My First Meeting

So, I attended my first "Metro Vancouver Anaphylaxis Group" meeting this week (the group is coordinated through Anaphylaxis Canada, which I talked about in this post).

It was AWESOME.

I got to meet a bunch of other parents of kids with peanut (and other) allergies, and talk about anything and everything to do with the allergy. We discussed where to buy peanut-free foods, where to take the kids out to eat, vacationing, daycare, school, EpiPens, swimming...and so much more. It was so great to hear what other parents are doing to keep their kids safe. I got so many useful tips and ideas that I hadn't even thought about before!

I highly recommend joining this group. I can't wait for the next meeting!

Support!

I was looking around on the Anaphylaxis Canada website, and I found out that they organize support groups all over the country, for people with anaphylaxis and their parents. I decided to sign up, since I know only one other person with a life-threatening allergy, and I thought it would be good to connect with a few more. Because, let's face it, if you don't deal with the reality of this type of allergy on a day-to-day basis, you have no idea what it's really like.

So I sent an email to the group administrator in my area and she responded within a couple of hours! Pretty amazing for a volunteer-run group! I gave her my info, she added me to the group contact list, and before the day was done, I had 3 more emails from her with info about group meetings, other members and general info. And not only that, but I also had two more emails from other group members offering their support. Wow!

I will go to my first meeting in a couple of weeks, so I'll let you know how it goes. So far, though, I am super impressed with the information, support and care that these people showed me. I would highly recommend this support group! Especially if, like me, your child is newly diagnosed.