Hello and welcome.  My name is Robbyn and I am a parent to a child with life-threatening allergies.  My son Derek is at risk of anaphylaxis to peanuts and tree nuts, in addition to other non life-threatening food and environmental allergies.  When he was around 18 months of age his eye swelled shut on two separate occasions while at daycare.  He was quickly tested for peanuts and was then formally diagnosed as at risk for anaphylaxis.  At the physician’s office we were told just how lucky we were that Derek had only touched his face and not his mouth because had he touched his mouth it would likely have triggered an anaphylactic reaction.  The physician provided three pieces of information: (1) avoid peanut products, (2) purchase and carry an auto-injector and (3) purchase a Medic Alert bracelet.  That was it!  As I left the physician’s office almost in tears I had no idea where to begin.

The first step I took was to review all the food products in our home.  I was shocked to see just how many food items either had peanuts and nut products in them or said “may contain traces of”.  As Derek is also allergic to soy, this expanded the list of food products that were no longer considered safe in our household.  My husband began to panic as he saw his cookies, crackers, bread products, desserts and candies all being thrown in the garbage.  I remember him asking, now what I am going to eat?  You don’t know how to cook very well!

After I recovered from the initial shock and dismay I immersed myself on the internet only to find there were so many websites with so much information (some good, some not so good) but no site that focused on the geographic area where we resided, the Metro Vancouver/Lower Mainland area of British Columbia.  As I spent countless hours researching resources, I still could not find information on any local places where I could contact another parent who has experienced similar circumstances.  Throughout all of this I also encountered the reality that the daycare where my son attended had no formal training or experience dealing with anaphylaxis.  There was no anaphylaxis plan in place and I essentially had to become their ‘trainer’.  This troubled me and I began to realize that I could not be alone in this process.  There must be other parents out there who have to bear the anxiety of educating themselves, their family and friends, as well as their daycare and/or school personnel.  It was then that I decided to contact Anaphylaxis Canada to apply for a volunteer position on their Board of Directors.  At the time there were no vacancies and I was quickly approached by the Western Canada Director asking if I would be interested in coordinating/chairing a local support group.  Initially, I had reservations about a support group as I was worried it would consist of individuals getting together to simply complain about their situation or share horror stories, both of which I personally do not find useful for managing my child’s life-threatening allergy.   Although it is extremely important for individuals to have an avenue for expression, I truly believe that by sharing positive experiences of what works, including resources and of course offering support, that together we can overcome the challenges of raising children with life-threatening allergies.  It is for this reason that I agreed to take on the endeavour of coordinating a local support group, the Metro Vancouver Anaphylaxis Group.

Thank you to everyone who has lent their support to make this Group and website a reality, to all the Group members, to all our contributors and of course to my son Derek who has been the inspiration for this life journey.

Respectfully,
Robbyn Heesaker