When Seth was like 2 he had a tiny bite of a peanut butter sandwhich and his lip started to swell. When he was 4 or 5 he took a bite of a peanut butter granola bar and his throat started closing, tongue started swelling, and he started to become sleepy and not getting enough oxygen. Luckily, we had had him tested for a peanut allergy and had an epi-pen that we gave him at the Dr.'s office. This was our first real experience knowing that Seth had a pretty severe peanut allergy and we did everything in our power to make sure he knew and that those around him knew he couldn't have peanuts.
Over the next couple of years, Seth grew in fear of the allergy as well. He started avoiding any kind of sweets, especially homemade goods when he didn't know who made them or IF they possibly could have peanuts in it. He was afraid of accidentally eating them, and probably rightly so. In 2nd grade it all came to a head.
Seth started acting weird.
He is normally the kind of kid that wakes up and just gets his morning
jobs done, is focused and responsible. But he was just "off". He was
reading slower, dawdling around and was overly emotional. One day I
came home with some cinnamon rolls for him from the Hub and I thought he
would have loved them, but he said he didn't want any. Well this just
didn't make sense to me, so I jokingly kept badgering him asking him
why? Because it was right after school, and he normally loves cinnamon
rolls. And he kept being all silly and coy like he had a big secret to
tell why he was not eating them and I couldn't figure it out. He'd get
giggly and just say never mind or no, I don't want to tell you why.
Anyways finally, it hit me and I said, "Seth are you afraid this has
peanuts in it?" And he just broke down sobbing!! And I was like whoa! Where is
this coming from? I tried to comfort him assuring him it didn't have
any peanuts in it and he didn't have to eat it if he didn't want to or
felt uncomfortable with it, but he still wouldn't really talk to me
about it. And we had to kind of leave it at, "Ok Seth, whenever you
feel comfortable you know you can talk to me about anything you are
worried about." But he was closed up like a book and didn't want to
talk about it with me. Frustrating!
Well so I knew there was a deep concern there, but I wasn't settled that that was all of it.
He continued in his "off" behavior and started to avoid all brown foods
even like cooked chicken. Well one Monday while I was praying and meditating I knew there were still a lot of fear and anxiety for him regarding peanuts and I just didn't think it was right. I prayed about
what I could do to help him. I suddenly started getting ideas for that night's family home evening.
One thing led to another and we ended up having a "very inspired"
family night on Trusting in God. It was one of those incredible family
home evenings where your kids are really listening and totally get it.
We told the story of Meshack, Shadrack and Abednego and how they trusted
in God completely and they were protected in the fire. I wish I could
remember everything but it was really cool. Even Jaq randomly raised
her hand and said, "I think you need to do 3 things. Trust God, pray to
God and love God." And I was like, um, yea. That is exactly right.
Profound coming from a 6 year old. Anyways, Seth kept raising his hand
to comment and then getting embarrassed and saying, I'll tell you
later. He wanted to talk but didn't like the setting of FHE to do it.
He was anxious to go to bed so we could talk. So I went in and asked
him what he wanted to talk about. He proceeded to tell me that a couple
weeks earlier a neighbor boy told him that I had told another boy that
if Seth ate peanuts or peanut butter he would die. Like instantly. He
was so nervous about dying! (Suddenly I started to remember how often
he had brought up death the last couple of weeks and everything started
to totally make sense to me. Matter of fact I can remember one day we
were having a spiritual discussion and with tears in his eyes he looked
at me and said, but if I died I would still see you in heaven one day
right? I mean, heart breaking! But i was so glad to finally know where
this was all coming from.) Anyways we talked about it. And I told him I
never said anything like that and sometimes kids make up things. But I
also went step by step through what would happen if he did have peanut
butter or peanuts. And although it could be life threatening, it was
not immediate. There was a time period where his body would send out
antihistamines which might make his throat or tongue swell. But that
there was time to get to a doctor and time to get help before it
escalated to a dangerous situation. He then asked me if his heart
slowed down if he had peanut butter? I told him I had no idea. But
that sounded like something that could happen. He then proceeded to
tell me that in his brain he thought that this is what happened.
Because when your heart stops you die. Suddenly I began to remember how
much he has been working out lately, running, doing sit ups etc. And
he continued to tell me that is why he likes exercising, because it
speeds up your heart so you live longer. It all made sense. His fear of
dying, the peanuts, the exercising to keep his heart pumping. And I
was so grateful for the opportunity to give him truth, to correct those
incorrect thoughts and beliefs in his mind. I explained that hearts are
made to last 60-100 years even when people don't exercise. And while
exercising is good, God made our hearts to help keep us alive for a very
long time. I could literally see his body take a deep sigh of relief
at all this new knowledge. He wasn't going to die, not right away
anyways and not from peanuts and not from not exercising. What a weight
had been lifted. A couple of times the next day he even told me, "I'm
so glad you told me I wasn't going to die if I ate peanuts." :) And I
was SO grateful to a God who listens and the Spirit who taught me how
and what to say to help this big burden. We have a long way to go to
fully over come this fear of his allergy but this night was pivotal.
So grateful we can tackle this without those huge fears.
Well long story short, (haha, I know) over the next 6 months we talked a lot about trusting in God and he made an effort to fast every fast Sunday for Heavenly Father to take away his Peanut Allergy. **Yes i know as a parent, you get nervous with these types of requests, because what if it never went away? But If he was willing to fast, I was not about ready to dampen that with my doubts, so I did everything in my power and knowledge to help as well.
At his 9th birthday I told him we could go and get him re-tested for peanuts just to see. When they called back with his results, they told me he was at a .34. Well this didn't mean anything to me so I had them pull up the results of the first time to have something to compare it to. The nurse did so and then was vocally surprised at how much it had changed. Apparently the first time he was tested back in 2008 he was at a 6.75, or what was considered high risk. And now at a .34 he was not even considered low risk. If he ate peanuts he might just develop a rash or something. I started crying, knowing what had gone into it like Seth's fasting and prayers. When I told Seth, he was so excited! He couldn't stop telling people! What an experience. I doubt he'll still eat peanuts because he thinks they stink, but the fear is almost completely gone for him to accidentally eat something. I am so grateful today for fasting, for Jesus Christ, for knowledge, for tender mercies, for faith....for miracles.
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