Rita's Family

Rita copes well with her large family, despite all but one of her children having allergies. The coping strategies she employs for the management of so many conditions may be effective, but they have had a tremendously stressful impact on her daily life.

Being vigilant about the condition

Seven year-old Chloe has asthma, eczema and allergic rhinitis. Chloe has to have her medications accessible to her at all times, in case she has an attack, and has had to learn to be especially vigilant about her own condition. Asthma can be triggered by a variety of events and circumstances; anything that irritates the airways and brings on symptoms. A very important aspect of controlling symptoms is avoiding your triggers, but in everyday life this can be extremely difficult. As well as her nasal allergy, little Chloe has hay fever, and has to cope with a runny, stuffy and itchy nose, sneezing, and irritated ears and throat. With allergic rhinitis triggers becoming ever more diverse and aggressive, Chloe and Rita have to monitor the environment constantly, recognizing and acknowledging anything that provokes an attack of allergic rhinitis or asthma. A large burden for a little girl, and a big worry for Rita.

Medication close at all times

As with many patients with asthma and allergic rhinitis, Chloe also has eczema and needs to take special baths, and moisturize frequently. Bath and bed times are not easy for Rita, who has to ensure that Chloe's skin is correctly saturated to prevent it from becoming inflamed and painful. But Chloe's routine is far from the whole story for the family. Five year-old Kyle has far more problems, as he has asthma, hay fever and a variety of food allergies. He too has eczema, to the extent that Rita and her husband have had to put a strict daily management plan into practice. As a baby, Kyle had to be moisturized all over at least eight times a day, and although this has now dropped to three or four times a day, the time it takes to apply the ointments can be significant. Kyle can have distressing flare ups on his body and specifically on his face. When this happens those areas need extra care and attention. The management of Kyle's asthma is also stressful for his parents. He must keep his medication close to him at all times, for his hives and in case he becomes short of breath or wheezy.

The allergies impact on every single aspect of the family's lives

Life is stressful for the family, as well as for little Kyle, who was diagnosed with allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, milk, egg, shellfish, sesame seeds, peas, lentils, chickpeas and butter beans as a very small child. A series of invasive tests, including skin prick, blood tests and food challenge tests diagnosed these allergies. Kyle's allergies impact every single aspect of the family's lives, and despite becoming a near expert on allergy management, Rita still finds coping with her children's conditions very stressful and draining. The time it takes to prepare treatments, as well as pick up prescriptions, interact with health care workers and inform her children, all take up valuable time. Flare-ups and incidents are also traumatic for Rita, as well as her children, and mean that she can never really relax and be at ease while her children are living with allergies.

Luckily the eldest child, 16 year-old Ines, appears to be allergy free. But the family is not ruling out the possibility that Ines could yet develop a condition, as they are all atopic and certainly don't take anything for granted.