PKU Awareness Month 2014

Here we are once again...already!  May is National PKU Awareness Month.  Carson must be really special since he gets two whole months of blog posts dedicated to him!  I will definitely make it a point to focus on Maggie and new baby girl this summer!  I just want everyone to know one reason why I focus so much during the awareness months is because that is when people search the internet the most for these topics.  I began receiving hits on my blog about PKU awareness before the month even started.  I watch the traffic flow and try to take the opportunity to write about things I feel are important for everyone to know.

This year, raising awareness and educating people about PKU and the diet are especially important to me because Carson is beginning kindergarten in regular public school this fall.  I have mentioned it in many posts already, and that is because it is a hot topic issue I am working very diligently on right now.  I want to make sure that Carson is cared for at school by people who are truly interested and willing to learn to understand how important his diet is.  Since Carson has autism, I am especially strict with his diet because I do not want to take any risks:  1.  I don't want to cause any damage to Carson's unique brain.  2.  I don't want Carson to even have a taste of foods he should not have on a regular basis, since at this point he still cannot comprehend the reason why he needs different foods.  3.  I want Carson to stay in his routine and learn to understand how important what he eats really is.

You can read all about PKU (phenylketonuria) in several places on my blog:  by clicking the PKU tab at the top of the page, or by clicking on any of the Topics related to PKU to link to previous posts.  Also, I have a few informative links under Helpful Links, which will take you to some of the websites I use for resources.  My blog is simply my own personal opinions, experiences, and feelings, as well as some shared information I have read and learned over the years.  Please keep that in mind when reading my posts.  I am not a professional expert; but I am a mom expert who is currently living it!  I would love to share stories with anyone out there and I try to be an encouragement to anybody who struggles.  Sometimes in life we just need someone else to say they understand how we feel because they have been there.  I know I do. 

In upcoming posts, I plan to write a series called A Day in the Life with PKU.  I am going to try to just document our daily routine, including formula making, meal planning and preparation, food ordering, and blood drawing.  I want to show everything we do (in pictures), even though some of it is not done very often.  My goal is for everyone to see how we manage Carson's diet every day, and how routine it is with very little change, which is very important to Carson.  Check in soon for my first post!