by Amanda Painter, South Chapter Coordinator Allergy testing is part of managing food allergies. Test results can help with diagnosis and also help monitor allergies over extended amounts of time for the possibility of outgrowing an allergy.
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by Amanda Painter, South Chapter Coordinator While we hope that emergencies don’t happen, it’s always important to plan for them. Thinking about emergencies isn’t desirable and can cause anxiety. When that anxiety is put into something productive however it can actually help alleviate some of those emotions. For those of you that are the primary caregiver for a child with food allergies, like me, we put an enormous amount of effort into preventing and preparing for emergencies with our child. We spend a lot of time examining the “what ifs.” It is important though that we also consider what would happen to our child if we were the ones that had an emergency. What if you couldn’t care for your child for a day, a week or for an indefinite amount of time? Who would care for your child while you can’t? Does this person have all the information and tools to provide the same level of care that you do? In an effort to relieve some of my personal anxiety, I have developed a binder with all of the necessary information needed to help give my child the best care possible. This binder also doubles as a tool I use for babysitters, and they are instructed to take the binder with them if an ambulance must transport my child to the hospital. I recently shared this binder with my support group. Their response was great and many have now made their own binders. Here is the information for you too ...
Inside the binder:
Family that lives in town Neighbors/friends that live nearby
Birthdate Weight (as of what date) List of allergies List of medications Any other medical conditions
I also include some articles and blogs that have been helpful for me or express my thoughts and emotions about raising a child with food allergies. If someone were stepping into my shoes and caring for my child, I would want them to know this perspective. Depending on your family situation, you may want to include a list of people that may be contacted to offer advice on managing your child’s allergies. I am blessed to have multiple family members in town and all are knowledgeable and trained on how to care for my daughter. This may not be the case for everyone though. Is there a person outside of your family and closest friends that you turn to for food allergy advice? It could be an old friend that lives in another state, but has a child with the same allergies. Do you belong to a support group? Your facilitator would want to support your child’s new caregiver the same way they have supported you. Be sure to pass their information along. What resources do you use that make managing food allergies easier? A book, a website, etc.? Include all of this information. Think about anything else that could be useful to someone caring for your child both emotionally and physically. I hope you will consider making an emergency binder for your child. It will help if you ever have an emergency. It will also help you to focus some of your “what if” anxiety into an incredibly useful tool. What other information would you include in a binder for your child? |
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