Dearest Allergy Parent,
It appears as though we have ‘allergy buckets’ as well.
As a food allergy treatment family, we often discuss my son’s ‘allergy bucket’… his OIT dose and current dosing tolerance, reactive airway symptoms, eczema flares, seasonal allergic symptoms, and general overall health. All of these things are the contents which fill his ‘allergy bucket.’
They are the collective stressors on his immune system. The point of this visual analogy is to emphasize the importance of not overfilling the bucket. Presumably, and quite frankly, he is more at risk of reacting to his OIT dose when his bucket is near full. So, at our OIT escalation visits we ruminate over the constantly evolving status of my son’s ‘allergy bucket.’
Well… it’s possible that I also have an allergy bucket, as my son’s mother and his ultimate caregiver in this OIT process. It is a different kind of bucket. A ‘caregiver allergy bucket.’ Its contents are related to the emotional, psychological, financial, and physical toll of caring for a child undergoing food allergy treatment. I find it to be much less important than my son’s bucket (says every mother everywhere). Definitely not worth addressing at our escalation appointments. Why would we? And yet, when it brims near the surface with its contents, and my mental health feels fragile in this process, our collective allergy-treatment-success feels significantly more tenuous to me… Sheer exhaustion, at its best. This is not something that I want my son to sense, much less ever have to carry personally. And so to this end, similar to staving-off an impending OIT reaction for him, this treatment program may also warrant a gut-check assessment of my own bucket, including taking the necessary care to prevent its ‘overfilling’ as well.
👉 Meet Others Facing Similar Challenges
Camaraderie with allergy allies helps. Maybe it’s in part the validation therein? Also probably the chuckle we can get at the somewhat maladaptive coping mechanisms we have gleaned over the years of food allergy parenting. The shared struggle? Or maybe the odd sense of understanding from strangers? Whatever it is, it helps.
👉 Join The AlleRx Community Today
Allergy parent, if your ‘caregiver allergy bucket’ is full, you are not far from other individuals who carry similar buckets. Reach out to the crew at AlleRx. Sometimes the only way to the other side of a difficult situation is straight down the middle of it. This has been OIT parenting for me. And while there may not always be obvious alternatives to this path or whatever path you may be on, you certainly do not have to go it alone.
Keep going, bucket in tow.
Regards,
Melissa Hall
