Kindergarten... again

After deciding to leave our child in his current school which is preschool->K, an opening has come up in a K-5 school.

What to do, what to do? The school seems to be allergy aware. They train all teachers once a year in how to deal with allergic reactions - and they're happy with me attending their teacher training session (that is promising). Their cafeteria does not serve peanuts. They don't totally ban peanuts from the school, but do strongly request parents do not send peanut or nut products with their children. *They* request parents send in treats for allergic children, and also have a stash of treats available. They do store the Epis in the school office, and *not* in a locked box (the head mistress was horrified when I asked her if they were in a locked box). So it looks promising.

But it is still hard to move my child from a safer environment (no nuts).

The plus side is the school should suit him to a T.

Its so hard to know what to do to keep your child safe, but still let them live their lives

TIME

Do you all have the same problem I do? TIME. No, not the magazine! That element of life that passes so quickly.

I typed up our most recent SF Food Allergy support group minutes nearly two weeks ago. Have I had time to send them out??

Kids, allergies (that should be ALLERGIES), kids school/daycare, grocery shopping, washing, illnesses, allergies, kids (have I mentioned husband yet? - and - note there was no mention of friends). Usually, either the number of items in my to-do list is at status quo, or growing. After being off work for a few months now, my list is shrinking, and I've been feeling up to tackling some of the biggies on the to do list - namely renovating the kitchen.

Can't imagine how I'm going to manage it all in a few weeks time..

How do you all manage? Do you think caring for a child with life-threatening food allergies is a full-time job?

Interesting.. environmental pollution link to atopic disease

I have always had this wild hypothesis that if one were to attempt to correlate the incidence of food allergies (and atopic disease) to where a child was conceived and born, that there would be a relationship.

Research reported in many news articles such as Science Daily seems to concur. The study found a link between proximity to high traffic roads, and the incidence and severity of atopic disease.

Hmmm. I soooo wish we had an administration that would consider health and the environment top priorities!

To Test, or not To Test?

Thank goodness there are researchers out there trying to pin down when a CAP RAST (or similar) blood test can predict a successful IOFC (In Office Food Challenge).

Especially considering a simple diagnostic test such as a Skin Prick Test (SPT) caused Anaphylaxis in a young child requiring THREE doses of adrenaline, and over 6 hours of recovery time... How frightening for the parents, and for the toddler. My heart goes out to the family!

I just wish we could speed up the research to find out why allergies are on the rise, and why the severity of the reactions are getting worse. One thing we can do is raise money for these wonderful researchers to be able to do more studies. For example, by donating, or raising money for organizations such as FAAN (the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network), who sponsor grants for, and advocate for food allergy research.


Why not join (or donate to?) the FAAN walk for Food Allergy happening in various cities later this year! And next year, if there isn't a walk in your city, why not get a group together to help organize this coool event?


Apologies for the storm after the drought.. I promise not to write anything else for at least another 24 hours.. ( unless I think of something in the meantime :D )

Told ya!

For all those huge food manufacturers that (seemingly) can't be bothered with providing allergy-smart foods - read THIS:

Food Allergies Trigger Multibillion-Dollar Specialty Market

You guys are losing out on lots of $$. Same with supermarkets that don't stock allergy-friendly foods!

Anyone want to start a bakery with me? Can you imagine the market in the Bay Area for Allergy aware bakery? I'd LOVE to be able to drop in to a local bakery and buy nut-free cupcakes (for school birthday parties), cakes for birthday parties, muffins for treats, great breads, pastries!! And... maybe even Ice cream??

Can you imagine?

SF Food Allergy Support Group meeting #4

Our support group is rolling now! It is soooo good to meet other parents in the bay area who have children with allergies - well, its not good the children have allergies, but its great that there are parents reaching out to each-other at this stressful time. YouKnowWhatImean!!

Although there are online support groups that are GREAT, there is nothing like meeting people face to face that really get it.

It is even more of a buzz to see new people attend our meetings; and to see the relief on their faces when they see there are others out there just like them, that they are not crazy or paranoid. And to know I helped make that happen! Whoo Hoo!

If you can join us for the next meeting, check out sffoodallergy.org for details about where and when!

Way to go, Nob Hill, AND Dare Foods!

I no longer like going to Safeway because of the enormous new nut-stand they have prominently housed at the front of their store. So, I've been shopping elsewhere.. like Nob Hill Foods.

While wandering the aisles, I noticed they had Dare cookies! Dare cookies are Peanut and Tree Nut free and are made in a Peanut/Treenut free facility!! Whoo hoo!

Way to Go Dare, and Way to Go Nob Hill!

Companies like you give us parents hope that manufacturers may eventually notice there are lots of us that would love to have easily available, great quality products suitable for allergy sufferers (and their families, schools, friends, etc etc etc etc).

Whooo Hooo!

My 5yo did a triathlon today! I was so happy, proud, impressed (did I also tell you I was incredibly worried about his asthma?). He did a kids triathlon with his big brother. They had a blast!

Just goes to show allergic kids can do amazing things!

When we arrived and I saw how far away we would be from the competitors, it made me realize he ought to have carried an epipen & inhaler on the course with him (we had lots in our backpacks, but there were none right with him) - not the sort of thing you think about before hand. I'll make sure he has a Legbuddy next time!

We did give him his inhaler before the event. Things went smoooooth.

It was amazing watching both boys in the tri. They looked impressive with their 'numbers' on their bikes, helmeuts and written on their legs and arms.

One very proud mama, of two wonderful kids.