Traveling with food allergies pt. 2

We are off to Canada next weekend to see my Grandma. My parents are already there and have been on the nut-free food hunt for us. They found bread and Quaker has six new granola bars that are nut-free and made in a nut-free plant in Canada. It seems that Canada is ahead of the game in many aspects of being aware of food allergies and accommodating people.

I am still afraid of flying with her allergy and the snacks on the plane. We are flying Northwest Airlines and they don't serve peanuts, but the snacks they do serve might have nut in them, so who knows. They will make an announcement at the gate if you ask when you check in as well.
I am still afraid of going to restaurants on our trip. I don't like confrontation and it is my fear that I will bring up my daughter's peanut allergy and they will say everything is fine and then there will be cross contamination and she'll have a reaction. I have restaurant cards that I printed out and hopefully people will be understanding.

I am a new fan of Sunbutter. It does taste just like peanut butter and my older daughter loves it. My allergic one doesn't like it but that is okay since I don't want her to get used to it and then accidentally have pb somewhere else when she gets older. She might associate it with her initial reaction which was from pb.

I contacted Disney for our trip in September. They are great. They have an entire division for special diets. They recommend that you make reservations in advance. Then about 2-3 days before, call the restaurant and remind them about your food allergy. Then when you get to the restaurant, talk to the manager and chef and they will prepare a special safe meal for your child. I have read great things about them. Here is one families' experience with it. I will blog about it after we go.

I bought two books - the Peanut Allergy Handbook which is a small book that you can put with your epi-pen and benedryl. It has pages to put medic-alert info and details on yoru child as well as helpful advice to deal with the allergy and if there is a reaction, what to do. It is also good to give caregivers. I also bought the Peanut Allergy Answer book. I will start reading it this weekend. They are both available on Amazon.

As always, be vigilant and educate everyone! We are in this together. It really does take a village.

Cross contamination with food allergies is scary.

Well we had our first bought of cross contamination for my daughter’s peanut allergy this weekend. Luckily she just had hives and I quickly gave her benedry. She just had a litle bit of icing on a cupcake from Publix. So no bakery items that we have not made from scratch ourselves. This is the scariest part of her allergy. I am so worried about her at school and when I’m not around to really make sure what she is eating is okay.

Here are some good charts that I put on the fridge for cross contamination and handling a food allergy attack - it’s good for babysitters, etc.

Foods to avoid - peanut allergy: http://kidshealth.org/kid/misc/images_50969/1110295792292.nutAllergy_carrycard.gif

Food to avoid List: http://kidshealth.org/kid/nutrition/diets/nut_allergy.html

Allergic reactions instructions sheet - post in your home for babysitters, etc.http://kidshealth.org/PageManager.jsp?lic=1&article_set=36693&cat_id=20221

Entire page: http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/feeding/nut_peanut_allergy.html

Food allergy Chef Restaurant cards: http://www.foodallergy.org/downloads/ChefCard_Interactive.pdf

My daughter’s food allergy and food allergies in the news

Well my daughter is sick and last night I gave her benedryl so she could breathe since she was so congested. So now I have rescheduled our allergy appt to next Friday. She can’t have benedryl in 7 days before the skin test. So we will wait another week to find out what all she is allergic to in addition to peanuts.

I have been reading more about food allergies and to my pleasure, many mainstream publications have stories about them this month. It can only help educate people about how serious food allergies are with kids. I can’t imagine worrying about my daughter’s safety in the cafeteria at school, but in a few years, I will be right there with these parents.

Newsweek My Turn: A Plea for My Daughterhttp://www.newsweek.com/id/139437

Newsweek Fear and Allergies in the Lunchroomhttp://www.newsweek.com/id/62296?tid=relatedcl

The 411 on Food Allergies - Quiz - Know your food allergy facts?http://www.newsweek.com/id/62097?tid=relatedcl

RedbookWorried About Food Allergies?http://www.redbookmag.com/home/worried-about-food-allergies

Trace Adkins has an article in June Redbook about his daughter’s allergies - here is an excerpt from People Magazine:Trace Adkins Opens Up About His Daughter’s Near-Death Allergic Reactionhttp://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20202611,00.html

BabyCenter Food Allergies Forum - I have received great support from wonderful momshttp://boards.babycenter.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&webtag=bcus9266

I am a new Trace Adkins fan!

From CMT: Trace Adkins is working with the two U.S. senators from Tennessee to promote legislation to assist schools in protecting 2.2 million children nationwide who suffer from life-threatening food allergies. Adkins, whose 6-year-old daughter Brianna suffers from severe food allergies, raised public awareness of the problem while raising money for the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) as a contestant on The Celebrity Apprentice. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, both Republicans, announced Monday (June 9) they will co-sponsor the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act to develop voluntary guidelines for schools to prevent exposure to food allergens and ensure a prompt response when a student suffers a potentially fatal reaction. The bill also calls for grants to be provided to implement food allergy management guidelines in public schools. Noting that he and his wife have been seeking this legislation for more than three years, Adkins said, “There have been no consistent standardized guidelines to help schools safely manage students with their food allergies. This bill will help keep kids safe while at school and parents will be more at ease knowing an action plan is in place.”

From www.Kidswithfoodallergies.orgHeed ALL warning statements

“There are now two studies that indicate may contains do contain the allergens in 10% of cases and that it does NOT matter if the statement says: may contain, run on shared lines with, or processed in a facility with, or processed in a facility that also processes “

More Food Allergy Links

I scheduled an appointment with an allergist and we go next week. It won’t be pleasant doing the skin allergy test, but I need to know if my daughter is allergic to anything else in addition to peanut butter.

I just read on BabyCenter that it is normal to go through emotional stages when your child is diagnosed. I was most surprised by my panic about protecting my daughter and thinking of all the times she could have an attack - at daycare, on vacation, at a restaurant. It definitelly changes your mindset. I will feel better after the allergist appointment too.

I need to educate my husband - he just thinks we don’t need to give her peanut butter. Peanuts are in so many things! And if she had a mild allergy attack, she still could have a serious one in the future.

Here is a great list from someone who posted at BabyCenter:

“Maybe one of these links will help him understand what your dealing with, I think he’s doing like most parents and it’s just in a denial phase. It’s been said that we go through the 5 stages of grief upon diagnosis and I believe it. “

http://www.foodallergy.org/

http://www.safe4kids.ca/

http://www.allergygrocer.com/index.html

http://www.foodallergyinitiative.org/section_home.cfm?section_id=15

http://www.allergicchild.com/foodallergyandschools.htm

http://the-clarkes.org/stuff/ana.html

http://allallergy.net/

http://www.aaaai.org/patients/publicedmat/tips/foodallergy.stm

https://www.aanma.org/headquarters/

http://www.peanutallergy.com/

http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/

http://www.gakssnacks.com/

http://www.divvies.com/

http://www.vermontnutfree.com/

http://www.amandasown.com/

http://www.sunbutter.com/

http://www.soynutbutter.com/

http://www.peabutter.ca/

http://www.foodallergykitchen.com/

http://www.childfoodallergy.com/

http://www.simplefood.com/products/

http://theurbanhousewife.blogspot.com/2007/09/homemade-vegan-candy-corn-happy.html

http://www.medicalert.org/home/Homegradient.aspx

http://www.kidsallergystop.com/

http://www.iansnaturalfoods.com/

http://www.pamelasproducts.com/index.html

http://www.cherrybrookkitchen.com/

http://www.nonuttin.com/

http://www.allergyfreepassport.com/

http://www.allergytranslation.com/Home/home.php

http://www.labelitorloseit.com/allergy.htm

http://www.statkids.com/

http://rpdcon40.ross.com/pn/PediatricProducts.NSF/web_Ross.com_XML_PediatricNutrition/EA09CDA3D5EF7BD3852571680070A470?OpenDocument

http://www.neocate.com/aaa_neocate/1128-neocate-home-page.html

https://www.epipen.com/epipen_reminder.aspx

http://www.twinject.com/

http://www.allergators.com/index.html

here’s another with a ton of links.

http://www.foodallergycookbook.com/links.htm#Food

Food allergy advice and articles

My 18 month old daughter had a reaction this week to peanut butter. We think she has a food allergy and went to the doctor. He prescribed an epi-pen for emergency and told us to restrict feeding her any nuts at all and get a blood test when she turns 3. I still want to go to an allergist and get an opinion from a specialist.

I did some research for first time parents with children with food allergies - here are some great links:

New diagnosis (great web site - Parenting a Child with a Food Allergy)http://www.childfoodallergy.com/archives/new_diagnosis/

Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) http://www.foodallergy.org

Kids with Food Allergies http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/

MedicAlert Food Allergy Resources http://www.medicalert.org/Main/ResourcesFoodAllergies.aspx

Food allergieshttp://www.kidshealth.org/teen/nutrition/diets/food_allergies.html

Good luck and I will post as I discover things.

I just learned that Trace Adkins supports FAAN as his child has a food allergy.