Some families deal with medical issues or allergies every day. For Sheila Prutsman and her daughter Charlee, however, the struggle is a constant battle for her and her husband Dave with Charlee’s severe food allergies and eczema and the public’s ignorance about these life-threatening conditions.
Sheila was born and raised in Hammond; she now lives in Griffith with Charlee and Dave. Her career path didn’t take her on the usual high school to college route. Instead, she entered the workforce at a young age and only quit her full-time job when she needed to take care of Charlee.
“I started working from a young age at Menard’s,” said Prutsman, “And I made that my career until I couldn’t anymore.”
Prutsman isn’t your average stay-at-home mom, however. Charlee’s life-threatening allergies to many common and taken-for-granted food items like bread, peanuts, soy and some fruits, among other things, makes her job of giving Charlee a safe and normal childhood all that more difficult.
“I know it doesn’t sound exciting or anything like that, but with a kid like Charlee, I have no other option but to stay home with her.”
Even before Charlee was born, Prutsman was advocating for children with special needs.
“I have a nephew who is autistic,” she told NWIndianalife.com. “So, I’ve been advocating for organizations like Autism Speaks and Chasing Dreams to this day on behalf of him.”
For Sheila, though, it’s not about the work. It’s about bringing awareness to people who don’t really know much about children with special needs.
“It’s bringing awareness and having the opportunity to speak about the issues at hand whether it be food allergies, autism or eczema,” said Prutsman, “Being given the opportunity to speak and to explain my daughter’s situation is everything to me, because, for the most part, if I tell someone my daughter has food allergies, they’ll say, ‘Well, yeah, I can’t eat peanuts either…’ and it’s like ‘Okay, but it’s not just that. We have a laundry list of foods on top of seasonal allergies and pets and things like that.’”
Even with the constant vigilance from both her and her husband as well as Charlee’s educators, it’s not easy being a parent and watching your child grow up apart from her peers. For instance, at lunch time, a time when Charlee should be socializing and having a fun time with her friends, she instead has to eat alone so as to not be exposed to any airborne food aerosols or scents that could trigger her allergic reactions.
“They’re so bad that we don’t want to risk anything being airborne around her,” Prutsman explained. “It’s such mixed emotions, because my daughter has the most stellar personality. She is the most outgoing and social person you will ever meet in your life and to have her sit in the office and eat lunch when it’s that time for her to expel her energy and talk to her friends, it hurts me, but at the same time, it’s saving her life.”
Even at normal every day events like birthday parties, Charlee can’t partake of common party foods like pizza or cake for fear of her allergies triggering. That being said, Dave and Sheila find great places for them to have fun as a family.
“Locally, there are places like Set ‘Em Up Lanes (a bowling alley) and Twincade (a restaurant and arcade), because they know Charlee there, and they provide a safe environment for her and welcome her,” said Prutsman, “It’s just the craziest thing how amazing these local establishments are.”
While Shiela’s job as a mom is a constant, she also finds time to serve various organizations with whom she shares a common message and goal.
“I just volunteered to be the walk chairman for the Chicago Food Allergy Walk on October 14th,” she said. “It gives me purpose. I feel that I’m doing good by volunteering my time to this organization. Our goal isn’t that big at all, but their main purpose is my main purpose.”
She also works with Food Allergy Research and Education, or FARE, to bring their Teal Pumpkin program to local communities. The Teal Pumpkin program helps families of children with food allergies still enjoy Halloween by recruiting community members to have a teal pumpkin outside their house to let passing families know that they can get non-food goodies at those homes while trick-or-treating.
Even though her job as a mother is oftentimes more challenging than most, Sheila has grown over the years to help educate and teach those who don’t know much about these children with special needs. While it’s still not easy, Sheila and her husband are always ready and happy to teach anyone who will listen about their daily struggles with keeping their daughter safe. In her own words, “I used to get offended when people would look at Charlee like she was different, I used to cry. I don’t anymore. Now I educate.”