Kalea, Chrisma Obiniana’s baby, was just three months old when her mother began to suspect something was wrong. Her kid, whom she breastfed exclusively, had severe eczema from head to toe, cried often, and generally appeared to be in a lot of discomfort.
A nurse in the state of Washington named Chrisma did everything she could to help her daughter with her eczema.
The paediatrician for the family ultimately recommended that Kalea be seen by an allergist to rule out other food allergies or Cow’s Milk Protein Allergy (CMPA). Kalea was found to be allergic to peanuts, cashews, and pistachios at the allergist’s clinic after undergoing numerous skin prick allergy testing and blood tests. (She also has a history of dairy, soy, and egg allergies.)
“I found out that the foods I was eating were causing all of her issues. I ended up cutting out all allergens from my diet for a year so I couldn’t continue exclusively breastfeeding, but she was a whole different baby after a few weeks,” Chrisma, 25 stated.
“She has always been such a foodie and wants to eat everything and anything,” the mom adds. “The first holiday season where she was able to eat was horrifying. Being surrounded by homemade food that I couldn’t read the ingredients in, and the possibility that someone might feed her without checking with me, was difficult to manage.”
Chrisma started training her oldest daughter, who was three years old at the time, how to use an EpiPen, an epinephrine auto-injector, when Kalea’s allergies were identified.
Chrisma began teaching Kalea, who was about a year old, how to use the EpiPen after her oldest child had mastered its use and comprehended its symptoms.
According to Chrisma, she would gather her kids for monthly lessons, which at first centred on teaching Kalea about her “NO foods” and the value of asking permission before consuming anything.
As Kalea gained more knowledge over time, Chrisma progressively covered other facets of food sensitivities.
“At the beginning of the month, I’ll sit my kids down and ask them about food allergies,” according to the mom. “I’ll ask what Kalea’s allergies are, what her safe foods are, who she can talk to if she’s unsure if something is safe, and what the symptoms are. My oldest learns how to look for the allergy statement and ingredients on food.”
“After I ask them all about food allergies, I’ll go over anything they might not remember and review it all,” she added. “I’ll pull out food examples, like an empty peanut butter jar, a granola bar, or anything else we might have around the house, and ask them to show me how to check if it’s safe. After that, we review where the EpiPen is at home and in the diaper bag, and then we go over how to use the EpiPen. Watching her big sister use the EpiPen and engage in our monthly lessons really helps Kalea get excited about learning these things.”
Trying to teach Kalea, who is now two, when to use the EpiPen has been the hardest part of this journey for Chrisma. Chrisma notes that occasionally her daughter will fall and get a “owwy” and beg for the EpiPen, even though Kalea is aware that she must use it for food allergies.
“Right now, she thinks the EpiPen is just to help her feel better after anything, not just for food allergies,” according to the mom.
Chrisma reveals that since the beginning of their journey, she has been sharing posts regarding her daughter’s food sensitivities. In retrospect, she believes that TikTok taught her a lot about food allergies, and she wanted to share the information in the hopes that it might help someone else feel as at ease as she did reading other people’s tales.
Since Kalea was using the EpiPen for the first time without instructions this month, Chrisma thought it would be beneficial to write a piece on their family’s EpiPen and allergy lesson. After becoming viral, the video received hundreds of comments and over 350,000 views.
“When it started going viral, I was nervous,” according to the mom. “We had another allergy video go viral where it was my oldest daughter learning to use the EpiPen, and the comments were pretty negative about how she was too young to learn about EpiPens.”
Read Also: Sustainable Dining Takes Off: City’s Reusable Cup Program Thrives
“Thankfully, this time around, the comments were so inspiring!” she added. “There were a lot of people who grew up having talks with their moms about food allergies when they were kids or other mamas who were inspired to teach their kids about food allergies. One of the comments that really inspired me was from a girl who said her mom would do this with her, and she’ll never forget those conversations.”
She said that, “I hope that one day, Kalea grows up feeling confident in knowing about her body and knowing that having food allergies isn’t as terrifying as people often make it out to be as long as she’s educated about them.”
In retrospect, Chrisma advises parents whose children have allergies to involve the entire family.
She claims that although the initial months following her daughter’s diagnosis were somewhat perplexing, it became less isolating and frightening when she made the decision to bring her oldest and Kalea along to their allergy checkups and allow them to learn with her.
“Now, it doesn’t feel like such an impossible thing to navigate,” according to the mom. “I feel confident in her when we go to birthday parties or restaurants, and little daily tasks like going to the park around kids eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches seem less daunting as she is so good at checking if something is safe for her to eat or be around. All the tasks that felt terrifying the first year after her diagnosis now feel like such a relief, knowing my daughter has all the tools she may need to stay safe.”
“If you’re a parent feeling overwhelmed by a new food allergy diagnosis for your child, you are not alone! You’ll be able to go to birthday parties or restaurants one day without dreading it. You’ll be able to send your child off to school without worrying every second. Advocating for your kids does not make you a burden! It may seem like a whole world away, but it will come!”
