So, how do you live a life dealing with people like that? Even though they are the minority, one bad seed can spoil the whole bunch. How do you make the world a better place for your child, when you've been told that all you can do is avoid the problem? This has been the topic of many of my conversations with the Lord. I am a woman of faith, and I’ve been praying since the day we discovered Brooke’s allergies, for God to take them back. I have prayed for a miracle. I have prayed for her to outgrow the allergies. However, I have come to realize that miraculous healing is not what God has planned for Brooke.
A wise preacher in TX once said “Your miracle is not going to happen while you sit on your knees and pray. Your miracle is not going to happen while you lay in the bed and wish. Your miracle is not going to happen just because you need it. You gotta get involved." -TD Jakes.
Though it would be awesome, I do not believe
that you can pray away your sickness or your physical ailments or your
allergies, but I do believe that God gave man the wisdom to create medicine. And, I do believe what Mr. TD Jakes says, we
can’t just sit back and expect a miracle… we gotta get involved. I've always said that I would do anything to help Brooke get rid of her allergies. My heart has always been ready to get involved... I just needed to find the right path to take.
Scott and I had heard of clinical trials aimed at researching
potential cures for food allergies. I never really paid much attention to the
studies because I thought of them as unattainable. Most of them were being conducted hours and
hours away from us. The child had to
get past the waiting list, and meet certain requirements to be admitted to the study, and then there was
always the possibility that your child would be the one to receive the “placebo”. But, the biggest deterrent was the thought of
letting my child take part in an experimental study, something that hadn’t yet
been proven successful.
Last fall, I was reading a blog that my friend Anna
writes. Anna and I have known each other
for the last 4 years. We came to know
each other through the play/support group I had joined for moms with food
allergic children. Anna’s son has
multiple life threatening food allergies, and for as long as I have known her,
she has been researching all the latest studies for a cure. Her latest blog
post was all about a doctor she had found who was offering a proven therapy
called Oral Immunotherapy (OIT) in his private practice. This wasn’t a study, or an experiment, it was
a REAL treatment! I was captivated to
say the least.
I spent the next several weeks looking over Anna’s research,
doing a little research of my own, and reading as much as I could about other
parents who were thinking of doing OIT, in the process of doing OIT, or had
already completed OIT for their children.
It didn’t take long for me to decide that this was the road we needed to
travel. This was our way to “get
involved!”
Excellent blog. Brought tears to my eyes!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can start a group in your new home town - and maybe you can ask the local schools if they will allow a few of you to talk to their kids about allergies and how it can effect children who have them. I agree that you MUST get involved. You may even ask the local church pastors if you can speak at their church and ask for prayer. People need to get educated. I think most people assume the worst that will happen is your kid will get hives and need some cream or some liquid medicine. The general public has no idea that children are dying on a daily basis. Spread the word girl! Be an advocate for Brooke. You might be a little shy but this is something you feel passionate about and I know you can do it.
ReplyDeleteHopefully more medical professionals will see that there is a demand for OIT and more will specialize in it and offer it to the public.
I love your ideas! You'd be surprised though, at the overwhelming number of people who don't want to be educated. You are right though, education is key. The more people know, the better the lives of children with life threatening food allergies would be. Knowledge=Compassion. Both of which are really lacking in our society.
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