Why I Took the Plunge

I've been reading about OIT for food allergies for a while now, and it always seemed like something we would maybe do in the distant future.  The doctors who offer it are few and far between, so we would likely have to travel quite a distance for the treatment. Some doctors will not even accept children under 5 years old for OIT.  I questioned the logistics of traveling to a doctor's office hours away on a frequent basis for dose increases every week or two.  My work schedule varies dramatically from one week to the next and I never have the same day off two weeks in a row.  We have two younger children to care for also, a 2-year-old and our youngest, who will be 12 weeks old tomorrow.  The timing just has not seemed right.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized there would never be a better time.  In one year, Sean will be starting kindergarten.  That brings up many concerns on its own.  What if he has a severe allergic reaction at school?  What if he has to sit alone to eat?  What if the other kids are mean to him.  Bullying because of food allergies is horrific and is on the rise.  Just do an internet search for it and you will be horrified if you are a parent, and especially if you are a parent of a child with food allergies.  But beyond those concerns were the concerns of how we could even work it out.  Education is highly important to me, and I do not want him to be accustomed to frequently missing school.  This year, he will only be in preschool three days a week, which leaves Tuesdays and Thursdays open for possible appointments.  And it just so happens that my week day off work is always either a Tuesday or a Thursday.  So schedule-wise, it made sense to start sooner.

The other reason I felt a sense of urgency to begin is related to my own health concerns.  I gave birth to our youngest son Nolan on May 1st of this year.  Five days later, I began suffering from very troublesome neurological symptoms.  I've been through many, many tests since then, and for the most part everything has come back normal.  Right now, I'm being evaluated for such illnesses as multiple sclerosis and Lyme disease.  The prospect of potentially having a disease that may physically debilitate me has given me a new sense of urgency to complete a lot of things that I want to accomplish in my life.  While I realize that multiple sclerosis is generally a slowly progressing illness, this whole experience has reminded me that life is short and there are things I want to get done.  If I died tomorrow, I don't think OIT would be at the top of the priority list for my husband, newly widowed with three small children to care for.  I'm usually in charge of making the medical decisions for our children, and this is something I want strongly for my son.  

And so I made the decision to go for it.  It felt like it was on an impulsive whim, and it sort of was, but I had been reading and planning it for a while now.  I did not expect the initial appointment to happen so quickly, either.  I called on a Monday and the appointment was scheduled for Thursday.  Amazing!  I can't wait to get started.  I'm nervous, scared, excited, but most of all... Hopeful.