Good news is awesome, great news is even better!

Lots to report today and all of it is good!

First off the CDC has come out with voluntary guidelines for schools that are dealing with food allergies, which is really every school I am sure.
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/foodallergies/

More good news!

The stock epi bill has moved to the Senate! I hope that it passes quickly, makes it to the President's desk, and is signed into law! The following is an email that went out from FARE,food allergy research and education.



Federal "Stock" Epinephrine Bill Moves in Senate

Dear FARE Supporter, 

It is rare that we send you two food allergy announcements in one day, but today has been a truly remarkable one for the food allergy community. 

This morning, we announced the release of the CDC’s new national guidelines for food allergy management in schools.

We are also pleased to inform you that federal legislation to encourage schools to maintain a supply of “stock” epinephrine auto-injectors cleared yet another major hurdle! The School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act was approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee and will now move to the full Senate for a vote. Sponsored by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL), the bill provides an incentive to encourage states to require “stock” epinephrine auto-injectors in their schools -- meaning epinephrine that is not prescribed to a specific student but can be used for any student or staff member in an anaphylactic emergency. Four states have already passed laws ensuring that epinephrine is available in all schools, and many others allow schools to stock epinephrine, but do not require it.

Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) has been working tirelessly toward the passage of this critical legislation for the last two years. The food allergy community and FARE have overwhelmingly supported this and similar state legislation across the country. Since the introduction of the federal bill on May 22 in the House of Representatives by Reps. Phil Roe (R-TN) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD), FARE has been working closely with the bill sponsors, meeting with legislators on Capitol Hill to build support, soliciting endorsements from other organizations and issuing action alerts to advocates across the country. These efforts helped assure passage in the House on July 30 and generated 37 cosponsors in the Senate in less than two months. Last year’s federal stock epinephrine legislation did not move out of committee, so we are strongly encouraged by the swift movement of this year’s bill.

The School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act is endorsed by FARE, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics. Since the Senate legislation is identical to that passed by the House, no reconciliation is required. FARE is encouraging the Senate to quickly pass the legislation and forward for President Obama’s signature.

Welcome to crazy land

In addition to all of the usual crazy around here it's Halloween week. In addition to the Halloween crazy it's walk week also. I am the walk chair for the local food allergy walk which will take place on Saturday. This makes for a busy time.....
All is good here, not much to report actually. She does have a class party on Friday. Yes, they are serving stuff that she can't have. This is why I stock the freezer and cabinets with safe food. Food will be out of the classroom one day, right?
How are things with all of you? Ready for Halloween?

Halloween candy

Do you have a hard time finding Halloween candy that is safe for your family? We are allergic to tree nuts so candy can be tricky. I try and pick candy to handout that is safe for us and hopefully safe for a good part of the allergic community. I bought dum dums today. The bag has, in huge letters on it, "free of most major allergens". How great! I also got Sixlets. They are kind of like M&M's. They are made in a nut free facility. They were also on sale today, which was very exciting. What are you passing out this year.
*I am not paid by any candy company. I'm just sharing what we do here.
*Please, always ready every label, every time.

Remember him

Please keep 14 year old Giovanni Cipriano and his family in your thoughts and prayers. He passed after spending two weeks in a coma. He accidentally ate peanuts, he was allergic.
I do not know the circumstances that surround his death but it is yet another tragic reminder of what everyone should know, food allergies can be fatal.
So very, very sad....

Here we go again, the assault on the food allergic.

I feel like it has been a while since I had to post something that upset me. Well, that's good but it's over today.
Two items have me angry today.
Here's the first-
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/66513/absurd-big-ten-football-game-to-be-peanut-free-in-pc-deference-to-peanut-allergies/

Debbie Schlussel is the author of this article. She writes about an upcoming college football game between Northwestern and Minnesota. The game will be peanut free! Such great news. Well, not great news to Debbie. She uses the words Jihad and Nazi in her article. She even compares the food allergic to terrorists. Just when you think that you have heard it all......

Last night ABC ran an episode of Super Fun Night. I admit that I have not watched it and I have never heard of the show. I can tell by the comments on their Facebook page that it was an episode that made fun of food allergies. Can someone explain to me why so many shows make fun of food allergies? How are food allergies funny?

https://www.facebook.com/ABCNetwork

If this doesn't motivate you.....

Here is a great blog post, I just had to share.

Do not let the death of this child, and the other children that have passed,  be in vain. Get out there, fight for our kids, fight for your kids, fight for the next generation of families that will have to deal with food allergies.
Be a trailblazer....
http://www.foodallergymama.com/2013/10/13/tears-in-heaven/

Best status update ever

Kyle Dine is an amazing singer who sings about food allergies. I am a fan of his on Facebook. Here is his status update-

I wish people would stop saying "allergies didn't exist when I was a kid" and just accept that they do now. Allergies are not lessening, so can people please stop questioning?

Enough said......


I'm over 4000 views. Thank you to all that read and share, it is appreciated.

Halloween and food allergies

I love fall, it's my favorite season. Fall also brings Halloween. Halloween, if I am going to be honest, is not my favorite holiday. I'm not the "dress in costume" kinda girl. Never have been, I don't know why. Anyway, since food allergies hit our family, Halloween has taken a whole new turn. My kids, of course, love Halloween. They love getting dressed up. They also love the candy. Well, the candy that they can keep. Tree nuts keep some candy out of our house. After the kids go to bed I sort all of the candy out. Anything with tree nuts is gone, so are the "may contain" and the "made in a facility". Anything without a label that I think is safe stays. It goes into the pumpkin in our pantry that says not safe. This pumpkin is for my older daughter and off limits to the younger one. Anything that is safe goes into the safe pumpkin. We have been doing this for four years and it has always worked fine. I remember when we first had to celebrate Halloween in this manner. Lots of candy was sent out of our house. Over the years I have noticed that we can keep more and more of it. Many houses are passing out candy that is safe for us. Many companies are making candy that is made in a nut free facility. It certainly makes our life easier. I used to order very expensive safe candy online. I'm not doing it this year, last year I did and I didn't need to. 

How do you handle Halloween in your house? Do you hate Halloween as much as I do?

The kindness of strangers

This is an amazing story, please read and feel free to share. I can feel this moms panic and pain during this horrible situation. I always feel so blessed that I have an amazing support system around us but to hear that a total stranger stopped to help, that is phenomenal!
I love a story with a happy ending, I hope that this good samaritan is found.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/10/06/4370553/mother-seeks-helpful-stranger.html#.UlLF4DnF-Q0

Hanging in with food allergies

Things have been quiet here and by quiet I mean busy.
The walk is one month away, hard to believe.
School is going well, knock wood. Little one seems happy and she hasn't told me anything that would make me nervous about her class, yay! Let it stay this way.
I was watching a show today that had a celebrity on talking about her child and his food allergies. She said "I did everything right, I breastfed etc and he still has allergies"
I'm not bringing this up to start a debate on breastfeeding by any means. It just made me feel bad, as if she was saying that bottle feeding was wrong. Even the Dr. on the show said that she did everything right. It, to me, was a slap in the face. It made me feel like bottle-feeding moms did something wrong.
Ugh......
Mom guilt stinks.......