Food allergies, shots, and eczema

3 1/2 years ago we made the decision to start our daughter on allergy shots. It was pretty evident from birth that she had serious environmental allergies. She was born with a small patch of eczema (also a possible pre cursor of food allergies). By the time she was a toddler she had more signs of environmental allergies. Her nose was constantly running. Her eyes were always watery and she had those dark allergy circles under her eyes. We put off shots for as long as we could. We could not watch her suffer any more and the antihistamines that she was on were not doing enough on their own. So, we started allergy shots. Her first day of shots broke my heart. Oh did she cry. I surprised her when we got home with a shot treasure box. I told her that every time she got a shot that she could come home and pick a prize. This seemed to make the day a little better for her. At first she had to get shots in both arms twice a week for 6 weeks. Then it was once a week and now we are at once a month. She only cried that very first day and that first day was the first and last time she used that treasure box. She never asked for a treasure after the first one so I did not push it. She really is a tough kid. When we started shots the Dr. said that the shots may help with the eczema. Her eczema was horrible at the time. It could be found on her wrists, elbows, the backs of her knees, the front of her knees, I never knew where it would turn up. Sometimes, I felt like it was consuming her. Well, knock wood, her eczema has been nearly 100% gone since she started shots. It is truly miraculous.

News in the world of allergies

Spring break is over for us, the kids went back to school today. I am grateful for a little bit of quiet time,  but I am now back to the "please don't let the phone ring during school hours" mode. Hate that. It was so relaxing while they were home, we did nothing and it was great.

This week is World allergy week. Here is more information in case you are interested.
http://www.worldallergy.org/worldallergyweek/

In other news. Another sweet child was lost this week to food allergies. This one has hit too close to home. The child was in the area that I grew up in and he passed in the hospital where my oldest was born. Something has to be done. We have to raise more awareness, we have to educate those in the allergic and nonallergic community on how to take care of those that have life threatening food allergies, we have to find the cause and the cure. This has to end.
http://projects.registerguard.com/apf/health/nj-boy-allergy-death/

The non allergic sibling

I have two daughters. My oldest has no allergies. None. It is remarkable to me that she has no allergies. Trust me, I am grateful, just surprised since her sister seems to be allergic to the world.
She is an amazing kid. Yes, of course I think that, I am her mom. She is generous, kind, and good. She cares about others before herself, including her sister (when they are not fighting).  They have a big age gap between them (4 years). They were in elementary school together for a few years but now, because of the age difference, they will never be in the same school at the same time again. While they were in the same school my oldest said to me "If something ever happens to her, I want to be there. You have to get me from my classroom."
She does care!
I often wonder how all of the stress and so on affects her. She seems to take it in stride. We do our best to get her out here and there for a forbidden treat when her sister is not around. That's the important stuff for an 11 year old.

The kids go back to school on Monday after a week off for spring break. It has been a great week of doing nothing but being together. I dread getting up on Monday morning......

Passing a bill

We are so close to getting this passed. Please help by writing your Senators and sharing this with everyone that you know that lives in North Carolina. 25% of all first time reactions happen in school. This bill will save lives.

Senate Bill 700 (Non-Specific Epinephrine in Schools) was referred to the Health Care Committee today and the Committee needs to approve it, so the whole Senate can vote on it.  Please find the members that represent you and email them AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. FORWARD THIS, FACEBOOK THIS, SHARE WITH ALL FRIENDS AND FAMILY!  If you can't find your county listed, just email the three chairmen of the committee, Sen. Hise, Sen. Pate, Sen. Tarte.  A sample email is at the bottom of the page. Thank you all so much for your help getting this very important legislation made into law, PAK Coordinators

Co Chairman:  Sen. Ralph Hise ( Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Yancey) ralph.hise@ncleg.net
Co Chairman:  Sen. Louis Pate (Lenoir, Pitt, Wayne) louis.pate@ncleg.net
Vice Chairman:  Sen. Jeff Tarte (Mecklenburg)   jeff.tarte@ncleg.net

Members:
Sen. Austin M. Allran(Alexander, Catawba) austin.allran@ncleg.net
Sen. Chad Barefoot (Franklin, Wake) chad.barefoot@ncleg.net
Sen. Stan Bingham( Davidson, Montgomery),  Stan.Bingham@ncleg.net
Sen. David L. Curtis (Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln) David.Curtis@ncleg.netSen. Don Davis,( Greene, Lenoir, Pitt, Wayne) Don.Davis@ncleg.net Sen. Jim Davis, (Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain ) Jim.Davis@ncleg.net
Sen. Fletcher L. Hartsell, Jr., (Cabarrus, Union) Fletcher.Hartsell@ncleg.net 
Sen. Neal Hunt,( Wake) Neal.Hunt@ncleg.net 
Sen. Eleanor Kinnaird, (Chatham, Orange ) Eleanor.Kinnaird@ncleg.net
Sen. Floyd B. McKissick, Jr., (Durham, Granville) Floyd.Mckissick@ncleg.net
Sen. Earline W. Parmon, (Forsyth) Earline.Parmon@ncleg.net 
Sen. Ronald J. Rabin, (Harnett, Johnston, Lee ) Ronald.Rabin@ncleg.net
Sen. Shirley B. Randleman, (Stokes, Surry, Wilkes) Shirley.Randleman@ncleg.net 
Sen. Gladys A. Robinson, (Guilford) Glads.Robinson@ncleg.net
Sen. Bob Rucho, (Mecklenburg) Bob.Rucho@ncleg.net
Sen. Josh Stein, (Wake) Josh.Stein@ncleg.net
Sen. Tommy Tucker,  (Union) Tommy.Tucker@ncleg.netSen. Trudy Wade,(Guilford) Trudy.Wade@ncleg.net Sen. Mike Woodard, (Caswell, Durham, Person) Mike.Woodard@ncleg.net

Dear Senator:

I am a resident of ________  County.  As my representative, I am urging you to fully support and help sponsor Senate Bill 700.  My child/My grandchild/My dear friend's child has severe food allergies/bee allergies and this could save his/her life at NO COST to the state.  13 states have already passed similar legislation. 

You may recall, an elementary school girl 100 miles from Raleigh, died from anaphylactic shock at her public school.  Her school did not have an Epi Pen and deadly reactions happen so quickly, paramedics didn't get there in time.  The death was completely preventable! 

Please help the children of our community.  If you have any questions or if I can be of further assistance, please contact me. 

Sincerely,

XXXX YYYYY

Raising awareness

My main goal with this blog was to raise awareness in regards to food allergies. One thing has led to another and now I am guest blogging!
A huge thank you to Melanee at http://simplylifestuff.com/ for giving me the tip and encouragement on doing the guest blogging thing!
Here is where I am guest blogging, looks like it will be two times a week or so.
http://www.parents-space.com/family-health/eating-out-with-food-allergies/

Looks like I have a lot of writing to do!

Bullying and food allergies

Bullying. It is a word that is heard over and over again. Kids (and adults) can be so cruel. We have been lucky here. So far she has not been bullied about her food allergies. She is surrounded by family, friends, neighbors, teachers, and staff that love and protect her. I think that this is key, it truly takes a village to raise a food allergic child.

Here is a great article about food allergies and bullying-
http://www.livingwithout.com/issues/4_23/Food-Allergy-Bullying-3108-1.html?pg=1

Last night I learned of something that happened on a radio show.  It is worse than bullying to me because it came out of the mouths of adults.

This is what was said on the show-
"So I was listening to US 99.5 (country station) with hosts Lisa and Ray at about 8:15 this morning and they were talking about April Fool's pranks. Ray says, "I love picking on the kids with food allergies". Lisa chimes in with, "ha, you just ate a peanut!" and the other lady says, "Oops, did I say it was dairy free--I meant gluten free!" Ray says, "I'll sell you this Benadryl for $20!" And they all are cracking up like it's the funniest thing ever!

And we really wonder why kids are bullies? Who do they learn it from?

Many in the food allergic community have bombarded their Facebook page with messages. They have since deleted most. One mom was able to call into their show. They refused to apologize. They still say it's funny and they also said that food allergies are not a disability. That's not true, food allergies are covered under federal law.

Here is their Facebook page-
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-Dent-Ramblin-Ray-Mornings-on-US995/344629192241?ref=ts&fref=ts

I know that we can't control everything that comes out of someone's mouth. However, I also know that if they made fun of a kid with cancer, diabetes, etc there would be outrage, rightfully so. Children and families with food allergies need to be taken seriously too.

The yearly prayer

It's that time of year again. Allergy retesting. I didn't sleep at all last night. I hate putting her through this. Hate it! There's no choice I say, I know it hurts but I wouldn't ask you to do it if I didn't think it was important etc. All she hears is blood draw....
We started the day with a quick allergy check up. I love our allergist and I love that he's always surprised at how well she is doing. She really is defying the odds. She was a sick little toddler and now she's a thriving 7 year old.
Then it was off for the blood draw. Immediate tears. She sat still and cried. She even looked at the needle in her arm after a while. When it was over she said that it didn't hurt nearly as much as she thought it would.
Her part is done. Now I sit and wait for two weeks. Wait for the phone to ring. When it does ring, what will the results be? Do we carry on as we have for the past four years or do we head back to the office for the next step, the skin test?
I will be here waiting......