Last week was all about working hard to raise awareness of allergies! And boy did we do our best! ITV’s This Morning came for lunch, we wrote an article based on the facts released by Allergy UK on the shocking new statistics surrounding allergies, and then we also were interviewed on BBC 3 Counties Radio breakfast show at the weekend to describe what life is like with severe allergies and how we have learned to live with them fairly successfully. There were also other projects going on which we will give more details on soon!
This week, the realities of allergies have hit with a bang. It’s probably a combination of bringing up the whole journey of what we’ve been through, which is bloody tough at the best of times, and fighting the daily battle we go through!
Actually, scrap that, this week has broken my heart all over again in a number of ways!
The pollen level has been pretty high, which has meant that Callum has been really suffering. Not just with sneezing, coughing and runny nose, but also with his eczema.
My god, the eczema, it’s been awful!
Itchy, sore, hot, weeping….. you name it, the poor kid has had it over the past few days. And it’s had him up in the night in some severe discomfort.
Apart from his multitude of meds, there’s not much more I can do to help him, except ride out the storm.
It really hit home again this afternoon!
Chloe goes to swimming lessons, and Callum was there with me today.
He’s been complaining all afternoon about how itchy and sore his wrists have been.
Now, when you suffer with eczema, a stuffy, humid swimming pool is the last place you want to be. It aggravates the skin beyond belief and causes the eczema to feel worse than it is.
We were sat talking with a friend, when Callum decided to play hide and seek under the chairs. After a minute or two, I noticed he’d gone very quiet.
He was under the chair, itching his sore, eczema encrusted wrist against the carpet in a desperate plight to find some relief.
It of course made the situation much worse.
Cue blood, and lots of it.
I tried to stem the flow with tissue, but of course, with the damage done to the skin, there’s not a lot you can do!
Eventually the bleeding subsided, but then came the extreme itchy sensation as the skin tries to dry the blood.
It was at this point that Callum became very aware of the other people around him, particularly other small children like himself.
He desperately started to try and pull down his t-shirt sleeves, and then said:
‘Mummy I don’t want anyone to see, I don’t like it’
It was all I could do not to sob my heart out, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I did struggle a fair bit to get some control!
My poor precious boy.
He’s only 3 years old, he shouldn’t be having to worry about peer pressure, and the concern of how other people will react around him.
Sadly, because he’s witnessed so many people react badly around him, inquisitive and ill-informed people whilst out shopping or at baby groups mainly, he’s become acutely aware of how people react to someone who doesn’t always look ‘normal’.
I can only protect him for so long. Soon he will be going to school, and will have to face this on a daily basis, and I can’t begin to tell you how much this breaks my heart!
I just hope and pray that people will be kind and not judge, and maybe ask him what he suffers with, and provide him with the empathy and awareness that he and so many others deserve!
Comments
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I totally get you not wanting to do the challenges, I'm exactly the same!! We were asked to do that with strawberry last year, Callum had an immediate anaphylactic response on 1st true exposure! I refuse to do any more now! Why put him through all that when he suffers enough as it is!?
Hugs x
Re sun creams, I have a post coming up in a few weeks! The 2 best ones I've found are uvistat and sunscreen, both of which Callum's consultant prescribed. But I do know that they can be bought off Amazon too!
Hugs x
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