Allergy Halloween – not so scary

Posted on October 17, 2012 by admin

Here comes Halloween! Candy,candy,candy! Makes my teeth ache just thinking about it. I was the type of kid who had Halloween candy left at Easter. Drove my sister nuts! What she saw as hoarding, I saw as saving (for what, I’m not sure, probably just to torture her!). My kids like candy and all things sweet, but they are a bit like me, the first few days after Halloween are great – treats every day, but it wears off pretty soon and my kids’ candy sits around getting “in my way” (very difficult to refuse a mini aero when I’ve walked past it five times and no one is watching).

The overload of candy coming in at Halloween also has to be dealt with from an allergy perspective. Mini chocolate bars seem to be the most common treat given out at Halloween and many of them are peanut free and say so on the wrapper (Mars has a dedicated peanut free facility in Canada). Problem for us is, no mini chocolate bar is dairy free so most of the candy G collects, he can’t have.

We’re lucky we have two kids. On G’s first night of Trick or Treating we set up a tradition that has worked really well. When the boys get home they dump out their candy and the trading begins. By the end of it G is usually trading four mini chocolate bars for one yellow lollipop, but he doesn’t mind, they both always end up with far more candy than they could/should eat.

For a couple of years I traded all the kids’ their uneaten candy near the end of November for a fancy battery powered tooth brush of their choice. Don’t think that would fly now. My eldest is 17 and he is planning on going out with a couple of friends to Trick or Treat. I warned him people might think he’s too old, but he’s stoked about his costume and wants to show it off and have fun with his friends. G is going out too as Queen Elizabeth and like his brother just wants to go out and have fun with his friends. I think for both of them the candy haul has become secondary. Well, I guess I’ll find out at Easter…

My first time

Posted on September 23, 2012 by admin

The first time, my first time, was unplanned, awkward and ended with a trip to the emergency room. I realize most Epipen uses ARE unplanned, that’s the whole point of always having it with you, but I really didn’t see it coming and when it came to the moment, I didn’t feel ready and I didn’t think G would be so young when I had to use it. It wasn’t how I imagined my first time to be. I thought I would be calm and in control. I knew what to do, I had seen the demo, I had tried the trainer, heck I OWN a trainer. Should be straight forward when the time comes…

We were at a friend’s house for a play date, kids in the living room playing and mums in the kitchen sipping a much needed coffee. My eldest son came in to the kitchen very concerned and said that G had spilled his ‘soy juice’. Ummmm… G didn’t have any ‘soy juice’. We raced into the living room and found G holding a sippy cup with milk in it. Had he drunk any? Apparently he had as his lips began to swell slightly and his nose began to run. I was still so unsure. I was looking at him and thinking ‘does he normally look like this? was he wheezing like this before? does he have a cold?’ Seems weird, but these thoughts were racing through my mind. I had never actually used a real Epipen and I was so full of uncertainty. I picked up G and held the Epipen. I looked at my friend and said ‘I think I have to use this’. She nodded ‘Ya me too’. Having her confirmation was enough and I pushed the pen into G’s thigh. He let out a huge scream, but immediately the medicine began to work. Now I was annoyed with myself for hesitating. Why was I questioning whether or not to use it? I vowed never to do THAT again. When in doubt, use the Epipen! Like I said, I had never done this before and I didn’t realize how long the needle is. G was never a chubby baby and I wouldn’t be surprised if the point of the needle went all the way to his bone. As I had been stabbing, my friend had called 911 and the hunky first responder firemen arrived very quickly. A short trip via ambulance to the hospital for observation and all was back to normal by the end of the day.

G has no recollection of this day. Good because being jabbed by your mother with a giant needle is probably not a pleasant childhood memory, but bad because the reality of his allergies is something he should not forget (especially as he enters the teenage invincibility stage!). Me, I’ll never forget that day. I’ve done it again since, but like with most things, I’ll never forget my first time.

Allergies and Kids Sports

Posted on September 15, 2012 by admin

Organized sports for children, I think my boys have tried most of the ones available in our area except the ones that involve body checking (although they did try basketball). Now, for food allergic kids on sports teams, the things to avoid seem obvious – shared water bottles, celebratory snacks, but we quickly discovered there are a whole host of surprisingly risky things lurking in the gym bag.

T-ball began in kindergarten. What a hilarious sport! Kids try to hit a baseball off a high tee and then parents try (often unsuccessfully) to direct their budding Major Leaguer to first base. Left handed batters often end up running to third and some poor souls make a beeline for the pitcher’s mound. With about 12 kids out on the field corralled by 24 parents, the game is more of a batting, yelling free-for-all; a perfect way to start a baseball career. After outfitting G in the supplied polyester uniform and required jockstrap and cup (which, by the way makes them all walk around like bow legged cowboys) he was ready to take to the field and try all the positions. Now in t-ball the only interesting position is catcher because you get to actually touch the ball by picking it up and placing it back on the tee. This is quite a skill for these 5 year olds and all of them want a turn at showing off their ball placing skills. When it was G’s turn he eagerly put on the complicated catcher’s gear (sorry, equipment) and got ready to pick up the ball when it was knocked off by the batter’s body on follow through. The leg armour was strapped on and the chest protector clipped into place; he donned the helmet and face mask and “click”, “click” went the camera – wow he really looked like a Baseball Player! Alas, it was a short career for G in the coveted position as catcher. He probably survived 5 minutes in the face cage. He was wiggling the cage saying my face is itchy. Sure enough, when we whipped off the head gear, his face was covered in hives where the mask had touched his skin.

He did play baseball for a few more years, but those beginner years of little league can be quite painful (I mean from a boredom point of view) so I was not sad to see it go. His Spring sport has become field hockey which suits me just fine as a spectator. He’ll never be in goal though because of the shared face mask thing. This also suits me just fine – it’s not pleasant to watch your child have hockey balls drilled at them, even if they are wearing a cup that fits …

When is a sandwich not a sandwich?

Posted on September 6, 2012 by admin

A boy with braces on his teeth brings a paring knife to school to help him eat his apple. Is the knife a weapon? The boy threatens another child with the knife poking it at his face and taunting him. Is the knife a weapon? Should the boy be reprimanded? If so, how?

A boy brings a peanut butter sandwich to school for lunch. Is the sandwich a weapon? The boy threatens a peanut allergic child with the sandwich, poking it at his face and taunting him. Is the sandwich a weapon? Should the boy be reprimanded? If so, how?

The results in both scenarios could be dangerous or even life threatening, but does the sandwich scenario sound silly? Unfortunately, I know this has happened and it is very serious. People have strong opinions about how to handle situations like this.

What do you think?

Travel With Food Allergies

Posted on August 31, 2012 by admin

First Steps

G is a bit of a home-body. The rest of us are trying to convert him to loving travel. We’ll drag him kicking and screaming over to our side if we need to. I do understand his reluctance for travel. Leaving the familiar can be a giant step when you have food allergies and travel to foreign countries where English may or may not be spoken can be frightening. We figure if he gets comfortable traveling with us as his security blanket then when he is older he may come to enjoy travel adventures.

We didn’t jump off the high diving board into the deep end of the Czech Republic on our first trip with G, we started off wading in the baby pool. We dipped our toes into Hawaii (usually with a self catering unit), Disneyland, cruises and visits to understanding relatives. Over time we came up with some strategies, one of which is to plan ahead and bring lots of allergy friendly food. For example we now make a batch of dry pancake mix ready for the soy milk. Beware though… traveling with a large ziplock full of white powder may get you into trouble at the border, as we found out! That story another time…

Two years ago we ventured overseas to the UK. We had a house for a week in London so we did most of our own cooking. Shopping was a dream! Their labeling laws are fantastic. Clear, easy to understand and I didn’t need my new dollar store reading glasses to decipher what the food contained. I’m envious. Here in Canada even young 13 year old eyes can have trouble seeing the print on some ingredient lists.

Then it was time to try a foreign language country. Embarrassingly enough, even though I am Canadian, I do think of France as a foreign language country (my high school French just doesn’t cut it). Being an EU country, France has great labeling laws as well and many of the foods in stores have English ingredients printed on the labels as well as the French. Stick to these and you’ll do fine. G couldn’t indulge with us in fresh from the bakery croissants for breakfast but he did enjoy homemade pancakes from the suspicious white powder.

Next stop the Czech Republic! We’ll have to be extra prepared. How do you say “Honest… it’s not cocaine” in Czech?

Summer Camp – with food allergies!

Posted on July 5, 2012 by admin

Remember summer camp? …would you get along with your bunk mate? …would you have to like the person across from you at dinner?…would there be anyone to talk to? …separation anxiety. And that’s just the parents. For our kids we hope they return, sun kissed and earth smudged. Our older son had a fantastic time at camp and I had always hoped there would be a way for G to experience the same thing. I debated the pros and cons and how to’s in my head for years and finally last year we took the dive into summer camp with food allergies.
I decided that the only way I could let G go to camp and maintain my sanity is if I supplied all his meals. Sounds a bit crazy when I write it down, but it wasn’t that difficult. Besides, unless the camp is set up to cater specifically to children with food allergies I don’t think a camp could handle this extreme request, nor would I expect it. We chose a camp my friend’s daughters were going to which is only 90 minutes from town. I emailed the registrar and asked if it was possible for the camp to accommodate a child with food allergies if I supplied the food. They were very welcoming. They had a fridge set aside for him to keep his food and soy milk in and a microwave only he used to heat his meals. The Tuck Shop was open on check in day so we checked out all the safe snacks he could buy (there never seems to be a lack of G friendly junk food!). I supplied cookies he could have for ‘Mug Up’ at the end of the day and marshmallows for a treat. I went up in the middle of the week to replenish his supplies.
The only snag was my own fault. I had made containers of casserole type food for his dinners and frozen them. Turns out they were frozen too well. The under powered microwave G used couldn’t actually thaw the dishes so he ended up eating cold scrapings of casserole from around the edges. I think he lived off of cold hot dogs and Wine Gums bought at the Tuck Shop. There’s protein in the gelatin, right?
He had an amazing week and came home with a new sense of independence and confidence. He still stays in touch via email with a couple of the friends he met there. They have arranged to go to the same camp together again this year and this Saturday we will be heading up to camp loaded with sleeping bag, pillow and food – this time not quite so frozen!

Grammar Police

Posted on June 25, 2012 by admin

This blog entry has nothing to do with food or allergies or foodallergies. I have decided that it is time for me to come up with a disclaimer for my blog. I have noticed that quite a few blogs have disclaimers stating things like , ‘Opinions expressed here are mine only’ (isn’t that the point of a blog) and some bloggers put stuff in their disclaimer section about ‘Don’t steal my stuff’. Fair enough, but my disclaimer is a wee bit different – for the time being at least. I really don’t think anyone wants to steal my stuff. My disclaimer is as follows…

‘All spelling errors and grammatical failures are solely the fault of my neighbour’.

This may seem a bit unorthodox but I think you’ll understand. You see, she is a member of the Grammar Police (GP). We all know the type. They just about have a fit holding it in when someone says something like “I did good on my test”. I think my eldest son is a member of the GP because he would respond with, “Superman does good, you did well”. Ya ok Smartie Pants point taken. I desperately want to be a member of the Grammar Police, but my spelling is atrocious and my grammar wouldn’t pass the qualification exam. My Mum is a member from way back and she has the credentials to back up her English grammar superiority. She was educated in Scotland where even today real grammar is taught. I seem to be digressing…

Back to my neighbour, she has been known to not only correct restaurants with their misspelling of Caesar salad, but she actually challenged a poor sales person in a department store about a misplaced apostrophe. She means business and question her conjugations at your own peril. She was the first person to subscribe to my blog and she has been my unofficial editor ever since. If you spot an error please tsk, tsk her, not me. It means she hasn’t yet read my current post and she is falling behind in her duties. I have thrown a few misplaced modifiers into this post to see if she spots them. I think I’ll time how long it takes for her to send me an email telling me of my shortcomings. Have to keep those GP members on their toes.

image from openclipart.org

Next post I will be back on topic with a recipe for chocolate pudding.

Cheeze Looeeze

Posted on June 18, 2012 by admin

I have a love/hate relationship with cheezies aka cheese pleesers, Cheetos, cheese puffs, etc. Love because they were a rare treat when I was little. On a Saturday night that my parents were going out, my sister and I would get to choose a bottle of pop (usually Swiss Cream Soda) and a bag of cheesies from the local corner store. We savoured the salty, cheesy corn puff treats making them last as long as possible, letting them melt in our mouths. The best part was licking the Day-Glo orange powder off our fingers.

It’s that same orange powder that feeds my hate. This powder is insidious! The treat of it sticking to my fingers when I was a kid is now my nightmare. The darned powder gets everywhere. Believe it or not this unnatural looking orange powder actually contains a milk product. For a family with dairy allergy this stuff has to stay out of oor hoose.

We have milk in our house, we have real cheese, yoghurt, ice cream and other delicious dairy products, but this powdered cheese product used to make corn puffs cheesy and taco chips nachoie is not allowed past our front door. We’ve hosted many parties and BBQs over the years and we always ask that people not bring snacks containing powdered cheese. We explain about our son’s allergy to dairy products and about how the powdered cheese gets everywhere; our guests have always understood. I know you would understand too, eat a handful of Cheetos and I challenge you not to be wearing an orange bib when you finish !
Oh no! I’m totally craving some cheezies…

PS To take the picture I broke the rule and brought the evil cheesy corn puffs into the house and I (carefully!) gave in to temptation.

Allergy test results

Posted on June 8, 2012 by admin

Ever have an itch you can't scratch...

So, after the allergy testing yesterday, the platter of Quality Street Chocolates for G is out as is the hunk of blue cheese. If you look at the photo above… those four nice round welts along the bottom are the milk tests. This wasn’t much of a surprise. Having spilled milk on G when he was a baby, I know first hand what evil milk had wrought (once again, SO sorry G). I was actually hoping that egg would be reduced, but see that big amorphous welt in the crook of his arm… that’s the egg white test. Guess it’s not reduced!

If you’re not familiar with allergy testing, here’s a quick primer. Pen marks indicate where a small drop of serum containing the allergen is put on the skin. A tiny scratch is made on the skin where the serum is and then you wait to see what happens. Sometimes it’s quite spectacular, but what you’d rather see is nothing. I must say, G displayed incredible self control. Just looking at his arm made me itchy. Poor guy was going out of his mind wanting to scratch!

There is actually something positive that came from the testing, I mean the test was negative which was positive….Oh what ever, it was good news. G requested to be tested for pistachio nuts and to his delight it was negative. Forget the Quality Street and blue cheese, on our way home we stopped for a slushy and a small bag of pistachios (with a Benadryl chaser).

When I’m off my allergies…

Posted on June 6, 2012 by admin

When I’m off my allergies… is what G would occasionally state before listing the foods he would like to eat if he ever were to lose his food allergies. I understood the “huge platter of Quality Street Chocolates” but wanting to eat blue cheese is a bit more difficult to understand. I love blue cheese but could someone who has never eaten cheese actually get a bite of the pungent blue stuff past their lips?

When I’m off my allergies… G hasn’t said this that much over the thirteen years. Considering all his food restrictions and that he usually has to have some lesser alternative when treats are unexpectedly produced, he doesn’t often long for things he can’t have.

We have often wondered if he will ever be “off” his allergies. When he was a baby we were told that most babies out grow food allergies within a couple of years. Then it was thought that it might happen before starting school. Now it may be a possibility (remote) there will be a change with puberty. Well tomorrow G goes to the allergist for testing. Will he be “off” his allergies? We’re trying not to get our hopes up. We don’t want to be disappointed if there’s is no change because we all manage just fine. His normal state of being shouldn’t be a disappointment. So we’re treating it as routine.

Speaking of treating… If G ever does get “off” his allergies, I’ll get him a nice ripe hunk of blue cheese to try, but I’ll have a platter of Quality Street waiting in the wings!

food allergy parent

Life and food with a food allergic son

Category Archives: blog