I'm Allergic To My World

On September 27, Dr. Robert Wood of Johns Hopkins will appear on "Nick News with Linda Ellerbee" to talk about kids living with food allergies.

Learn more here: I'm Allergic To My World

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Here We Go Again!

It’s back to school time again which means purchasing new school supplies, backpacks, clothing, shoes, etc… But for those of us with food allergic children it also means renewing all emergency medication to be kept at school such as EpiPens, rescue inhaler, and Benadryl and just as importantly, it means meeting with our children’s new teachers and making sure they fully understand the seriousness of food allergies, including how to handle an allergic reaction should it happen while your child is at school and hopefully how to prevent an allergic reaction from happening in the first place!

Linda Coss, author of several food allergy cookbooks, has written an excellent article about why it is important for schools to implement food allergy policies to keep our children safe. It also is written in a way so that parents of “all the other kids” can hopefully understand why these safety measures are needed rather then simply telling the food allergic children “just don’t eat what you’re allergic to”. I personally plan on forwarding this article to the principal at my son’s school in hopes that she will send copies home with all of the children in his class to pass on to their parents.

Click here to read "Attack of the Killer Peanut Butter Sandwiches" :
http://www.foodallergybooks.com/Media_Files/attack_pb_sandwich.htm

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Pictures from the Food Allergy Walk

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the 2009 Food Allergy Awareness Walk on Saturday! We all got a little wet (okay, a lot wet), but it was well worth it!

UW Marching Band

John Stofflet showing off his own EpiPen!

Epi-Man was there to save the day!

Brody's Team!!!

The kids enjoyed face (and body!) painting.

Food Allergy Association of Wisconsin logo.

Silent auction table

The bounce house was a hit...even in the rain!


Walking in the rain!

Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Coupons

Betty Crocker now offers four gluten-free products which include a brownie mix, cookie mix, devil's food cake mix and a yellow cake mix. To request a coupon for one free gluten-free mix, simply call 1-800-446-1898.

Preparing for the Worst

For whatever reason, Brody’s mind has been on anaphylaxis lately. I’m thinking it may have to do with the fact that summer seems to be slipping by too quickly and another year of school is fast approaching. A couple of nights ago as I was tucking him into bed, he started asking me question after question about his allergies. Some of these included questions about past reactions he has had, scenarios of future reactions he could possibly have (especially at school), questions of how epinephrine actually helps stop an allergic reaction, what to expect during an ambulance ride to the hospital, etc…This went on for 2 hours. At one point he told me that he wishes that he had already experienced using an EpiPen so he would know what to except as far as pain from the needle and how quickly the medicine would help make him feel better. I couldn't agree more. There have been 2 times in Brody’s life that he absolutely should have received an EpiPen shot for a serious reaction, but unfortunately he never did. The first time was when he was only 13 months old. After grabbing his brother’s peanut butter sandwich and taking a nibble, he began projectile vomiting within minutes, but at that time we didn’t even know that he had food allergies yet and therefore no EpiPen. The second time was about 3 years later and was by far one of the scariest moments of my life. This time the poison to his little body was a tiny amount of milk when he accidentally took a sip out of his cousin’s cup instead of his own. Within 30 seconds he was clawing at his tongue because it “burned”, he was coughing and wheezing, he felt sick to his stomach and weak, and his face was flushed and broke out in hives. It was a terrifying experience. But yet we didn’t give him the EpiPen. Why? Because unfortunately up until that point we were very ill-informed from our allergist. He had told us that the EpiPen was to be used if Brody was ever exposed to peanuts again. He never once told us that some kids do have anaphylactic reactions to foods other than nuts, such as milk. In fact we were told that most children outgrow milk and egg allergies by school age and that these were most likely not very serious and would probably only cause a flare of his eczema if he was to accidentally ingest them. So in my mind at that moment of the reaction all I could think was “What in the world is going on? This shouldn’t be happening!”. I was completely overwhelmed and mentally unprepared for the whole experience. Thank God (!) the allergic reaction started to calm down after a dose of Benadryl and a couple puffs from his inhaler. But when I spoke to the allergist the next day about what had happened, he said “you’re lucky he’s alive”. Those words are forever burned into my memory. I still replay that night in my head over and over and beat myself up about it constantly, but I also know that because of that experience I will never hesitate to use the EpiPen again when Brody has another severe reaction. Notice I said when, not if, because odds are that Brody will experience more life threatening reactions throughout his life as unfortunately accidents are never planned.

The day after Brody asked me all those questions about his allergies, I decided we should dig out one of his expired EpiPens and practice injecting it into an orange to refresh his memory of how it all works and then we used an EpiPen trainer to do some role playing. He seemed to feel much more at ease and satisfied after we did this. As parents it is up to us to educate and prepare our children for how to keep themselves safe and healthy, and for Brody that includes knowing how to save his own life with an EpiPen.

Researchers Find New Way of Reducing Symptoms of Anaphylactic Shock

A team of researchers from the University of Glasgow have pinpointed a molecule (IL-33) which plays a key role in the development of anaphylaxis.

"Our study showed that IL-33 plays a pivotal role in hugely increasing the inflammation experienced during a period of anaphylactic shock and led us to understand how to intervene to reduce its impact.

An anaphylactic shock prompts a massive inflammatory reaction which often is so severe that it constricts breathing. In our study we found that the severity of the shock is linked to the IL-33 molecule, which acts as an amplifier to the inflammatory reaction. This can lead to a fatal constriction of the airway and, ultimately, death.

Our study suggests that patients with the most severe anaphylactic reactions have very high levels of IL33 in their system.

In basic terms, without the IL33 molecule, the allergic reaction experienced would be far less severe, greatly reducing the risk of death."

Read full article here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/158771.php


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Kiss The Cook!

Apparently I was in the mood to spend some time in the kitchen today! I woke up and decided I would tackle the challenge of coming up with a dairy-free ice cream that Brody would actually like for once! He has never been a fan of any of the soy, rice, or coconut milk ice creams on the market and would much rather eat a bowl of sorbet, preferably orange flavored. I decided to give it yet another try anyway since I have the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid just sitting and collecting dust. Since Brody is a big fan of mixing Sunbutter and chocolate chips together for a treat, we decided that it might be good with ice cream too!

Sunbutter Chocolate Chip "Ice Cream"

(Milk-free, Egg-free, Nut-free)

2 cups Coffee Rich (or Rich Whip)

1/8 cup canola oil

2 tsp vanilla

1/3-1/2 cup sugar

Mix these 4 ingredients together and pour into your ice cream maker as per directions. This makes a very soft ice cream, so I let it mix for an extra 5 or so minutes until desired consistency. During the last 1-2 minutes, add in a scoop of Sunbutter and a handful of chocolate chips. I didn't measure these amounts, just whatever looked good at the time!

I personally think it turned out very yummy...Brody's still not so sure. Guess I'll be making some more sorbet soon, too!

While I was in the kitchen, I figured I better do something about all the zucchini from my mom's garden that is taking over my counter space. I've been trying to use it up by baking zucchini bread and lots of veggie bakes, but felt like doing something a little different today. My mother-in-law makes a wonderful chocolate zucchini cake, but it's full of eggs. I came up with this recipe not too long ago as a way of using up some my zucchini surplus and treating my chocolate craving at the same time!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

(milk-free, egg-free, nut-free)

4 Tbsp. flaxseed meal + 1/2 cup water, mixed well

3/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups grated zucchini

1 box chocolate instant pudding mix

1 dairy-free chocolate cake mix

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping:

1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips

1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix flaxseed meal and water and let sit until thickens. Add oil and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add zucchini and chocolate pudding mix and mix thoroughly. Add cake mix and cinnamon and blend until moistened. Mixture will be very thick. Pour the mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Mix together the topping ingredients and sprinkle all over the cake. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cool completely on a rack before cutting.