Trust & Allergies

I experienced something yesterday and although it was not to do with our little bear it made me think a lot about bear and his CMPA. I would like to share my story with you, apologies for the long back story, but I feel it relevant to the overall story.

Last year, after wearing latex gloves at work, I experienced a rather nasty allergic reaction. Although the gloves usually made me feel ‘itchy’ I never really thought much of it, but this reaction was beyond anything I had experienced before, I became very clammy with a shortness of breath. I formed a rash all over and began to sweat, severely. If it wasn’t for over a double dose of antihistamines I would definitely be heading to the hospital, this reaction left me feeling very unwell for days. I went straight to the doctors, who confirmed a severe allergic reaction to latex. After this scare work removed all latex objects that they knew of so that we wouldn’t be faced with it again. About 2 months later I accidentally came into contact with some more latex at work and a similar reaction too place. Although the reactions were severe I wasn’t given an epi-pen due to not calling 999.

Living with the knowledge of the severity of my allergy but without an epi-pen I avoid all latex products like the plague. I obsessively ask “is that latex-free” so much that my dentist makes a point of showing me the glove box every time I go.

So, out of everyone I come into contact with who is it that I should be able to trust to keep me safe? Who has knowledge of my medical history? who should have the facilities to accommodate my latex-free need?

So this brings me to yesterday….I went to see the nurse for a routine examination and she seemed to like to chit-chat. As she was gathering some equipment and some gloves I half joked “I hope that it is all latex-free” to which her reply was “well the equipment is, but my gloves aren’t, would you prefer me to use latex-free?”

would I PREFER??? I don’t think it is a preference!

After having to explain that I was allergic, she was very good, letting me check all the packaging but there has been a nagging feeling lingering with me all day.

1) why was my allergy not highlighted as soon as she accessed my notes? she had my ‘file’ open on her computer, get still had no idea. It isn’t like I am allergic to fish, which I am unlikely to come into contact with at the doctors surgery.

2) why are latex-free gloves not standard in EVERY dr’s rooms? The nurse had to pop to a different room for gloves which were labelled as “for special use only” as if they were so expensive and precious….they are not! We bought a box for our house so that I could use them for gardening/washing up/general messy jobs.

3) why do I now feel that allergies are not taken seriously enough!!

It is my 3rd point which concerns me the most, more so raising a child with an allergy. If I cannot even trust a nurse, or the Dr who I 1st reported my allergy to or any of the other medical “professionals” to take my allergy seriously how could I possibly trust a member of staff in a restaurant to know for sure if an item is dairy-free, they may think a knob of butter is ok, or that they used margarine not butter so its not got dairy in (a common misconception).

I find it difficult to trust people to make food for bear as it is without me watching or checking and this has made me feel worse. I had reached a stage where I was happy with bears diagnosis and am able to cope with weaning perfectly fine, but other peoples attitudes towards allergies concern me. If someone doesn’t suffer from an allergy, I feel that they may not respect the allergy that someone else may have. I will be looking in to this issue further I am sure.

If you have experienced similar situations then please feel free to comment. Thank you