Halloween

Food. It's the center of so many of our social activities, yet for us, food is a problem. I admit, I've been dreading Halloween this year. I didn't always feel this way though.

So far I've had some marvelous characters "enter" my life each Halloween. I've had Tigger, Batman, Spiderman, 2 ballerinas, Darth Vader, Optimus Prime, a pirate, Rapunzel/Tangled, Minnie Mouse, a storm trooper, a Marine, and a Hello Kitty Barbie Mermaid Fairy. This year will include some repeats with a slight change. There will be a cute young pirate, a beautiful witch, and a zombie Marine, but the enthusiasm and gusto for this day is just not here.

The first year with Halloween we did not know of Bradley's problems. He enjoyed visiting friends and the mall as Tigger.

The following year was the first year with candy as our brave little Batman went Trick-o-Treating for the first time ever. Love the faces as he enjoys some mini M&Ms. If only we knew just how bad these are for him. 

A year later and we have a ballerina and Spiderman. Little did we know this Halloween would be the last one where the most we had to do with the candy was inspect it to make sure it hadn't been tampered with. We knew to be cautious of products with milk and by this time egg, but I don't recall taking away all the chocolate. 

Welcome to Halloween 2009 where we are joined by a pirate and Optimus Prime. Candy was closely inspected because we knew at this time that Tori has a peanut allergy and we knew for sure about foods that were unsafe for Bradley thanks to MUSC. 

And so our Halloweens became a time to remove all candy that posed a threat and began our trading out so the kids would still get to enjoy normal kid things. We were able to let this be our routine for the next couple of Halloween's. 

After this particular Halloween, we were introduced to something called Eosinophilic Esophagitis. At this time and for a couple of years, we managed living with this disease, but had to make the decision to add on one more MUSC doctor since the doctor here was not listening to us about Bradley's problems. 

2012....If only we could see into the future. This was the year we added a ballerina back into our mix, I had a handsome Marine to protect me, and my sweet Tori Belle had such a unique idea for a costume, I had to design and make it myself. For now, this is the last Halloween my sweet baby boy was able to have a decent selection of Halloween candy. Now I know there are people out there who frown on Halloween and on candy, but anything in moderation is fine. I promise, I still have candy in our bucket that needs to be thrown out from last year. 

And now we arrive at 2013. The Halloween I dread most, but that Bradley insists he will be okay. By now, Bradley has gone through 3 endoscopies and 2 colonoscopies. The most recent indicating that he has not been getting better, but instead much worse. This year, the only safe Halloween treats will most likely be what his grandparents and parents give him. Just to show how ready he is, he shared with me this evening his thoughts. "Mommy, I know what would be great. It would be great if I had a way to sell my Halloween candy I get from Trick-o-Treating and then I could use that money to be something safe for me to eat." So even though we did not shop for any costumes, we are going to go through the motions of visiting neighbors, saying Trick-or-Treat (while praying they don't add in smell my feet), and then determining what is safe. And sadly, Bradley may have to settle for being a Marine one more time because I'm really not sure how well his skin will handle make-up to turn him into a Zombie Marine. 

I of course have a back up plan and spooky Halloween Jell-o jigglers are setting as I type and will find some Fun Dip and sugar free Ringpops. But I pray for the strength to watch as he realizes Tori will have candy she can keep while he has to settle for such a limited selection. Even though he knows this happens with every day snacks and eating, Halloween is only once a year. He keeps such a positive attitude and outlook on life that I know he will be okay. He has faith like no other child I've known. So here's to yet another adjustment in our lives and praying that this time next year he will still be able to have at least the few items that are safe for him right now.