WE ARE TAKING THEIR POWER AWAY!

It thankfully has been a boring week of dosing which means today Coby gets to up-dose to 8 peanuts today!

The other day I actually filled out a thank you card for his doctor (along with gifts to give the doctor and Coby's five nurses) on graduation day.

We are sooooo close to that day. This is unbelievable! (I know, I know... Graduation does not guarantee 100% safety. In fact just this week I read about a child who went into anaphylaxis during maintenance dosing, but that child and mom still are so happy they did OIT because it has been soooo life-changing and unbelievable.)

If all goes well he has just one or two more up-doses before graduation day! We are so close!!!!

The other day I read about a dairy allergic 13 year old who was bullied to death in the UK. Yes, you read that correctly. BULLIED TO DEATH. The bully was arrested for murder. This 13 year old bully. Apparently this particular kid had been bullying him for a while- at times throwing a piece of cheese at him, or shoving one down his shirt. This time however, his classmates say that this 13 year old ass-wipe snuck a piece of cheese into the kid's lunch. Kid is now dead. There is no coming back from that. Dead is dead. I can't even---

A main reason we are doing OIT is because of stories like that. I can't trust people to keep Coby safe.

Mistakes can happen.

Bullies can happen.
Kids can be horrible. Over 1/3 of food allergic kids have been bullied because of their allergy. And it can turn deadly. Unfortunately the above is not the first time I heard a story like that with an ending like that.
While now all of Coby's friends are so sweet and supportive, when they hit the tween and teen years things can change. Many can morph into monsters. Who the heck knows? And even if 9 out of 10 kids are sweetie-pies.... all it takes is one. While most kids can stay loyal and amazing, all it takes is one...

The victim above was a popular child with many friends.... except for one.

All it takes is one.

We are taking that 'one's power away.

Sure sure, the ice cream and the donuts and the parties and college and the sleep-overs and restaurants and travel are all amazing bonuses Coby will get for completing this--- but the number one reason we are doing this is for his safety.

No more touch reactions.

No more air-borne reactions.

If he takes one wrong bite (or even several)- it will be okay.

A bully will no longer have the power to hurt him in this way.

So while a random reaction may happen during maintenance dosing, Coby will be thousands of times safer than he had been.

And today, day 267 of treatment Coby up-doses to 8 peanuts.

EIGHT?!

This number is particularly impressive to me because many doctors who do OIT actually consider graduation to be at this level. They are done. They don't go any further. They stay on 8 for several months and then have their food challenge of 24 a few months later followed by a life-time of dosing at 8 peanuts per day.

So part of me feels like today Coby is receiving his associate's degree today! Obviously Coby will continue on all the way up to 12 peanuts since that is his doctor's protocol, but I feel like today is an unbelievable milestone as well.

Cue in that graduation music because we are sooooo close!!!!!