peanut allergy

what a week. by jen geigley


It's been a bit of a whirlwind around here the past week. Have you been feeling it, too?


First off, Lotus had a dance recital that was brought to a halt by a tornado warning, right as she was about to go on stage. Her sweet teachers kept the kids calm backstage by playing duck duck goose until the warning had passed.


 We've had Girl Scout bridging ceremonies, birthday parties and celebrations for nearly being done with school.


 This weekend is Bo's scooter club rally – the Hostile Takeover.


Tomorrow is my dad's birthday.
 

And I'm heading off for a quick one-night getaway with girlfriends for the first time since Bowie was born.


But the one thing that really threw me for a loop this week was finding out that this little guy has a severe peanut allergy. I kind of let it turn my world upside down for the first day or so after I had found out, as I searched the house for anything that might contain nuts, read labels and threw things away. I was worried about keeping him safe right now; I was worried about the future. I had a long talk with our awesome pediatrician, picked up our first pack of epi-pens, did some internet research, and was so relieved when good friends who have been through this reached out with fantastic advice and support.


It is a scary thing to deal with, but I'm grateful that my kid is otherwise very healthy and happy. As this has become a more common childhood allergy, I take comfort in knowing that there are far more treatment options that may be available to us in the future, and that most schools are very careful about peanut allergies these days. This former peanut butter loving family is going to make some hard and fast changes, but everything's going to be okay.