Sharing our stories – Paula

“At the beginning, when he born, he had severe allergies. He has a peanut and cashew allergy, so here – I love it here, as it’s nut-free Playcentre!”

I’m a full-time mum at the moment, especially for all his allergies, I’m looking after him. I have to prepare all his food for him, cause he’s got egg, dairy, cashew, wheat, soy… so many.”

When did you discover he had so many allergies?

“When he was born, he had allergies. It was like eczema, but it never changed. It was getting worse, so we went to a paediatrician, they did the sprinkle test and they found all these allergies. So, I changed my diet and then after two weeks his skin was normal – before it was red.”

“I was eating a lot of cashew and peanut and it made us stop and now he’s much, much better. I always need to carry loratadine in case of a reaction. Now I’m introducing dairy  which he’s tolerating, but everything must be cooked.”

How have you coped with this extra challenge?

“For him, I would do anything. So, for me, I was looking on the internet finding recipes… it was easy because of the internet. I found some really good recipes that worked for us, and even though my mum is in Chile, we communicate all the time and she helps me with the balancing – ‘try this’ ‘try that’. I know he’s getting better and I feel very good, so I keep going.”

What would be your answer if Liam asked you ‘what’s the most important thing to you’?

“’Him’ I would say.”