Tag Archives: Allergy

Separate is indeed not equal! Food allergies & bullying. |-o-|

Posted on by Standard 33

I haven’t blogged about food allergies lately, so it’s time.  Luckily the other day, a great post popped up in Google Reader, with a striking headline:  We Have Come Too Far To Forget, Separate Is Not Equal

I happen to consider the author Thanita a Twitter friend, and a proud member of the #FoodAllergyMomArmy.  It’s got a great message.  Obviously the first thing it brings to mind is racism, but it can now be applied to any group facing discrimination.

As I’ve said before… I’d like to see any changes brought forth from a consumer side of view, not a legislative one.  When we’re dealing with schools, parents really need to get involved and not just the parents of the food-allergic children.  Legislation in this area may be the best answer as far as schools are concerned.  After all, it’s a gub’ment institution, right?  (Things like the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act are extremely important to protect food-allergic kids, as well as any that may have reactions to thinks like latex or bee stings.  Pennsylvania now seems like it’s on top of things.)

All in all, some earnest thinking about the whole thing will bring forth a hopefully easy decision:

When other parents tell the family of the anaphylactic child to just “home-school, it’s safer, we’re looking out for your best interest”, it’s a joke. Separate Is Not Equal.

When a child is forced to peer over a sea of smiling, laughing, socializing children, all the while sitting on a separate table alone, “for his/her safety”, it’s Separate and Not Equal.

We have to ask ourselves, how far have WE come since the 1950’s? Would we be doing this to a child with autism? To a child in a wheelchair? To a child with dark skin? If the answer is never, then do not do it to a child with an anaphylactic disability.

Think about that.  There’s a lot of buzz about bullying lately, & it certainly falls on food-allergic kids.  For an example, read this awesome article by another #FoodAllergyMomArmy member and cool Twitter friend Libby about bullying: Bullies, Food Allergies and The Force

This is heavy:

By the way, just one mistake can be fatal. Have I mentioned the shocking levels of stress in parents of children with food allergies?

So this morning I dressed my son in one of his Star Wars t-shirts and talked to him about Katie and how it’s ok to be different and not ok to tease or bully someone else. I packed an allergen free lunch, gave him hugs and kisses, told him I loved him and sent him off to school with a prayer that he would come home safely, something I never take for granted.

To the kids with food allergies and their parents, may the force be with you. You’re going to need it.

One mistake can be fatal.  Let’s all help make sure it doesn’t come to that.  These food allergy moms & dads (& brothers & sisters, etc.) are badass, I tell you.  It takes courage to muster up the confidence to put together a safe plan for your kid(s), and to be strong for them when you probably just want to break down & cry about it yourself sometimes.

Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network

Prevent Bullying

It’s up to all of you reading to inform schools, restaurants, and everyone that you’re not going to exclude yourself or your kids from society or live in fear from your food allergy.  It’s up to you to be ever-vigilant and cautious, but it’s all so up to you to not back down or let your kids be ostracized for being different.

Now, where can I get an Epi-pen case that looks like a lightsaber?

Lightsaber

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Epi Pen Bill! (The School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act)

Posted on by Standard 6

I haven’t written about food allergies in a while.  I would think that Epi-Man would be pleased with this post.  Check out this article about legislation being brought forth to give easier access to epinephrine auto-injectors and their administration by school staff.

EpiPens are portable epinephrine-dispensing de...

Image via Wikipedia

Read all about the The School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act at the FAAN website.

IMGP3289

Image by raindrift via Flickr

I’m not big on the gub’ment micro-managing… but how can I not get behind this?  I’d like to see something like this eventually passed for restaurants too.  Why not have one more step in keeping kids & adults safe?

Yes, the act is aimed at kids with food allergies… but us adults are out there too.  What if a teacher, administrator, janitor, nurse, or anyone else on site has a life-threatening food allergy?  This kind of thing could come in handy for all of us out there.

Keep watching the news, I hope this gets passed soon and without any political shenanigans.

Epi-men!

Epi-men!

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Possible Parasitic Panacea

Posted on by Standard 3

Adult Trichuris female human whipworm PHIL 414...

Adult Trichuris female human whipworm

Thanks to one of my many Twitter food allergy friends,  @Onespot_Allergy, this incredible  yet possibly repulsing story recently came to my attention: Food Allergies And The Dirty Side Of The Hygiene Hypothesis

Basically… researchers are trying to see if parasites dropped into your guts will boost your immune system and possibly cure peanut allergies… and in turn, all food allergies.

This linked to another exciting, informative, and insane article from WCVB TV-5 complete with a video: Parasites May Cure Allergies

…Participants would swallow a small vial full of liquid with parasitic eggs once every two weeks for an undetermined period of time.

They said side effects are minimal.

“This is not a parasite that will stay and colonize,” said Castells. “They just stay there for a little bit, they have enough food for a few days, a few weeks, and they go out.”

Jouvin and Castells are particularly interested in finding study subjects with moderately serious peanut allergies. Often deadly, peanut allergies afflict millions and kill as many as 100 Americans each year.

First reaction?  Ew!  Next reaction?  Neat!  …and what the hell is a Whipworm?  Well, Wikipedia is helpful in such situations…

  • Light infestations (<100 worms) are frequently asymptomatic.
  • Heavy infestations may have bloody diarrhea.
  • Long-standing blood loss may lead to iron-deficiency anemia.
  • Rectal prolapse is possible in severe cases.
  • Vitamin A deficiency may also result due to infection.[2]

Mechanical damage to the mucosa may occur as well as toxic or inflammatory damage to the intestines of the host.

At least the first line is reassuring.  This seems a lot like how the plot to Alien started.  If it’s proven, I’ll go for it.  I’d like to make sure that I’m not allergic to Whipworms before I eat any or their eggs, though.

Also… if “cured”, I wouldn’t be going to Red Lobster any time soon, but it sure would make cross-contamination fears a thing of the past.

What do you think about this possible cure for food allergies?  Excited?  Scared?  Grossed out?  Curious?  No emotions until there are solid results?

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Pittsburgh’s Food Allergy Walk 2011 Recap

Posted on by Standard 14

4th out of the 5 top individual earners!

4th out of the 5 top individual earners!

So, we had a great time on Sunday at the Pittsburgh Food Allergy Walk!  I was honored to receive a certificate for being a top individual fundraiser, and glad I could help.  I was also asked to perhaps take part in getting the word out next year, and maybe be in on some of the planning.  My online chatter was picked up by this year’s volunteer chair Uwe Winzen, as well as the founder of EpiMoms (I’m a terrible person, I forgot her name already).  How cool is that?

(I say next year, we get the 501st Legion out there!  –  Looks like they appeared at some other cities’ food allergy walks!)

Campaign Progress | Goal: $50,000.00 Achieved: $39,333.05

Campaign Progress - Goal: $50,000.00 Achieved: $39,333.05

As of right now, the site states that we raised $39,333.05 toward the $50k goal.  I head a number in the $40 range on Sunday, but perhaps they’re still tallying cash & check donations made the day of the walk.  With online & offline donations, I raised $560.55 and Bethany raised $106.85… so we raised a total of $667.40.  We quite literally could not have done it without the support of our friends & family.

I did notice that I was in the minority… all the walkers received a ribbon: Blue for people with food allergies, green for friends & family supporters.  I didn’t see too many people my age or older with blue ribbons.  It seemed to be a core of families who had small children & young teens with food allergies.

Kyle Dine

Kyle Dine

It was fun to finally meet & see a performance from Kyle Dine after talking via Twitter & Facebook.  After all, we do represent the #FoodAllergyDudeArmy.  Kyle does great work educating kids on what to do regarding not taking food from just anyone, getting an adult to read labels, and speaking out right away about reactions…  as well as letting them know they’re not alone.  I also got to personally thank local celebrity Sally Wiggin for her generous donation!  She called me a sweetheart. ❤

I have some photos up on Facebook, and hope to send them to FAAN so they can be placed in their Flickr photostream.  Hopefully others will comment on the day’s events at the Pittsburgh Food Allergy Walk Facebook Page.

Got a nice little video thank-you from FAAN too:

Smiley Cookie

Smiley Cookie

One of the coolest things I took away from the day was talking to Chef Regis Holden from Eat ‘n Park about their food allergy policies & procedures.  He told us how he worked with Bill Moore, their Director of Safety and Security, to develop practices from marking the order, to looking up all of the ingredients with possible cross-contaminants, to this awesome little purple kit with a sterile sanitary contaminant-free cutting board, knife, tongs, and other tools.  Chef Holden also spoke of yearly allergen training video refreshers, and of how he had just recently heard good things about the Eat ‘n Park on Banksville Road which is nearby.  I may just have to go see for myself, and blog about their process and my adventure!

Thanks again to everyone who gave us donations, and to the walk organizers.  I think we did some good work for FAAN!

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Crazy weekend.

Posted on by Standard 4

It’s been a great weekend, thanks to Batman Movie Night on Saturday, & the Food Allergy Walk today.  I hope to eventually blog about both… but I’m kind of up for just some relaxation tonight.  I just wanted to say right now that I have an awesome wife, fantastic friends, & a great family.  Thanks for helping me have fun whirlwind of a weekend!

Thanks to everyone who donated for the walk today… I’ll be shipping the special edition Ernie and the Berts King Krab Orange T-shirts from Erin “Ernie” Payne this week for those who qualify!

Anyone have a car jack I can borrow?  I think the thermostat needs replaced on my Subaru… looks easy enough to do, if I can get to it.  The car stayed at work over the weekend.

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Thanks to everyone who donated for the Food Allergy Walk!

Posted on by Standard 5

Thanks to everyone who donated to me for the Food Allergy Walk on Sunday. The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network appreciates your donation, as do I!  I have smashed my original $300 goal, and now exceeded my current $500 goal.  I couldn’t have done it without the awesome support from friends & family!

If you were thinking of donating, but hadn’t yet… I’d like to still smash that goal, or you can donate to the lovely Bethany and help her reach her goal!

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Subway still sucks, so does IHOP, take your allergy-sniffing dog there with you…

Posted on by Standard 1

Some good food allergy articles popping up lately, if you’re paying attention:

  • Allergies in the classroom: What’s OK to send in for snack time?  –  Some good tips.  Not sure if I’m 100% on-board with banning stuff in schools & classrooms.  I’d just promote safety a little more.
  • Subway expanding gluten-free test – Subway is still clueless.  They’re pushing the gluten free fad as far as they can with as little effort as possible, all while making a big deal about it & ignoring that other allergens exist.  (Read the comments.)
  • IHOP flops – IHOP owed by the same company that owns Crapplebees, also could not give a crap about your food allergies.  Try the new effortless lemon-zest dairy-free salad today! (Read the comments.)
  • $20,000 allergy-sniffing dog is a real lifesaver – Such a great idea!  Too bad it’s a $20K price tag.  I’d love to have a deathfish-detecting pooch.  I’d also train him to poop right outside of Subway restaurants.
  • Managing your food allergies in dining halls and dorm rooms – It’s back to school time.  Solid advice from a real expert.  I’m all about the buddy system.  Friends that look out for your best interest as far as not dying are friends for life.

So yeah, stuff’s happening.  I’m really just posting this to say… we’re out there.

Still taking donations for the Food Allergy Walk

Posted on by Standard 6

90% towards my goal of $500!

90% towards my goal of $500!

That’s right, Bethany & I are still taking donations for the Food Allergy Walk in  Pittsburgh.  It’s happening this Sunday, Sept. 18th at 11:00 am.  You can make a secure online tax-deductible donation for either of us, to help us meet our prospective goals, or you can hook us up with a check made out to FAAN.

Support me!
Support me!

Just click the blue “Support Me” button under each of our photos on our respective profiles to donate!

You can read my older posts about the walk for more info:

If you’re following the “Celebrity Endorsement” thing, Andrew Stockey did eventually contact me & agree to help get the word out on WTAE.com.  I still haven’t’ seen anything there yet.

Interestingly, Qdoba & Chick-fil-A also said they’d donate something, yet they haven’t online yet anyway.  I’m going to have to remind them.

You can also read all of my Food Allergy related posts if interested in learning more about food allergies form an outspoken crazy blogger.

More from the Food Allergy Walk Facebook Page…

The Walk in Pittsburgh will feature lots activities, such as: face painting, balloon artist, trackless train, mad science and inflatables. We will have a musical performance by Kyle Dine and be joined by Pittsburgh Panthers mascot ROC.

We look forward to once again welcoming Sally Wiggin and Stephen Cropper. Following the Walk, will be Q&A session with allergists from AGH and UPMC who have volunteered their time. Rep. Matt Smith will join us to share information about the new EpiPen laws in PA.

You can get one of these limited edition T-shirts for donating $50 or more, thanks to Erin “Ernie” Payne:

King Krab Orange Ernie and the Berts T-Shirt
Special Edition King Krab Orange Ernie and the Berts T-Shirt
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New AllergyEats App

Posted on by Standard 9

So, I’ve blogged about Allergy Eats many times before.  You know I think it’s an awesome resource, but can only be useful if users rate restaurants.  Now, it’s easier than ever to do… with new iPhone and Android apps!

AllergyEats Apps!

AllergyEats Apps!

AllergyEats T-shirt

AllergyEats.com

You can read the word from Allergy Eats about the release here or get the app you need here.

Paul from AllergyEats is good people, he recently donated to FAAN for my Food Allergy Walk in Pittsburgh!

I encourage you to spread the word to anyone that you know with food allergies, so we can all take advantage of the awesome ever-expanding database now available anywhere that you can get cell phone service!

http://twitter.com/#!/AllergyEats/status/108896162949496832

http://twitter.com/#!/allergicgirl/status/108895739429658624

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This won’t REALLY kill you, will it? Let’s see…

Posted on by Standard 1

http://twitter.com/#!/FoodAllergyWalk/status/106727780493959168

Truth.  Adults too.  Just sayin’.

...but they didn't warn us about the rednecks....

Let′s sprinkle some on you to see what happens…

The link points to this article: 8 News Now | Children with food allergies often face skepticism

Check out some of my favorite quotes…

When Bela Mehta’s toddler son was diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy, she carefully explained to her parents and in-laws that ingesting even the tiniest amount of peanut could cause a life-threatening reaction.

Yet when the grandparents came over to babysit, Mehta would come home to find that they’d brought over desserts that contained peanuts, or that they were continuing to make dishes containing peanuts using her blender.

“I said, ‘If it was labeled poison, or cyanide, would you still bring it here?” said Mehta, a mother of two who lives in Chicago. “That’s how dangerous it is to him.”

What planet are these people from?  Seriously.

Nearly 6 million U.S. children — or about one in 12 kids — are allergic to at least one food, with peanuts, milk and shellfish topping the list of most common allergens, according to research published in Pediatrics in July.

That’s a lot of kids, which will be a lot of adults in a few years.

Peanuts can cause a severe, potentially life-threatening reaction known as anaphylaxis — wheezing and trouble breathing, vomiting, swelling, persistent coughing that would indicate airway swelling, and a dangerous drop in blood pressure.

No big deal, right?  Sounds like it’s worth the risk of just licking a peanut…

Some parents described incidents in which family and friends had deliberately given their child nuts to test if the allergy was real.

Yeah.  Read that again:

Some parents described incidents in which family and friends had deliberately given their child nuts to test if the allergy was real.

Jail time.  That’s all I’m sayin’.  That’s like saying that you shot someone just to see if it would really make a hole in their guts.

There should be no question about that, said Dr. Ruchi Gupta, an associate professor of pediatrics at Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago who studies food allergies.

“Peanut allergies are very life-threatening,” Ruchi said. “Kids with a peanut allergy can have shortness of breath. Their throat closes. Their blood pressure drops and if not treated immediately, it can lead to death.“

Go, Dr. Gupta, Go!

Families also reported feeling stigmatized and socially excluded, while children reported teasing. Other kids would say, ‘I’ve got nuts and I’m gonna come touch you’,” according to the study.

I’m going to resist the temptation for a joke about a different kind of nuts.

The article goes on to include the lighter side of things, but I’m ranting.  Go read the full thing if you know what’s good for you.

@FoodAllergyWalk is someone behind FAAN’s Pittsburgh Food Allergy Walk.  Check them out on Facebook, Twitter, or on the FAAN Food Allergy Walk Pittsburgh page.  You can also donate to me or Bethany for our walk on Sept. 18th at Hartwood Acres.

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