Graham's Journey to Food Allergy Freedom!

Hi, my name is Katie Jewell and I am creating this GoFundMe on behalf of my sister, Sarah Fry, and my nephew Graham. Graham has multiple life threatening food allergies and is about to start a very LONG and very EXPENSIVE food allergy program in Long Beach, California. I could try and type more on all of this, but let's face it, I'm not the writer in the family. :) Sarah is definitely better with words than me. I copied this from a recent Facebook post she made that explains it better than I ever could.

"Everything about our lives is about to change.

If all goes well, in a few years time, Graham will live the way your kids do. Or the way you did. His daily risks will be the same as any 3-year-old. He will have food freedom.

Many of you know Graham has severe anaphylactic food allergies. But probably only a handful know the extent of what that means. Graham can’t eat, touch or even smell/inhale milk, eggs, or peanuts in any form. I can’t eat it and then touch or kiss him without him breaking out in hives. Because these are very common foods found in nearly everything, his allergies dictate every decision we make and every place we go. Every trip out of the house requires extra planning, packing and thought. In the rare times when he’s away from me, the anxiety is always there. The worry that one mistake — One well meaning adult offering him chocolate he can’t refuse. One dropped cookie he finds on the playground. One classmate handing him a cube of cheese. One label we didn’t check 3 times. Those are life-threatening mistakes for us.

But after several years on the wait list, Graham will begin a program this week that is the first and only one of its kind in the world. It will allow him, and us, to live. Truly live without constantly panning rooms for foods that may as well be bombs. Without reading ingredient labels like our son’s life literally depends on it. We can go to restaurants. Graham can go to a birthday party and stay the whole time. Graham won’t have to always ask “is this safe for me?” He won’t get itchy after every trip to the playground.

The program at the Southern California Food Allergy Institute will require 4-5 day trips to Long Beach about every 10 weeks for 2-3 years. When we are at home, between appointments, it will be constant work managing maintenance doses of both normal and bizarre foods in very specific amounts. While I worry about juggling it all, paying the high cost of it all, and supporting a 3-year-old through it all, we can’t pass up this opportunity.

I share all of this for a few reasons. One, to ask for your support. It will be a long, hard journey but we are ready and excited to change our sweet boy’s life. If you pray, we will take prayers. Good vibes are accepted too. If we’re close friends, be prepared to let me vent or cry or drink wine with me. And lastly, if you know anyone or have any connections to the Long Beach area, we would love any and all tips, advice or cost saving accommodations, amenities that may be available.

Thanks for reading. This may seem like a long post, but it’s a small fraction of the impact food allergies have on our lives. I likely won’t post a lot about the journey here, but I have decided to chronicle our journey on my fairly new Instagram page, @FoodAllergiesOTG. I would love for you to follow along. ♥️"

Obviously, prayers are the most important thing my sister and Graham need. But, if you would like to help Sarah, Mark, Graham and Ethan out financially it would also be a huge blessing.