Quote:
Originally Posted by burn_baby_burn
So I guess their is a lot of hysteria when it comes to food allergies. But how do you weigh the risk? I'm not one to panic, but this is the life of your child. Could you live with yourself if you blew the risk off as just a bunch of over blown scare tactics by doctors and your child died as a result? Personally I think the risk is low, so I'm not losing any sleep over it. It is real enough that I do pay attention to what she is eating (at the age of nine, she reads the label on everything she eats anyway).
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Sounds like you are being reasonable about the risks, and are weighing them sensibly. If I had a kid with a serious allergy I'd be equally careful, but I wouldn't expect the entire world to revolve around his/her special needs, which is the main issue I have with all the hysteria.
Plus, if my kid was diagnosed with any allergy, I'd get a 2nd, informed opinion from another doctor (preferably a specialist), as there is a big difference between a mild allergy which might make you break out in hives, and one that is life-threatening. Your story of your doctor and the 1 in 100 chance of dying sounds like it is pulled out of thin air by a physician who isn't much of an allergy authority, or even more likely, one who is deadly afraid of lawsuits and figures going way overboard in stating the risks is covering his/her ass.
PS: I'm not criticizing and I have no idea whether you've consulted a specialist or not. It's just what I would do, as I've personally had experience with doctors who overdramatize test results as if your immediate death was staring out of the paper.
PPS - this guy's
blog pretty well sums up how I feel, and has some good links about the subject too.