Well, I must confess to being excited this morning. I have received an email back from a business who have not only said they would like to be involved but have said some kind words that have provided validation and therefore motivation! Always a good thing. I'm going to keep it quiet at the moment but when things are sorted you will be the first to know : ).
I'm also a bit further down the track with organisation so I feel as though things are slowly starting to come together.
I suppose the big question is why have I decided to fund raise for Allergy New Zealand? Well, the simple answer is that having a child with multiple food allergies has led me to realise that there is quite a bit of work to do in this area, including research and education not to mention some funding for adrenalin auto-injectors would be nice.
Perhaps on a personal level for me however, the biggest issue is awareness. For some food allergies are a life threatening situation and sadly there have been deaths in New Zealand to highlight this point. It's not something you can get too caught up in as you will start to live a cotton wooled life or wrap your child in cotton wool and that's not good for anybody. It is important that it is recognised however, kind of the fence at the top of the cliff rather than the ambulance at the bottom kind of scenario. When it is your child that has this added risk it does become personal.
My son was diagnosed with allergies to dairy and egg shortly after he was 3 months old and then peanut was determined at 1 year along with cat, then asthma hit at 3 years and sesame seed allergy at 4. He also suffers from eczema. Nobody was more surprised about these diagnoses than my husband and I, neither of us had a history of food allergies and let's face it when you have your first child everything is supposed to be perfect. Now knowing more about allergies we have come to learn that my penicillin allergy and my husband's childhood asthma may have had a part to play.
During this journey I will undoubtedly talk more about my son and how his allergies impact on our lives, including when he starts school half way through this year. But right now, I will just shout from the rooftops how gorgeous my kidlets are. My son is like most other four year old boys, running around the house like a lunatic, chasing and teasing his younger sister, making up songs and performing them for us and completely committed (almost to the point of over kill for his parents) to learning how to ride his bike. He rides it up and down on a walkway near our house so it involves a bit of pre-planning and enthusiasm on our part. Here's a sampling of our day at the moment:
"I want to ride my bike:.
"We have to have breakfast and get changed first."
"I want to ride my bike.".
"We have other things to do first and then you can ride your bike."
"When am I go to ride my bike?"
"When it's a bit cooler and you ask nicely."
"Can I please ride my bike now...now...now?"
"Yes," generally said with a sigh of resignation.
"Hooray!! Hooray!! I'm going to ride my bike!" yelled at the top of his lungs complete with a little dance. And yes, he does actually say hooray, I blame too much television.
So nothing really slows him down, he is a little Energizer bunny all day long and then falls into bed exhausted at night. I suppose the only difference between him and most healthy four year olds is that he has to be careful with what he touches and puts in his mouth, his "kryptonite" I suppose you could call it.
During this journey I will only talk about my son's journey with allergies as that is what we know. Every person with allergies is different and they have their own trials and successes so I wouldn't want to presume to speak for them. However, please feel free to post a comment about your experiences or ask questions as I am sure that I will be learning a lot through this year as well.
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