Excuse Me

My mind started running a bit faster than I could handle yesterday, in a good way! We're preparing for our first real vacation getaway this week! I've been trying to prep and plan what needs to be done after our return...Killian's birthday party is top priority! Also - our SEMI-Annual Pub Crawl for Food Allergies!!

Our first crawl was such a huge success - an amazing turnout of 60 friends, family and strangers! My goal is to make this one better! We definitely need some food to kick it off with. Sixty people drinking on an empty stomach - bad move! Sorry everyone. Also, I want to make it more informative for everyone. It was great, telling our story to all the participants and they were able to share a little bit with the public, but it needs to be BIGGER! So I'm planning a FUN true/false competition with food allergy facts, and perhaps a "Who knows hot to use an Epi Pen" contest - with fun prizes of course! I think we really need to take advantage of the great opportunity we're given.

Sadly, my idea was reinforced this morning after reading the news. A young man, (19) a student in Springfield, MA passed away after ingesting a cookie baked with peanut oil. He was anaphylactic to peanuts since the age of 10. His mother stated she was not aware this was something that could kill him and also that by the time they realized he was having a reaction, it was too late to administer life saving epinephrine. This is yet another life that should not have ended this way. This is exactly why I want to teach as many people as possible HOW to use an epi pen, the truths and myths of food allergies, and YES they are real and YES they can end lives, they have. http://www.turnto10.com/story/21584682/bryant-student-dies-after-eating-cookie

Bovine Intervention officially has started it's FARE Walk page, please feel free to join, share, donate. We aren't walking until September but I always like to get a good start. This is obviously something I talk about year round rather than just each September. I hope no one is sick of it! If so, I apologize. I guess I'm kind of sick of it too; watching my son suffer so much from all of his allergies, checking ingredients, writing companies for irresponsible labeling, Doctor visits weekly, ER visits 2-3 times a year, co-pay after co-pay, drug upon drug. Yeah, you could say I'm sick of it. So I really hope my posts to educate the public never tire you or bore you. I hope you NEVER have to assess symptoms and administer an Epinephrine auto injector. I hope you NEVER have to rush a loved one to the hospital hoping it's enough time to save them from dying. I hope you never watch your child go through what we have simply because he ate something. I hope you DO know what to do if it ever does. I hope you understand the severity and the stress and the importance this brings to families like ours.  http://www.foodallergywalk.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=1062783&lis=1&kntae1062783=CB7F6F1A4BD74A0A8F6A1EA44A8FE34E&team=5443506

I'm currently listening to our son cough, almost dry heaving, fast asleep. I just laid with him and watched him cover his mouth each time, and rub his nose non-stop, completely out of it. I can't do anything for him. He's had all of his meds, water, freeze pop...I can't comfort him. It angers me as his mom. I should be able to do SOMETHING. How many times I've had to sit and watch and wait. Today I felt good that I remembered one of his meds to administer after the school nurse called me to say he was having a hard time breathing. After more than a year I FINALLY remembered what I had to do. Before I'd bring him to the Dr., pay the copay, watch them give the medicine we have sitting in our cabinet, and leave with the same instructions. DUH! I was proud that I remembered....after the nurse called. I never should have sent him in. These are the things that drive me nuts. I don't know which symptom is a cold or an allergy. I can't decide if I should attend culinary school to feed him better or nursing school to know what the hell I'm doing. Today has been tough. For the both of us. I feel like he suffers more until I figure out what it is I'm supposed to be doing for him.

I'm pretty po'd at General Mills right now. Yesterday I grabbed a bag of Chex mix from a vending machine, at Killian's gymnastics class. Like always, I turned it around to read the ingredients even though it was just for me. Second nature now I guess. To my surprise - NO dairy! I was ready to go buy a bag just so he could try a new snack! Thankfully, I didn't celebrate too early and pulled out my TWO apps for allergen info. BOTH posted the same info - "NONFAT MILK" and "PEANUT FLOUR". Interesting because the only allergens listed were "WHEAT" and "SOY".   *For those of you unaware of dealing with food allergies: companies with different sized packaging have different lists of ingredients. For example, a candy may be allergy free until you buy the small packs like the ones sold at Halloween. These are usually packaged in a different facility and may contain an allergen that the larger packs do not. Now, with that said, my app pulls up the exact size package that I purchased in hand. Different ingredients in apps vs physical package. The company responds with a generic statement that the list on the package is the only one to go by, as others may list different size packaging ingredients. HELLO!? I think I'm aware of this! The woman also informed me to contact "FAAN" for any help recognizing allergens in different products. Hmmm, should I tell them that their reply isn't even up to date!? FAAN is now FARE. Clearly I can't trust them if they can't even be honest about their ingredients.

This is the crap I deal with all the time! And it's not just food. Last year I was on the phone with Crayola trying to find out if the finger paints contained dairy. You've probably guessed Killian had a reaction or else why would I call them. If so, you guessed correctly. Just another thing to be on alert for in Killian's world.

Here's to a better tomorrow. Goodnight!