Old School PKU

Being as it's PKU awareness month I took on the PKUphotoaday challenge... Today's challenge is a hard one, all the others have been easy, light hearted and quite fun to do... This one is my take on what the challenge is asking for... So please grab your tissues, prepare yourself but most of all be thankful for the advances in diagnosis and treatment we are lucky to have now.

Old School PKU

I looked into how different things were for people with PKU, I'm only talking 20-30 years ago. There was no screening at 5 days old... This meant high levels of brain damage, there were lots of children with development issues being put into institutions because of this, they had speech problems and were not able to look after themselves.

When screening did begin there was as much treatment nore was there clear understanding, reading stories of other people now in their 40s, struggling to get back on their diet as they were told at different ages they didn't need to be on it anymore, this still cause development issues and behavioural issues too.

Even looking 10 years ago at the choices of food for PKU'ers, it must have been a very hard diet to stick to with only 1 or 2 companies providing very minimal low protein or completely free from foods.

But we look at now 2015... I am blessed, pleased, releaved that this is the year my daughter was born, she had a diagnosis at 7 days old, her diet started straight away, the knowledge and monitoring continues to today, 4 months on... The support is amazing. One thing is for sure, yes it was a shock but I know I wouldn't be as calm, level, balanced or relaxed about PKU as I am now, and I still well up thinking about how lucky we are but how horrible it must be for families who go through this before the advancements in the treatment of PKU.

I raise awareness for this reason, it isn't as scary, it is dangerous but only if you don't follow suggestions, stick to your diet the best you can and you will live a full life... No one and nothing should limit you just because of PKU... It's three letters, not the end of the world... Your strong, your awesome!

Let's all help others realise just how lucky they all are, because things could have been so very different...