My heart is feeling 2 sizes too small these days.  I may not be green but I seem to be feeling the same biological issue affecting one of my favorite Dr. Seuss characters.  It’s not that I want to steal Christmas but that I’m feeling like I’d rather avoid it altogether.

I’ll be hosting my side of the family which is the first time we’ll all be together in the 7 years since we moved from Alberta to Vancouver Island.  The distance was just too great to drive over the wintery Rocky Mountains for 15 hours to my sister’s house and 17 hours to my parents’ house and too costly to afford airfare along with everything else that comes with Christmas.  But this year we all decided to make sure we could get together since my eldest nephew will be out of high school this year and most likely moving on to other things.  It was time to bite the bullet and be in the same place.

Add to our family of 10 the French exchange student that we’ll have for Christmas (don’t ask, it seemed like a good idea at the time) and we’ll have 11 people in the house for a week, 5 of them teenagers.

I’m now working on Christmas presents for the family and the French student along with planning meals and baking, all a bunch of things I haven’t had to worry about for years.  So I’m starting to feel the Grinch as I worry about what food is coming to our house and planning dairy free meals for our French student along with all of the allergy issues we always deal with.

I’m sure it will work out just fine but I forgot how stressful it can be, right at the time when society’s expectation is that we’re joyful.  Guess it’s time to get rid of the Grinch and channel my inner Who.

Time today for a little rant.  What’s new?  The topic is demos.  You know, where ladies stand behind a table in your grocer’s aisle, complete with a hair net and gloves.  They offer little samples of various food products, coupons and more.  Many people love food demos and even go to Costco every Saturday to “lunch” on the samples.  Companies do food demos because if consumers try the product we may like it or simply feel guilty and agree to buy an item from that kindly lady behind the table.

99% of the time I avoid food demos, whether or not my allergic child is with me.  In fact, I really try not to make eye contact and have been known to avoid aisles completely if it means I can bypass a demo.  When I have stopped, I’m inevitably disappointed, if not downright ticked off.  Sometimes I can see right away that there are food allergens that we need to avoid in the product but other times I have heard allergen information from the presenter that’s not even close to the mark.  As an example, several years ago Nestle came out with a new Real Dairy product line of ice cream.  Of course, we Canadians know that Nestle has several peanut free chocolate bars on the market here so hope surged within me that I just might be able to get a delicious new ice cream that was safe for our whole family.   Read more »

I spoke to the  producer of a national talk show last week and part of that discussion was telling her all of the major national brands in Canada that have begun producing and labeling items as Peanut Free.  She asked me to send her a couple of those products along with Nonuttin’ samples so that she could see what kind of selection is available to Canadians but not to Americans.  So off to the grocery store I went.

Many items such as candies and chocolate bars were really easy with Halloween coming soon.  The store had huge displays of all of the peanut free items currently being offered and I had no problem finding all sorts of goodies.  I then headed to the cracker and cookie and fruit snacks aisles where I added several Dare products to my cache.

Along the way, I decided to try and get at least a few items that were both peanut free and dairy free because the producer’s child suffers from both of those allergies and I hoped to send a pleasant surprise their way.  That’s when the going really got tough.  I haven’t had to shop dairy free for several years since both of my girls outgrew their dairy allergies.  I discovered that it hasn’t gotten any easier and with all of the peanut free items that I could find I was only able to get 1 item that didn’t have dairy or traces of dairy in it.

While I’m thankful that my own children’s allergies no longer include dairy, it seems to me that the manufacturing world’s focus on peanut free has really given dairy the short shrift.  And it has somehow communicated to the world at large that only peanut allergies are life threatening and need monitoring.  For those of you with dairy allergies, I know I’m preaching to the choir but this grocery trip really opened my eyes up anew.

I’ve said for years that I believe the most difficult allergens to avoid are dairy, wheat and soy.  I find this holds true in my search for ingredients for Nonuttin’ products too.  And despite my desire to have Nonuttin’ products soy free as well, I have discovered that even if we were to remove soy from our own facility, so many of the ingredients we source have soy cross contamination issues that I wouldn’t be comfortable labeling our products as soy free.

I’m not sure what it will take to have other major allergens come to the forefront like peanut has but I think we’ve got a long way to go.

My husband and I just got back from Calgary yesterday after a quick trip to help support our best friends.  This trip has truly made me appreciate that our life is really pretty good; a feeling I hope to affect my perspective for some time.

It all started last Wednesday with a phone call from my friend Erica who was calling from the Children’s Hospital in Calgary after their daughter was flown to the hospital earlier in the week.  As of that Wednesday, they’d received a diagnosis of Stage 4 cancer.  I was blown away with the news, trying to listen to the details from Erica when all I wanted to do was cry.

We then arranged everything that night to fly to Calgary on the weekend to help support our friends while they dealt with their life changing completely in an instant.  My parents took our girls, my sister in Calgary arranged to pick us up at the airport and make one of their cars available to us for the weekend.  We cancelled all of our kids’ weekend activities and cancelled our previous plans to go away for the weekend with other friends.  It’s amazing how everyone was fantastic and supported us to make sure we could head out quickly.

On the Thursday before we left, we received the good news that the cancer had been identified as Hodgekins.  Hard to believe that good news is knowing what kind of cancer is present but Hodgekins has a very high recovery rate and it really was the best kind of cancer to hope for.

On the way to take our daughters to my parents and head out to the airport on Friday, we received a call from our alarm company that our house was being broken into and that the police were being dispatched to our house.  At first my husband and I just looked at each other in disbelief but then we started to laugh while our children in the back seat thought that we were cracking up.  But really… we were on our way to a situation that was so much bigger than the physical objects in our house.  We decided to laugh rather than rant and it turns out that it was actually just a false alarm.

In the end, we were thankful for our time with our friends and their daughters because while there were times to cry, there was a lot of laughter too.  It really drove home that despite dealing with food allergies in our house daily and the fear that can sometimes bring, we’re all  very lucky to be blessed with good health.  It’s all about perspective.

If you are a Celiac disease sufferer, you know that experts recognize 20 parts per million (ppm) as the standard in gluten tolerance.  Eating a variety of foods below this limit is considered safe, even when eaten cumulatively.  While there may be a tiny percentage of individuals with extreme sensitivity for who this standard may still be a problem, The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes this limit as not only safe for Celiacs but also manageable by the food industry.  As a result, the European Union moved their gluten free labeling from 200 ppm to 20 ppm recently and food processors are stepping up to that challenge.  While there are still many challenges there including testing and compliance which I won’t get into, at least there is a common understanding that most can adhere to.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have the same limit for food allergens too?  So if you were allergic to peanuts and peanut free label regulations required the food processor to be below say, 1 ppm, we would all know exactly what peanut free means on the label.  This could even open up more foods to the peanut allergic population because companies could test their products and in theory, we would see fewer “may contains”.   That would certainly be a plus for my family.

But here’s the problem with that scenario:  Documented cases of peanut allergy show a wide range of sensitivities and the ramifications of reaction in a very sensitive individual are more severe with anaphylaxis being the ultimate price to pay.  And unlike true Celiac disease (as opposed to gluten sensitivity/intolerance), children have been known to grow out of their food allergies so it’s possible that their level of sensitivity may decrease over time, making it very difficult for researchers to create a scientifically controlled experiment to determine specific levels.

They’re trying though, and that’s the good news.  Over time, if scientists are able to determine a threshold amount that can be tolerated for a variety of food allergies, we can have better food labeling.  This might allow us Allergy Moms to spend less time in the grocery store, phoning food manufacturers, searching for information  on food allergy forums and abandoning our food chemistry degree courses that we’ve all been plunged into.   Trust in proper labeling and regulation compliance notwithstanding, I’d be thrilled to have that time back.

If you’d like to read more about the technical aspects of this scientific challenge, you can download this free report at:  http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a914017328 .  The report is authored by a group of scientists called the ILSI Threshold Working Group which includes renowned food allergy scientist  Steven L. Taylor from the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program, Dept. of Food Science & Technology, University of Nebraska.

I’m afraid to say it really loudly without jinxing it… going back to school with our allergic child is going smoothly! 

First, I got an email a couple of weeks ago from the school principal checking which classes my allergic child had been in last year to see which additional classrooms she’d be in that would need the addition of hand sanitizers and soap for wash stations.  I think this was the first time I hadn’t had to initiate contact to make sure that all of the basic hygiene issues we have insisted on were in place for her return to school.

Second, I’ve always created a poster for my child each year that is posted in all of her classrooms, staff room, etc. which familiarize all staff with what her allergies are, what she looks like (simple but necessary) and what steps to take in the case of a suspected allergic reaction.  Last year, the vice principal was so taken with the poster that I’d created for my child that she used it as a model to create a similar poster for all of the children with health issues in the school.  Only the life-threatening health issues are posted, the rest of the childrens’ information goes into a binder for staff.   This is the first year I haven’t had to create my own poster as the vice principal contacted me  to see whether any of our health issues had changed (they have, we need to now add chickpeas to the list of foods to avoid).  So that’s all done with me doing nothing in that regard.

When the  phone discussion with the vice principal veered to my child’s new teachers and staff training on anaphylaxis and the use of the epi-pen, I was pleased to find out that a district-wide staff training day would take place next week and then the following staff meeting had anaphylaxis and training on the agenda.  I offered to send in the epi-pen trainer and an old epi-pen for the staff meeting so that’s all been taken care of.

While it was agreed that the letter I pen each year to the parents of my child’s classmates (including homeroom where she eats her lunch) would go out again along with my list of suggestions for the multitude of friendly foods/snacks that can be brought to the classroom, that’s all I needed to do. 

I’m not sure what to do with myself.  It all seems too easy – I keep racking my brain to see what I’ve missed.  I don’t appear to be missing anything, could it really be that easy?  Just in case, I’m knocking on wood.

Our allergic child is 13 today.  Like all parents, I feel that sometimes 13 years have zipped past while other times I feel like time has stood still.  I still feel like a young woman but the obvious signs such as 2 teenagers in the house now, not to mention the mirror, would prove otherwise.

I do find that my husband and I are different from many other parents in the way that we celebrate each birthday of our youngest child; we celebrate that we got her to another birthday unharmed.  At first, I thought that we were an anomaly and I wasn’t telling too many people how we viewed these birthday milestones.  But it turns out that other parents do this too.  A couple of our staff members are like that because one has a child with diabetes while another almost lost her child 4 years ago when he was brain injured.

I suppose it’s a little morbid to think this way but it makes sense when you think about what we live with every day.  Even though we live each day with the appearance of being  “normal”, there’s always that niggling little fear of a life threatening reaction that we tuck away in a little compartment so that we don’t drive ourselves crazy with the what if? scenarios.

  So, while it might be weird, I’m really happy my daughter’s having a birthday this year and I’m hoping for many more to come.

In my last blog post I wrote about how many more family members than I had previously thought were affected by food allergies.  But what about the non-humans in the family?  Yes, there are pets with food allergies.

When my food allergic daughter visited my sister in Calgary in July, one of her favorite things to do was to play with and walk their golden retriever, Kobi.  But while she was there, Kobi was not himself.  He was shedding far more than normal, losing hair behind his ears and in clumps from his haunches.   My daughter was concerned as she thinks he’s the best dog in the world and with mom being allergic to fur-bearing animals, Kobi is the closest thing she gets to a dog.

Well, we now have our answer:  Kobi is suffering from wheat and beef allergies.  He immediately required a change in diet.  My sister found the pet food easy since it already had no wheat in it but all new pet treats were in order.  The change was also very expensive (as we all know from human specialty food) because the new treats are all gluten free, organic and much less processed than the cheaper dog treats.

Apparently some breeds of dogs are more prone to allergies and this includes golden retrievers.  One of our local clients introduced me to her new dog who has corn allergies.  Hmm.  Is this all because they are purebred and getting no genetic diversity?  Or are our pets simply reflecting the overall issues that we are seeing in humans?  Maybe it’s just one more piece of the food allergy puzzle that bears some research.

I always thought that when my daughters reacted to milk as infants and that followed with more allergies to peanuts, tree nuts and kiwi, that we were the first of our extended family to go through this journey.  While we may be the only ones with an anaphylactic response to date, traveling and talking to both sides of my family while on holidays over the last several weeks has brought other food allergies to light.

First, my 60 year old aunt just got diagnosed with peanut allergies.  After several bouts of terrible stomach pains after a late night snack of peanuts, testing last month revealed a “new” allergy to peanuts.  It sure makes me wonder what’s going on with our immune systems that allergies are increasing on both the front end of our life spans as well as the latter part.

Second, at our recent family reunion on my husband’s side, we met up again with my husband’s cousin who has 3 children, all allergic to milk.  Upon further discussion, that cousin, her brother and my husband all feel sick when ingesting clam chowder and all of them have had reactions with swelling eyes while eating shrimp.  My husband has avoided these items for years simply because they made him feel so sick as a child.  However, we now know that when he has red, swollen eyes, it inevitably leads back to shrimp.  None of these people have ever been formally diagnosed, they’ve just automatically avoided shellfish due to their experiences.

My cousin reminded me that her father (my maternal uncle), is also allergic to shrimp, a fact he discovered in his 30s when he order chicken balls that turned out to be shrimp, not chicken.  Luckily, as a pharmacist, he understood what was going on and was able to get some antihistamines on board.  This was over 30 years ago when these kinds of reactions were not the norm.

And now, our youngest has added another allergy to the list, albeit an easier one to control.  While stealing a  chickpea from her sister’s salad last Thursday night, she experienced itching at the back of her throat.  Given that she’s allergic to peanuts, this new development isn’t exactly surprising since chickpeas are a legume.  So no more hummus and chickpeas in this house.

Can you trace back any incidents in your family over the last 30 years that could be attributed to food allergies?  Is it that they were always there but we either didn’t pay much attention or that those individuals didn’t like the way they felt when they ate a particular food and so instinctually avoided it?  Maybe they’ve always been there but weren’t as severe as anaphylaxis or that larger amounts (rather than traces) would only cause the reaction.

For those moms who blame themselves for their child’s food allergies, maybe we can let go of that and start attaching blame a couple of generations back.  Sounds good to me.

I am childless!  After sending one child off on a plane on Saturday and delivering another to her grandparents for a trip to auntie’s house in Calgary on Tuesday, our house is really quiet.  And for someone who is now supposed to be eating ice cream until midnight and bouncing on the bed, I find myself somewhat rudderless.

Gone are all of the electronic noises, teenage groans and sibling arguments.  I no longer have to prod children to complete chores, I simply have to do them myself.  No more fighting for time on the family computer, the phone isn’t being used when I want it.  But it’s too quiet.  I got a call from my allergic child last night since I’d requested she phone once she arrived after the 3 day journey.  She had the audacity to want to get off the phone quickly so she could rejoin her uncle’s birthday party.  Hmmph!

As my husband said at dinner last night, “so this is what it will be like in a few years”.  I’m not so sure I’m liking that too much.  Because all of this silence isn’t exactly worry free you know.  Tween and teen children (allergic and otherwise) in the care of other people and perhaps taking on personal responsibility?  That would mean I’ve done my job well and they don’t need me anymore.  Ack!

Maybe it’s time to go get that ice cream out.