Our Story, Our Why

As a parent, your ultimate desire for your child is for them to be healthy and happy. And this is our journey towards a healthy, allergy-free life for our son.

It all began when our son was just four months old. We noticed that he had eczema and suspected that he might have a dairy allergy. We started an elimination diet and were relieved to see his eczema improve. But it wasn't just dairy that we had to be careful about. Our doctor also suggested avoiding soy and eggs as they can be interpreted by the body in the same way as the milk protein.

As I was breastfeeding, I also eliminated lentils, chickpeas, celery, and shrimp from my diet, as I noticed that they seemed to be triggers for my son's eczema. As we introduced solid foods, the list of allergens grew. At six months old, we suspected a wheat allergy when my son broke out in red spots all over his body after trying a piece of bread. On the advice of our doctor, we avoided wheat until he was 12 months old. But when we tried again at one year old, my son had a severe reaction. His face became red and swollen and he was inconsolable. We knew we needed to seek medical help right away and thankfully our family doctor was available. After checking his symptoms, he concluded that this allergic reaction could be contained by corticosteroids.

We were referred to an allergy specialist and after three months of waiting, we finally had blood and prick tests done. These tests confirmed a gluten allergy, milk intolerance, and a possible egg allergy. We were also given an emergency plan to use antihistamines or corticosteroids if my son came into contact with wheat. As we continued to introduce new foods at home, we also discovered that mustard and sesame were off-limits for my son. We were able to manage these reactions with antihistamines.

In November 2022, we introduced walnuts at home and our son had a severe allergic reaction. He started coughing strongly and his breathing was off. I gave him his emergency antihistamines drops but they were not helping. At that moment, we knew that he required immediate help. We jumped in the car and drove immediately to the closest doctor. Our family doctor was not in his cabinet and his assistant was helpless. We asked for an adrenaline injection, but they did not store any. We needed to drive to the emergency which was 20 minutes way. During this drive there was a point when our son could not speak, since his through was swollen. Thankfully we arrived to the ER in time and they were prepared with the adrenalin injection. After we needed to go with the ambulance to the Lucerne Cantonal Hospital for Children's for 4 hour of control in case we would have a second wave, which he had, but was managed.

Needles to say, this was a hugely traumatic experience for the whole family, and hopefully, we will never need to go through it again. From then on, we were advised to always carry an epi-pen (adrenaline injection) with us. Since then we are still waiting for a doctor consultation to test our son for nut allergies and any other potential food allergies. Meanwhile no remedies, no suggestions, no help, only anxiety and wait.

Therefore our mission in life is to research, educate ourselves and help others.

I hope that by sharing our experiences, we can offer support and inspiration to other families facing similar issues. As parents, we may not have all the answers, but we can share our journey with others and together we can find a way to ensure that our children can grow out their allergies and live a healthy and happy life. Remember, allergies do not define us or our children, they are just a part of who we are, and we embrace that with love.