Progress and Setbacks...a Crossover Post

Originally posted on my food allergy education blog:

www.foodallergykid.com

I know Emma news needs to be posted here too!

Folks, nothing in life is free. You have to give a little to get a little, and some days it feels like you are just giving and giving and giving. Am I wrong? Someone once told me that it seemed as if life with a food allergic child was a series of steps, and from where that person stood, it seemed to them like I took one step forward and three steps backward. Today feels like one (or three) giant steps backward.

I have heard of children who have documented food allergies to specific foods all of a sudden having reactions to formerly "safe" foods. Foods they have eaten before with no problem and no reaction. This happened to us this weekend, on Friday and AGAIN on Saturday. A different food each time. Each food Tiny Princess has eaten before without incident. Both are foods she dearly loves. Beyond the heartache of knowing there are foods your child will never taste, beyond the pain of having your child watch another child eat something and ask what it is (and can she have some), is the hurt caused by taking a food out of your child's diet that she loves. A food she asks for by name. Then telling her that, no, she cannot have any of it.

Pineapple and then tomato. Tiny Princess ate a small bite of delicious pineapple and then her face and hands broke into hives. She came so close to getting her Epipen but it was limited to the skin. This time. The next day she ate some chicken and grilled vegetables plus some cherry tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes are her absolute favorite. Before she even finished them she had hives around her mouth and chin. The nurse from our allergist's office called me back to tell me no pineapple and no tomato products and that the doctor would be in tomorrow morning and would call me to give me further instruction. And the good old backup-go to the Emergency Room if something happens.

So that is where we are. Steps backward right now. But I am determined to go forward again....just maybe after I have a good cry.

Finally Finished!!

ALL of Emma's adoption paperwork is finally complete! Our last step was to obtain her Certificate of Citizenship via immigration and we went for her "ceremony" and oath yesterday, March 8th!

It took 36 months...to the day...but we applied, went to classes, gathered every document about every part of our life, had home visits, got fingerprinted, waited, got matched, did another massive pile of paperwork and documents, applied for Emma to enter the US, waited, went to Korea, brought her home, had more home visits, went to court to formally adopt her, got her birth certificate, got her a passport,got her a social security number, and NOW got her citizenship!!!!!!!

That's kindof a big deal...right??