An article published earlier this month indicated that a recent UK study shows that food allergic children and their families feel isolated, stigmatized and unfairly excluded. To read the total article, you can link here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/17/kids-nut-allergy-teased-excluded_n_929809.html

I would have to say that overall, we’ve been lucky not to have many issues happen with our allergic child but that doesn’t mean that they haven’t been there. There was the time that a good buddy at school told our child that she couldn’t have her to her birthday party because her mom didn’t want to deal with her peanut allergy. It took all of my strength not to phone that mom and have a little discussion. I didn’t in the end since I didn’t really think it would change anything except mortify my child even further.

There was also the time that one child wiped his hands down all of the bus seats as he got on the bus, telling everyone that he’d just had peanut butter. We were really pleased with how that got handled by the students on the bus themselves, many who had been riding that bus with our daughter for years and were very protective of her. Every child on that bus turned on that young man and kicked him off until he spoke to the bus driver. We then let the principal know when our child got home and told us what happened but peer pressure really made the difference that day. He never tried anything like that again.

But it’s also the incidents that aren’t so easy to quantify; when everybody else gets the birthday treat in the classroom or someone’s sharing candy with all of their friends but my child can’t take it. It’s definitely isolating, even when there is no evil intent. All kids need to learn (often the hard way) that life isn’t fair and sometimes bad things do happen to good people but there are plenty of opportunities to learn that out there without the added exclusion that food allergies can certainly bring.

Did you know that this week is Food Allergy Awareness Week? Because of this, you may find that your inbox is inundated by information about the prevalence of food allergy, the latest in treating food allergies and more.

I like to think of this week as an opportunity to review how we handle food allergies in our family and to fight against getting complacent. I’ve found over the years that it can be easy to get complacent without realizing it, especially when you’ve been doing everything right and you haven’t had any emergencies.

So think of this as an annual reminder to review your approach to food allergies, just like we use the time change to upgrade our smoke detector batteries. Here are my 3 Rs for Food Allergies as follows:

REMIND your family and your child’s caregivers about the signs of anaphylaxis
REFRESH your skills and those caring for your allergic family member for using the epi-pen and;
RESOLVE to educate more people about the very real and growing threat of food allergies

Simple, right? It’s time to get started right now!

Just after Christmas I heard that a Chicago teenager had died of anaphylaxis on the last day of school before the Christmas break when she had Chinese food with her classmates. These stories always make me cry because while I cannot understand what it is like to lose a child, I can tell you that I have imagined it more than once. My heart goes out to the family of this child.

From all accounts, this was a child whose parents had well-equipped her for living with her food allergies. School staff had checked on the safety of the food to be served more than once and school officials and classmates were well aware of the peanut allergy. The details have not been released so the public may never know what exactly happened. There is some question of whether epinephrine was injected. The stories indicate that it is against Illinois law for staff to administer epinephrine unless the prescription is specific to the student. If you’d like to know more, you can read the Chicago Tribune article and the Allergic Living article.

I have many questions after reading the accounts; not in the interest of assigning blame but to understand and learn about what I can do with my own child and her school. The accounts indicate that in Illinois students are not allowed to have epipens with them and teachers can’t give another’s epi-pen to a child having a reaction. To me this is highly disturbing. Is this an indication that the fear of liability trumps medically necessary action?

So now you’re wondering, okay Alana, you title says Tragedy and Hope; where’s the Hope part? While we can never bring back these children, we can use these tragedies to better protect all anaphylactic children. After a similar death in an Ontario school, we got Sabrina’s Law. Sabrina’s Law helped provide the background for my province’s anaphylaxis policy and gave allergy advocates around the world a springboard for their own country’s anaphylaxis laws and policies. I have Sara Shannon to thank for making sure that the lessons learned from her daughter Sabrina’s death would not be forgotten. My child has benefited from that advocacy.

To that end, more hope was created yesterday in the US when President Obama signed into law FAAMA. This stands for the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act, a national law for all states to protect anaphylactic children in schools. Voluntary guidelines and materials will be created for states to access. You can read the information about what this law means and how it came about on the FAAN website.

I look to these developments with hope to educate all about the very real risks of anaphylaxis and to prevent any more needless deaths.

Last year I wrote a grinchy post.  Yes, me, usually overly optimistic, glass is full kinda gal.  But I couldn’t help it.  It was the first time in a  long time that I had hosted my whole family for Christmas for a week plus I had an exchange student from France who couldn’t eat dairy.  Add that in to our 6 food allergies, it was liking going back to when the girls were little and we had to avoid dairy too.  Plus I’m a perfectionist so the house cleaning, baking, decorating, etc. had to be just so before everybody arrived.  My husband and children wisely kept quiet.

Skip forward a whole year and I’m in a less grinchy frame of mind.  I’m still trying to get 5 new products finalized this week (for launch in February), am President of my Rotary with 4 meetings this week alone (don’t ask) and hosted our employee Christmas party on Sunday (you should have seen Sandy and Sheila fight over that bottle of wine).  But we’re going to my parents’ house for Christmas, yippee! 

There are so many things to be said for someone else hosting Christmas, kind of like having your child’s birthday party at the local bowling alley.  You have to decorate very little, can leave the house dusty, put up fewer lights outside, struggle with the holly bush less often,  bake less and when it’s all over YOU get to LEAVE!  Ah, ha, ha (cue the evil laughter). 

And since my parents are so good with my family’s allergies, I know that we will only have to check things once.  My mom has it down pat and makes sure that all of the ingredients she buys she keeps the labels for so that I can have a quick go over.  Now all I have to do is bake some buns and muffins and we’re good to go. 

So my stockings are hung, my Christmas tree is glowing brightly and I have a twinkle in my eye.  Of course, I still have to do a bunch of shopping but that’s a blog post for another day.  I wish that you too can have an unGrinchy Christmas season.

We can pick our friends but we can’t pick our families and when you’re dealing with food allergies and intolerances over the holidays, you might just want to hang out with your friends. What is it about food allergies that can cause so many family feuds?

And why is it that all holidays between Halloween and Easter are excessively celebrated with food? From US Thanksgiving on Thursday through to Christmas especially, every get together is frought with minefields that we must safely navigate. These holidays can be the most stressful of all, especially if you gather with family who just don’t understand the severity of your needs. Is it any wonder that some of us just want to hibernate?

I’m the first to say that I’ve been really lucky in that I have great family on both sides who take our family’s food allergies very seriously when we’re visiting. Everybody always goes out of their way to make sure that the food is safe and that we have lots of choice. It’s what has allowed us to sanely navigate our way through many a pot luck family reunion. Even if extended family is not on board, we’ve always been able to enjoy ourselves with what’s available to us from our closest family, away from the main food serving area.

But I’ve heard horror stories ranging from the grandma who leaves the bowl of peanuts out on the coffee table near an allergic toddler to the sister-in-law who gets offended when you can’t eat her wheat laden house specialty. Is it worth it to even go to a family member’s house if they just don’t get it? Will they ever get it? If so, what does it take? If not, is it easier said than done to write them off?

Researchers at National Jewish Health released a study in the Journal of Pediatrics on October 29 that says that many people are mistakenly avoiding foods that they believe their children are allergic to or believe is affecting eczema in their child.

Part of the problem is the difficulty in diagnosing food allergies. It turns out that a combination of patient history (including family history and previous anaphylactic attacks), skin tests, blood immunoassays and food challenges have to be assessed before a truly definitive diagnosis of food allergy can be applied. However, in practice, patients do not always go through these as part of the diagnostic process.

Add to that the fears of the food allergic and their parents, such as my child’s strong aversion to a food challenge, and you get many people who are avoiding foods unneccessarily. Check out the link to the study to see how many study participants were able to add foods back into their diets: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101104171350.htm

Why does it always feel like the new school season sneaks up on me, even when I’m thinking that I’d welcome the return to routine?  Some of you have already gone back to school (either yourself or your kids), and some are heading back shortly.  Even if you don’t have children and school is the furthest thing from your mind, it’s still a great opportunity to review the systems you have in place to control your special dietary and medication needs. 

1.  I know it is stressful to put your child’s life in someone else’s hands.  But remember that this may be an educational journey for the staff you’re speaking to.  It is imperative to work through the issues positively but firmly and recognize that it may take several meetings and contact on your part to implement an appropriate plan.  Having all staff who will deal with your child present at the same meeting is helpful but also ensure that part-time staff or teacher substitutes are included in the staff plan.  If you are in a workplace environment, take the time to educate your boss and co-workers.  Don’t assume that because someone has dealt with your same medical concern before, they know everything about the condition and treatment.

2.  As a former elementary teacher, I really appreciated having the parent of the child with medical concerns (food or otherwise) provide me with some helpful information and tips that I should be aware of.  This could include suggestions for healthy lunch ideas for the class that don’t include the allergen, facts about the food allergy he or she will deal with, providing safe treats to keep in the classroom and perhaps offering to come in and speak to the class about your child’s allergy.  Back to school is an incredibly busy time for teachers so taking away the burden of doing their own research about the allergy is appreciated and gives them something to refer to throughout the year.

3.  If the school does not already do so, create a bright, colorful poster with a picture of your child on it, what they are allergic to and the steps to take if a suspected reaction occurs.  Consider making several posters for the office, the staff room and any classroom your child will be in.  This is one situation where it is okay for your child to stand out; it may save their life.  Dorm rooms and offices where allergic adults are should be considered for this as well.

4.  Now is the perfect time to ensure that your epi pens are up to date, any antihistamines required are stored with the epi pen and instructions have not worn off the side of your epi-pen. 

5.  If you do not yet have an alert bracelet or necklace for yourself or your child, now is the time to get one.  If you don’t want to get a medic alert brand bracelet, you can find what you need at your local jewellery store and have it engraved as to your medical condition.  If you already have a bracelet, check that any engraving has not worn down and is still readable by emergency personnel.

6.  Do you have any old epi-pens or an epi-pen trainer?  If not, get one.  This is the time to refresh yourself on the use of the epi pen at the same time as teaching any new people in your or your child’s life from teachers to daycare providers and bosses to friends.

7.  Make sure your child is well prepared.  For us, this meant a lot of instruction on hand washing and setting ground rules for not sharing food, etc.  Include them in their choices of safe treats that will be kept at the school so they always know they’ve got something yummy should an unexpected food event occur, like another child’s birthday.

8.  Speaking of hand washing, make sure that your school has appropriate soap and towels (we had to get the school board to put up liquid soap dispensers) and that your child always has ready access to running water with ample supplies.  Hand washing before eating is much easier to control then having all surfaces washing consistently.

9.  Be prepared to be involved at school with everything from baking/bringing safe treats for parties to field trips and participating on the Parent Council.  It’s time consuming but worth every second.

10.  Finally… be good to yourself.  Worry and sleepless nights take their toll on not only you but your allergic child.  Take the time to spend extra time with your allergic child doing something fun just for the two of you; you’ll be glad you did.

Do you have some of your own tips?  Be sure to add your comments.

It’s bad enough that we need to convince people in our lives that food allergies besides peanut can create life threatening reactions too.  But what happens when even allergy researchers believe that certain food allergies are not as serious? Read more »

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 »