Four-year-old Breena Riley is an energetic, bright girl who loves princesses and everything pink.
But behind the contagious smile of the blond-haired, blue-eyed preschooler is a serious, life-threatening medical condition.
Breena suffers from a peanut allergy, a growing menace that, combined with her asthma, can make breathing next to impossible and anaphylactic shock a horrifying possibility.
“Her allergy is so severe that if she comes into contact with something touched by someone who ate something with peanuts, it could trigger an allergic reaction,” said Breena's mother Jennifer Beck.
The nightmare started when Breena was 9 months old. Beck's father was watching Breena while Beck was working. Shortly after she dropped her daughter off, she received a phone call that changed her life.
“My dad said he had only touched peanut butter to her lips, but we needed to take her to the hospital immediately,” Beck recalls.
Rushing home, Beck found Breena vomiting with large welts forming on her face and body, which was quickly losing its skin color. After arriving at the hospital, Beck described the scene as a whirlwind.
“I had no idea what was happening,” she said. “I had no idea the severity of the situation.”
Breena was quickly treated and started improving. After a 12-hour observation, she was scheduled for a follow-up appointment to give the family some answers.
“A few days later, we went to the clinic and ended up with a referral to an allergist,” Beck said.
The allergist confirmed Breena had suffered from anaphylaxis, the most serious type of allergic reaction that can progress very quickly and may cause death without proper medical attention. Breena was lucky to be alive.
The news hit Beck and Breena's father, Mike Riley, like a freight train.
"We didn't know what to do at first," Beck admitted.
Doctors determine the severity of a food allergy patient's condition with a 0-6 rating scale, Beck said. At 9 months old, Breena was considered “a high 4.”
“With more exposures, her doctor said it would get worse,” Beck said, noting since then, Breena has also been diagnosed with asthma, adding an even higher threat to her allergy.
“(The allergist) provided as much education as he could but followed it with, 'peanut allergies are the worst and it is the allergy that takes the most lives.'"
Fortunately, Breena's allergy has kept its distance since that first incident, but her parents say it hasn't been easy.
“We get a lot of grief for being overprotective,” Beck said. “We are told we are over sheltering her and we are too careful.”
Riley said because most people are unaware of how to deal with the severity of an allergy like Breena's, they feel he and Beck's parental decisions can be a burden.
“Some people don't understand why we act the way we do,” he said.
And while Riley stressed he and Beck understand the extremity of their daughter's food allergy is foreign to people, they still get frustrated over the lack empathy.
“We are the way we are because it could mean life or death,” Beck said.
On the rise
Peanut allergies are exploding in number in babies and children, and it has been difficult for experts to pinpoint the cause. A report from NBC News Chief Medical Editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman says nearly 15 million Americans have food allergies, and potentially deadly reactions to food allergies affect about six million children under the age of 18 throughout the United States each year. Peanuts and cow’s milk top the list of foods most likely to cause allergies in children.
Lindsi Barnhart, health educator for the Koochiching County Health Department, said according to the Center for Disease Control, or CDC, and Prevention website, food allergies in children have increased markedly since the 1990s.
“That's alarming,” she said. “While there are many theories, no one knows exactly why this is happening.”
She added although she doesn't have exact numbers for how many extreme cases of food allergies there are locally, it still is an issue. And education is key.
“It is important for the public to be educated about food and environmental allergies so that we can know they are real and try to understand,” Barnhart said. “It is difficult for those of us who haven’t personally experienced food allergies to understand what it’s like and how much energy it takes to stay healthy and feeling well...When people learn about food allergies and recognize the symptoms of anaphylaxis, they can be quicker to seek treatment if their friend, classmate, or co-worker is having a reaction."
And, she continued, it is important for the person with the allergy to know what they shouldn’t eat, to read labels, to avoid cross-contamination, to carry a source of medicine to treat reactions, and to tell everyone who comes in contact with their food what their allergies are.
Even though Breena is young, her parents say she is aware peanuts can make her very sick. But, they still have their work cut out for them. Learning and remembering what foods Breena – and the rest of the family – can and cannot eat started off as an exhausting challenge, Riley said, but has gotten easier.
“We know pretty much what is safe,” Beck added. “But a company can change ingredients or where it makes its food at any time, so we still make an effort to check labels.”
What's next
So is there a cure for food allergies? Unfortunately not, but there is hope.
For Breena it is about 440 miles away.
“I was doing research and I found an allergy clinic in La Crosse, Wis.,” Beck said. “I found a place close to home. I found hope.”
Allergy Associates of La Crosse provides sublingual immunotherapy, commonly referred to as allergy drops that are administered under the tongue, according to the facility's website. The treatment helps children re-educate their over active immune systems by feeding them very small doses of allergy causing foods, gradually increasing the amounts over the course of several months and hopefully, building enough tolerance to take patients out of the danger zone.
Doctors would be able to pinpoint the exact severity of Breena's allergy and determine if the drops would benefit her.
However, there are roadblocks.
In Beck and Riley's case, the cost of treatment and traveling to the clinic exceeds their household budget.
“After a few phone calls, running over insurance and what it does and doesn't cover, it's going to exceed our budget,” Beck said.
On the same note, Riley chimed in that he's prepared to do whatever it takes to let out a sigh of relief over the daily paranoia he and Beck experience because of the allergy.
“I would rather make payments and know how severe my daughter's allergy is than not know at all,” he said.
Beck agreed. “This could be life changing.”
