him to have when the other kids have peanut candies. I bought skittles for him to use for counting when they use m&m's, etc. I am not a jerk about it I didn't expect her to buy it even. I am his parent. It is my responsibility to make sure he is safe and I obviously need her help and knowledge when he is at school but I try to not make it a huge pain in the butt since I know some mothers are jerks about it. I do, however, love my child with all of my heart and soul!!! What would you do and how would you feel if you had watched your son almost die in your arms from an exposure to nuts and you knew that it only takes 15 minutes for your son's throat to swell shut and like 20 minutes for him to take his last breath? It's not just a little annoyance....it's my son's LIFE!!! It feels like I'm letting him run and play in a busy street and crossing my fingers that no one speeds down the road and runs over him or something. It's just so scary to have to trust that total strangers will keep your son safe. If I didn't think I'd lose my mind I'd consider home school........
Needed to vent all of the thoughts and feelings I am having right now! Thanks for listening!!!