'He has to have a life, we have to take that risk': children living with extreme allergies

[Northerner]

Until recently, Elian could only eat six different foods. Eggs, dairy, nuts or lentils could kill him – and he’s far from alone. What’s behind the explosion in childhood allergies?

Kristina Valeix is cooking dinner for her children in the bright, open-plan kitchen of their flat in south London. Every meal she makes calls for meticulous planning and attention to detail. The steamer must be stacked in the right order so foods can’t contaminate each other. The milk must be put back on the correct shelf of the fridge. Her husband fried an egg the other day, and Kristina will never use that frying pan again. Until recently, she fed her youngest son only six foods.

Kristina doesn’t have an anxiety disorder; she says she isn’t an over-accommodating mother catering to a fussy, spoiled child. Elian, three, would love to be able to eat the meals she serves to Maxim, eight, and Bella, four, but his allergies are so serious that those meals could kill him.

“I know some people think I’m a hypochondriac, or that I’m just being overprotective,” Kristina tells me as she peels potatoes, “but he could die because we’re being careless.” A few metres away, Elian is lying on the floor of the living room with his big sister, pushing his Thomas trains, oblivious to the dangers that could lie in his supper.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/dec/19/children-living-extreme-allergies

 

[AlisonM]

As a small child, I existed on sausage sandwiches and oranges, I wouldn't eat anything else for two years because I was afraid of the allergies and what could happen - the shrink said this was a perfectly sane and logical reaction. The list of my allergies is as long as that wee soul's and often changes - delete rice, add strawberries and brown bread. The reactions nearly killed me more than once and I'd end up in hospital 2 or 3 times a year when the eczema got really bad or because of an extreme reaction to something. I still have to be very careful to check ingredients before I eat something, avoid anything washed in Persil and pray I won't get stung by a wasp or need an antibiotic this year as there's only one I can use and even that causes problems. We once had to travel 700 miles to see an allergist because he was the only English speaking one in the country where we were stationed at the time.

I really feel for his poor mum, she's doing a fantastic job under heartbreaking conditions.