Allergies and Life

For those of you who follow me on Facebook you know I took my daughter to the allergist today. Like me she is growing up with allergies. Not the asthma thank goodness, but she's similar in that she's got mold, dust. She also has dust mites and birch trees and mild milk and dog allergies. Not so great given we have a dog! 

It's hard seeing your kid go thorough this. She has flare ups of her eczema and it pains me to see her scratching . Then she's dealing with the onset of a mild stutter. Sigh. Sometimes you just can't outrun family history. 

I grew up with asthma, allergies to pollen, dust, mold and tree nuts. Fortunately I overcame the tree nut allergy, dust and pollen we hit with allergy shot treatments in elementary, but mold is still my enemy. 

I remember my Mom putting me in the shower to allow the steam to open my lungs, holding my hands up above my head as my doctor taught me, to help with air flow, carrying my inhaler in gym class, and Theodore 300 that she would crack in half. 

Then the joys of allergy shots every week. The doctor let my mom administer them herself since she had been a lab tech in a hospital. I hated Wednesdays for this reason; the humiliation of your own mother giving you a shot. It added to my list of f***-up-ed-ness. Freaky tall, stutter, allergies, asthma, skin scars from growing too fast. You know what I'm talking about -- the little things. 

My goal this time around is to model life a little different for her. To help her see that burdens and obstacles don't have to define you. I have to do more than just say 'oh stop scratching.' I have to get her to see she can be strong and learn to take punches as they come with rationaility- to know she is more than just her outside skin. Her being is what is so beautiful. At least I am relieved to know we have a remedy on the horizon and we know what to look out for specifically now. Still as a Mom I want to wrap her up in my arms and tell her all will be ok. And you know what? It will . 

~Jedi