I can't believe that May is already here. School is winding down and summer is rearing it's ugly head near. It's already 100 degrees here.
I've been running around like a mad mom trying to get the kids signed up for Vacation Bible School, swim lessons and various summer camps. Time is not being my friend. Jayden is out of school this Friday and Hunter next Thursday and I've yet to line up a sitter. Sometimes I wonder why I'm left to figure it all out by myself...............
moving on.....................
The hard thing about signing up for all this wonder stuff, is trying to explain Jayden's food allergy. Most people think, okay corn, but don't really think about it. High fructose corn syrup, corn meal, corn starch, corn flour which means..........no marshmallows, graham crackers, ritz crackers, and oh how the list goes on.
Since starting eliminating all corn products, Jayden's life has been turned around. You can almost certainly tell after he's had corn in his diet. First will come the Jekyll & Hyde personality and later the coughing and wheezing. And it's SO hard to try to explain to people where this comes from. And it's also SO hard trying to explain to people why he is the way he is. Children aren't as difficult and people make them out to be. People wonder why a child will yell at them they want to hit them when they get mad, is only because it's what those same people yell at a child when they are mad. Hello? Children learn what they are taught. Okay....this may be another story for another day.
Back to the allergy and it's improvements.
Jayden has calmed down quite a bit. When you take him out, he's not the grumpy, hyper child he used to be. He's calm and listens and is eager to learn.
Avoiding corn is still SO very hard. Eating out is pretty much NON-existent. Even on the RARE occasion that we do, I feel like I need to carry my own ketchup. Corn syrup is usually the 1st or 2nd ingredient in ketchup. We have to eat the Central Market brand. All hot dogs are off limits except for the Hebrew National ones and those cost us about $5 for 6. Juice boxes have been a struggle. I always thought I was doing good by buying the so called water ones, but nope, those have corn syrup as the 2nd ingredient. So much for living a healthy life before!
And granted, while the allergy itself is not life threatening, the asthma that it causes, can be. So it is my duty as a parent to find out how to protect my child. And to prevent the asthma attacks that can happen. I know I've spent countless hours online, reading and searching. But it's so hard to relay all the information I read and I just wish Kreg would do the same.
It's also hard to explain to people that press, oh just a little corn won't hurt. No, but that little bit of corn will have us up at 3 am doing a breathing treatment and that's NO fun for anyone involved. And that an allergen stays in the body for 4 days. The physical reactions can last 3-5 days and the mental 5-7. For Jayden, the mental/behavioral reactions are the hardest. The OCD of lining up his toys, the anxiety of not being able to do something right, the aggression & unexplained anger that ends up with him so upset and un-calmable. Adding steroids to him trying to calm the allergy induced asthma attack doesn't help either.
Here's some trivia for you about having a corn allergy and just how hard it is:
OFF Smooth & Dry Bug Repellent contains cornstarch. Which can cause Jayden to break out in hives if used.
Almost all vitamins contain high fructose corn syrup. Thankfully the Hero Nationals ones I order online don't!
Albuterol, a very common neb treatment, contains sodium citrate, which is derived from corn.
Over 85 different types of antibiotics are produced using corn.
The biggest ingredient we have to watch for is dextrose. Dextrose is glucose sugar refined from corn starch. Very common in IV's you get from the hospital.
You see, things aren't easy but they are getting better. And I'm left to ponder whether or not to order a Medic Alert bracelet for this allergy.
And Hunter sure has been testing his limits lately. First was at the Rec center last week as I was trying to sign them up for various things. All of a sudden the fire alarm is going off and my child is no where to be found. That's because he was in the back playing with the Emergency Exit only door. Then the next day at school, turns out he though it would be funny to lock the bathroom stall so no one else could get in and this was after he exited. When the next person tried to go, Hunter broke out in giggles. The teacher wasn't too happy and neither was mom. Then later in the week, while the other class was attempting to take a nap, Hunter broke out in some sort of loud behaviour. We had to have a very serious talk. I told him there'd be NO camp if this continued. Needless to say, he's been better.
But summer is approaching way to fast and I'm way too under prepared.
please someone, send me an angel to ease the stress and headaches.............
and oh.......the headaches. The ones the doctor gave me medicine for. The medicine that knocks me flat on my behind and leaves me incoherent. Is there some reason they can't make a migraine med that lets you keep going? I guess not since a migraine can be a sign that you need to rest and it's the way my body lets me know the most.
