Hypoallergenic Dog?

The boys have been asking (more like begging) for a pet for years. Specifically a dog. I want so badly to let them have some normalcy in their lives. Along with all of Brody's food allergies, he is also allergic to cats and has several seasonal & environmental allergies. Josh tested positive to cats and dogs, along with seasonal & environmental allergens. I myself grew up with lots of pets...cats, dogs, bunnies. I honestly can't even imagine what my life would have been like if I had been told I couldn't have a pet when I was a little girl. They were such a huge part of my life back then. For the boys, we have tried fish and hermit crabs...neither of which give you the warm fuzzy feeling that you get when snuggling with an adorable puppy. We did have a small dog many years ago when we first had the boys tested for allergies and found out Josh was allergic. However, we never saw any evidence of Josh reacting to Sasha whatsoever. This could certainly have a lot to do with the fact that Sasha was a small older dog at the time and the boys didn't interact with her much at all. On the other hand, I have seen Josh get very congested in a short period of time just from being in the same room as a large shedding dog. I asked Josh over the weekend how badly he wants a puppy and if he'd be willing to go through allergy shots if that is what it took for us to have a pet. To my surprise, he said he would "happily take weekly allergy shots for the rest of his life if that is what he needed to do".

So my husband and I have been giving this a great deal of thought lately. Although there is no such thing as a "hypoallergenic dog", there are supposedly certain breeds that seem to create much less symptoms in allergic individuals. A few of these breeds would include Poodle (including cross-breeds such as Labradoodle), Maltese, Yorkshire Terrier, and a Portuguese Water Dog. Apparently the latter is what the Obama family has chosen as their family pet since one of their daughters is allergic to dogs. I personally always wanted a toy poodle when I was little because I thought they were cute little puffballs! And since a small dog equals less amount of dander to interfere with allergies, this seems like a smart choice for us. So after we talk with the allergist and get his thoughts on the situation about whether allergy shots would be a good idea for Josh, we are leaning towards possibly bringing some type of a toy poodle mix into our family. I have found there is a breeder about an hour from our home that raises SilkyPoos (Silky Terrier/Toy Poodle mix). Is this not the most adorable face you've ever seen?

Of course my fear is that we will bring a puppy into our home and totally fall in love with it, and then the boys will start having allergy symptoms and we would have to decide whether to or not to give the dog up. I really hate feeling like allergies rule our lives! Between the food allergies, pet allergies, seasonal & environmental allergies, asthma, eczema, and a vision impairment...Is it so much to ask for my children to experience a little normalcy once in a while?

Cookie Fun!

A couple of weeks ago I was looking at a magazine and Brody happened to look over my shoulder and saw an ad for Pepperidge Farm Verona Cookies.

Brody: "Mom, those look so good!! Are they safe for me?"

Me: "No, honey, I'm sure they probably aren't safe for you, but we can certainly try to make our own!"

Brody: "Awesome!!!"

So over the weekend my little assistant baker and I made our own dairy, egg, and nut-free version of the PF Verona cookies...and boy where they a hit! Just a warning, the cookies do seem to be dry and crumbly when they first come out of the oven, but they will soften up nicely after sitting for a while.

Strawberry Shortbread Cookies

1 1/2 sticks dairy-free margarine

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream margarine and sugar. Add vanilla and salt. Gradually add flour until mixture is a soft dough. Roll dough into small balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten the balls slightly and using a rounded measuring spoon or your thumb, make an indentation in the center of the dough. Fill each indentation with a small amount of strawberry jam. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden brown on the edges.

Variation: Fill with any flavor of jam you like or even chocolate chips!

To Fly or Not To Fly

Walt Disney World Planning -- Part 1

My husband and I have finally decided that it is time we take our family to Walt Disney World! We have been avoiding this topic of conversation for several years, but now that our oldest is 12 we just can’t put it off any longer. Where has the time gone?!

Traveling with multiple food allergies is quite the adventure in itself what with cooking/baking/packing enough food to feed an army for a week (seriously my youngest son has a bottomless pit kind of a stomach!), but when you add flying into the mix, I can’t help but wonder how will this possibly work? Granted, I have heard that WDW is very allergy aware and many of the restaurants will be able to accommodate my son’s food allergies as long as we communicate with them in advance. However, I still have no intention of eating out more than a couple of times while we are there. I just feel much more comfortable making my son’s food myself, especially being so far from home in case he did experience an allergic reaction from eating something a well-meaning WDW chef created for him. So for this reason we have decided to rent a house during our stay in Orlando. This way I will have the convenience of a full kitchen at my fingertips.

But back to the flying…The thought of being 30,000 feet in the air with my anaphylactic child while people all around us happily munch on their beloved peanut snacks terrifies me! Eek!!! So how do we know which airline will be the safest bet for our situation? I found this chart on AllergicLiving.com that shows what each airlines policies are regarding peanut allergies. I have to say it all makes my blood pressure rise a bit to realize that there really is no completely safe airline option to choose from, but I also know that allergic people fly everyday without incident. Still…maybe driving 20 hours with 2 super excited/anxious/crazed boys wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.

Breathe In, Breathe Out

Brody's asthma has been acting up since October. Several doctors have tried switching his asthma medications, prescribing a short burst of oral steroids (which did wonders for his eczema!), trialing medication for reflux, and even suggesting that what Brody really has is VCD (vocal cord dysfunction). Yesterday Brody had an appointment with his pediatric pulmonologist who wanted to have him do an exercise treadmill stress test to see if this would trigger an asthma attack with pre- and post-exercise PFTs (pulmonary function tests) which evaluates how quickly you can move air in and out of your lungs. Of course Brody loved running on the treadmill and the nurses were quite amazed at how well he did. I tried to explain to them that Brody is an extremely active child and this test wasn't really going to show much or even trigger an asthma attack because he usually pushes himself much harder than they were allowing him to run on the treadmill. He's quite the competitive little boy I must say!

As I expected, the test did not trigger an asthma attack and his PFTs looked great, but luckily Dr. Guilbert agreed that they probably hadn't pushed him hard enough during the test to get to his trigger point. The doctor suggested that Brody start pre-treating with his Albuterol inhaler before any strenuous exercise (gym class, karate class, just running nonstop like the crazy child he is) to see if that helps stop him from developing the chest tightness, shortness of breath, etc. Dr. Guilbert does still think that Brody might have a component of VCD along with the asthma and thinks he should see an ENT specialist to look into that possibility. Unfortunately diagnosing VCD involves spraying a numbing solution into the nose and then threading a tube with a small camera attached at the end up through the nose and down into the throat to actually visualize the vocal cords while making various sounds. Not something Brody has any intention whatsoever of agreeing to! For now we'll see how the pre-treating with Albuterol goes and then decide where to go after that.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Candy Heart Contest

Enjoy Life Foods is having a Candy Heart Phrase contest on the Enjoy Life Facebook page.

"All phrases must contain a nod to an Enjoy Life product or one of the common food allergies. All entries are due by February 14, 2009. Winners will be chosen the week after Valentine's Day."

So put on your thinking caps and sign up now for a chance to win a FREE Enjoy Life Foods t-shirt!

Disposable Wristbands

I recently found this website (MabelsLabels.com) which offers a product called "My 411 Wristbands". These disposable wristbands can be customized to relay important information about your child.

“My 411 Wristbands” are designed to give parents peace of mind when dropping off children at birthday parties or field trips, or even when taking them to amusement parks. Other adults or caregivers have a means to contact the child’s parent or to learn vital information by looking at their 411. The disposable wristbands include the child’s first name, the parent’s first name and cell phone number and any allergies or special needs the child may have. These can be customized to fit any parent’s needs.