Treatment for Hamish

Hamish is 7 years old and has had anaphylaxis to cows milk protein since he was 6 months old. Hamish is a kind, caring, funny, music loving and popular little boy who just loves life. He is the life and soul of every party but due to his allergies, a part of him is also anxious and nervous in the company of others where food is present due to the risks it poses to him.

He can end up in hospital or worse, if someone touches him after handling dairy or if he is served contaminated food. We have found treatment that is available in America to improve his quality of life by allowing him to build a tolerance to dairy which would minimise the risk of an anaphylaxis when he comes into contact with dairy products. Treatment is going to cost approximately 6000USD, we would appreciate any donations to help get Hamish to America for this life changing treatment.

Oral Immunotherapy

Hamish’s Story

Hamish was diagnosed with anaphylaxis to cows milk protein at 6 months of age, after we started weaning him and added a tiny amount of grated cheese to his vegetable puree that we had made. After only two mouthfuls, he was covered in facial hives. his eyes were swollen. he was coughing profusely and vomiting violently. He looked so floppy, panicked and shocked. After presenting to our local emergency department and being sent home with steroids and no further plans or help, I organised referrals to immunology myself where Hamish was diagnosed as anaphylactic and given epipens.

Following that diagnosis, we have had to learn a whole new way of living. We have first and foremost had to learn how to keep Hamish alive and protect him from accidental dairy exposure. Not an easy task when you have a baby and other children. We have had to learn how to navigate the minefield of food labelling. Food labels can be very vague. They also have different descriptions which affects the assessment you have to make on whether the food is safe to give or even worse foods that are labelled and considered safe actually have cross contamination in them. Shopping takes so much longer when you have to consistently read food labels incase the manufacturer changes the ingredients of a food, toiletries very frequently contain cows milk protein (which is something I would never have even thought about before) and we have had to learn how to feed our child whilst cutting out a whole food group. This has been difficult and Hamish was also described as "failure to thrive" due to poor weight gain. We have had to restrict items in the house which our other children enjoy which is difficult and to them feels unfair. Sometimes all our kids want is a chocolate milkshake and we have to tell them no to keep their brother safe. In his 7 years of life, Hamish has had around 10 anaphylaxis. He has also been diagnosed as idiopathic anaphylaxis as he has had reactions when he hasn't even eaten. Each episode brings a wave of trauma to Hamish and ourselves, each time a reminder that we could lose him.

As Hamish gets older, we are faced with more and more challenges due to his anaphylaxis. We want him to lead as fulfilling a life as possible. We want him to enjoy a life without stress where he can go out and eat, holiday, do all the things that most people take for granted and not have the constant stress of a life threatening condition. Trusting chefs to make your child a safe meal after declaring the allergy is very hit or miss and we have even had places refuse to serve us when we have stayed locally at a hotel. Travelling on a plane and worrying about a reaction on board is a hugely stressful time. It takes a lot of planning and preparation as he cant even eat the food offered. I have to wipe all the surfaces of our seating area with dettol wipes, we sit at the very back of the plane to minimise any contact between Hamish and other passengers. Even venturing out to a water park has led to an anaphylaxis as someone dropped an ice cream into the water, resulting in an anaphylaxis for Hamish and a trip to hospital. Swimming lessons have been a challenge at times if a baby or child has vomited milk in the pool before or during Hamish's lesson and I've had to cancel his lesson at the last minute. Anaphylaxis to such a common food group has so many every day challenges that it is just so hard to list it all and put into words.

This year Hamish has experienced anxiety after being surrounded by his peers at school all day whose lunchboxes all contain foods that could kill him. He has had children touch him and tell them they've had dairy products which has resulted in him panicking that he is having an anaphylaxis and I have had phone calls from school to pick him up. He has started to worry about death and dying. He has had to start seeing a psychologist to help alleviate these fears for him. We are also training our dog to be an assistance dog for him.

We recently found out that there is treatment available in America for Hamish to desensitise him to cows milk protein. This treatment would allow him to be able to consume cows milk protein without having a reaction. To be able to raise the funds for this treatment would be lifechanging not only for Hamish, but for our whole family. To rid ourselves of the constant fear of losing Hamish is something that would mean the absolute world to us. Living every day, locking that fear at the back of your brain is hard. We have to trust Hamish's school teachers with the responsibility of keeping him safe, he has to attend afterschool care to allow us to work and again, we have to trust his day care teachers to keep him safe from coming into contact with dairy. We don't only have to trust that they ensure he doesn't come into contact with his allergen, we also have to trust that if he does, they will recognise his symptoms and treat him immediately. Delayed treatment increases the risk of death, as well as being asthmatic (which Hamish unfortunately is). Hamish being desensitised to dairy would also allow him to enjoy his life more, he will be able to go to birthday parties without me having to make a special party food box for him, so that he can have fun food like everyone else, he will be able to go to sleepovers and playdates with his friends, he will be able to go to school camp, travel, he will even be able to have a girlfriend that isn't vegan!!!! His brothers will be able to have their chocolate milkshakes and maybe I won't have to be such a stickler for ensuring the kitchen is spotless and contamination free!

As parents, all we want is for our children to have long and happy lives. Please help us to get Hamish to America for this life changing treatment to improve his quality of life. This treatment is currently unavailable in Australia, despite it being the allergy capital of the world. We would be eternally grateful for any donation received or a share of this page.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Michael & Louise.