smack, the keyboard *issue*, yes, well. Jesse actually attended school and used the computer keyboards and mouse there for what, almost four years? Nothing ever happened.
Then I read, as Kim M. posted above, Valerie's post about her son having a reaction to residue on a keyboard. I know that it was after Jesse had had his anaphylactic reaction to residue at school last year, so I was suffering from what I will readily admit was post traumatic stress syndrome of the PA kind because his reaction was not something I could control in any way whatsoever.
So, when Valerie posted her story, I thought, okay, perhaps it is something I could mention to the principal, who I did get along well with.
She immediately, and interestingly enough, without looking at me like I was being a paranoid over-reacting Mother, got a keyboard and mouse for Jesse. Immediately.
Since Jess switched schools this year, she even had it forwarded to the new school for him. What a cool woman. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/cool.gif[/img]
I remember when I first read the To-day's Parent article re PA and how the child with their own keyboard/mouse was presented. As though the parents were extremists. There were differing "comfort zones" presented in the article. This was before I had the internet and PA.com.
It was something that was kinda noted in the back of my head that I *may* want to follow-up with Jesse one day with regard to. Not an immediate "to do" but something in the back of my mind.
I didn't care for how the parents were presented as extremists - they obviously had their reasons for wanting their child, at that time, to have her own keyboard/mouse.
That's why I made the decision last year to "reduce the risk" to Jesse, in a school where he had already had a reaction to residue, after I read Valerie's thread here.
Drinking fountains. Again. Jesse managed to survive JK and SK I believe drinking from water fountains. When another PA.com member wrote up Jesse's written school plan for me, it had the no drinking fountain clause in it. She used it for her child. To me, and only because of Jesse's reaction history (and this would have been previous to the one at school last year), it was another lightbulb moment, if you will, and I thought, okay, makes sense.
As I've posted here, I don't wipe things down when we're out. We just got home from riding public transit and I never think twice about getting on the bus and what peanut enemy may be awaiting us. We also just went into the grocery store to pick up a couple of things, and again, I don't wipe the grocery cart down.
But, I will never question or comment on those PA parents who do choose to do that because, as I posted above, with both the examples I gave (katiee's squirrels with peanuts in the backyard thread and Danielle's current thread re conditioner), it is something that I need, and only personally, to have in the back of my head "just in case".
There may come a day that yes, Jesse does have a reaction by touching a grocery cart. Then, obviously, I have to re-think what I'm doing.
Also, I think a LOT of the parents that are doing things that we may consider "extreme" are PA parents whose children haven't even had a reaction but parents who are trying to prevent a reaction and give their child that 20% chance.
Had I found PA.com before Jesse had his first anaphylactic reaction, I honest to God can't say how my "comfort zone" would be different than it is now. Had I not blown his 20% chance of outgrowing his allergy by my ignorance and his Father's denial, our life *might* be very different than it is now.
I do think that my comfort zone is fairly tight although I also recognize, and only through posting here, that there are some areas that I *could* tighten up on and really, I'd only be tightening them up if Jesse did have a reaction. Isn't that kinda a sad statement for me to make?
I remember when I read katiee's thread about the peanuts in the backyard and I honestly did think, okay, is this something I have to worry about? At the time, for whatever reason(s), it wasn't. A year or so later, it was.
Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
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I actually think my son is coping just fine. Can he sometimes be anxious about his allergy? Certainly. Is there something wrong with that? I actually don't think so.
I have migraines, as I've posted about here.
At times, yes, I get anxious about my migraines. And he**, they're not even life threatening.
I think my son is coping quite well. I can't even imagine having a life threatening food allergy.
Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
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