The very abandoned blog

It's a good thing! Really! It means that things have been nice and quiet allergy wise, and I hope it stays that way for a very long time :-)

My life has been crazy busy, but I only have myself to blame for that. My knitting busines (see sidebar) has really taken off in the last couple of months, as has my new found hobby/about to turn p/t profession (photography). I just wish there were more hours in the day :-)

As an apology I'm going to share with you my husband's "secret" family recipe. Notice I'm not giving away any of my family secrets ;-)

These ribs are incredibly yummy, and easy to make!



Boil ribs for 1 hour.

Prepare marinade:
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp soya sauce
1 tbsp oil (whatever your prefernce)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup water

Mix all marinade ingredients well. Pour over cooked, drained ribs. Let marinade in fridge for about a day.

Broil 5 minutes each side.

Enjoy!

Living with Food Allergies Carnival

Now that the technical difficulties have been resolved, welcome to the August 7, 2008 edition of living with food allergies carnival.
I am so excited to be hosting my very first Carnival. It looks like we've got some great submisions this week:

Lifestyle
Fiona Lohrenz presents Going Organic…Why We Should! posted at Child Care Only

Lane Wright presents 57 Health Benefits of Going Vegan | Vegan Bits posted at Vegan Bits. Definitely something to think about.

Daryl Laws discusses potential benefits of changing your meat source in Bison Lower in Fat, Good for Those with Allergies. posted at Daryl Laws.

Recipes
Jennifer O'Quigley has a great looking recipe and very cool info about colas in the Comments From the Peanut Free Gallery: coca cola cake article. I'm gonna have to try some of those out! Posted at Comments From the Peanut Free Gallery, saying, "A recipe for an egg free, nut free vegan cake, and more then you ever wanted to know about Coca Cola"

Alisa presents Chill Out with a Cool and Creamy Bananaloupe Smoothie posted at href="http://www.godairyfree.org">Go Dairy Free. That smoothie looks delicious! It's been so hot here these days I'll have to go an make one!

Alisa presents How to Make Whoopie Pies � of the Vegan Variety posted at Go Dairy Free.

Living with Allergies
Ria Sharon has a very interesting article about how Food Allergy Statistics Can be Confusing posted at Check My Tag Community. I'll be sure to read it in detail. That's one thing I've always found fery frustrating, trying to figure out exactly what all of the stats mean.

Jennifer B presents a very important issue, one that I wish something was done about. Is It Time for Standardized Definitions for Allergen-Free Food Claims? posted at Food Allergy Buzz, saying, "Also, don't forget to enter our "free-from" foods survey for a chance to win a set of Beyond A Peanut Flashcards!"

Jennifer O'Quigley presents The Peanut Avenger posted at Comments From the Peanut Free Gallery, saying, "My idea of what it would be like to have a peanut allergy super hero." Where is mine when I need it!

Sue presents Birthday Party - Part 1 posted at Living My Dream, saying, "I just had my daughter's birthday party. She is allergic to dairy and there were kids with allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs and strawberries. I was able to accomodate all of the allergens. This post has my menu and recipes."

She's one super mama! That takes dedication. It sounds like she's thought of everything.

Alisa presents The Go Dairy Free e-Newsletter Returns with an �Ice Cream� Cookbook Giveaway posted at Go Dairy Free.

And last, but definitely not least, please give a warm welcome to our newest member,Alison, who presents SF Food Allergy Walk? or Donate! posted at Sure Foods Living - for celiac disease, gluten intolerance, food allergies, peanut allergy, nut allergy, gluten-free diet, gfcf diet, dairy-free, egg-free, soy free or other allergen-free living, saying, "This is my first time doing the blog carnival... Thanks!"

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of living with food allergies carnival using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page

Technorati tags:
living with food allergies carnival, blog carnival.

Friends?

I've been wanting to write an entry about friends and family and their attitutes for a while, but just haven't gotten around to it until today.

I was emailing a friend of mine whom I haven't seen in a very long time, and I was giving her excuses about just how busy I've been etc. The truth is, though, I just don't have fun hanging out with her and her kids any more. I love her! I think she's lots of fun, but I find it so exhausting visiting with her. I constantly have to watch Izzy. For whatever reason, it seems that some parents think kids need to be snacking constantly and food tents to be a big part of get togethers. My kids love food, and it's difficult to convince Izzy that she can't have something (even though I have a special treat for her), plus other kids are running around with sticky fingers grabbing toys and each other. Usually, once food comes out, I'm ready to leave.

Birthday parties are the worst! We went to one 2 weeks ago. It was a great party and I managed to keep Izzy away from the bad stuff, but then the cupcakes came out! All the little kids running around with crumbling cupcakes, smeared all over their faces and clothes. Of course, Izzy didn't think the treat I brought for her was all that exciting in the face of brightly decorated cupcakes. We left.

Here is my dilema: do I just avoid parties all together, or do I go and be the 'allergy mom'. If I don't go life would be so much easier, but then my friends would think I'm being overly dramatic (or a snob). If I do go, though, not only is it utterly exhausting for me, but I end up being the party pooper, the 'allergy police', whatever you wanna call it.

I know my friends are trying (some of them, at least!), but even the ones that put in so much effort to make a gathering allergy friendly often miss the mark. I truly appreciate the concessions they make on Izzy's account, nonetheless, sometimes I'd just rather stay home.

First Time Wheezer on 15

...is what the doctors said in the hallway as we rushed her to the bed the nurse was pointing to.

Turns out when you take your child to emergency at 10:30 pm and she's wheezing you get to cut in line, and when she's only 18 months and it's her first time they have a bit of panic in their voice that does not calm my already rattled nerves.

That was our adventure last Thursday night.

I went home early on Wednesday with the flu. The girls seemed to have caught it, too. On Thursday afternoon I noticed that Izzy's breathing was a bit strained, but in the past the doctor said the noise is from her nose, not her chest, so I didn't think much of it.

She was irritable, I was irritable... the flu is a biatch and turns everyone into one, too!

At bedtime I noticed a big hive on her back. Her breathing unchanged I feared the worst. Allergic reaction? I gave her benadril and put her to bed, but checked on her regularly. There were no other hives, just strained and faster breathing. I noticed that she was kind of clearing her throat a lot and was coughing. She kept waking up quite a bit and finally my husband picked her up and we watched her. I tried giving her another dose of benadril, but she spat out most of it. Then she had a coughing fit that caused her to throw up. At that point I had enough. We wrapped her up and drove to the hospital.

After the fist dose of Ventilin (to open her airways) they monitored her for 2 hours. Those were the longest 2 hours of the night. I had taken my nightime meds before we decided to take her in and they were making me super drowsy. At 1:30 am another round of Ventilin was ordered as her breathing was deteriorating a bit after a pretty much full recovery from the first dose. That meant we had to stay the night.

We went to Children's hospital. You'd think they'd have beds, or cots to accomodate wee ones. Instead my hubby and I alternated lying on the hospital bed with her. Ventilin makes babies very alert. They really should have given us a hit or two! At least they brought in a cot so the other adult could 'sleep'.

They sent us home at 6:00 am with a prescription for inhalers (Ventilin and steroid one) and some hazy instructions. By the time we had the drugs and got home she was wheezing again. We tried giving her the puffer, but it only worked for 5 minutes. We tried again, with same results. I didn't know if we were using it wrong or what, so I decided to take her back.

Jeff went to work. I packed us drinks, snacks and a lunch figuring we'd be in for the long haul. The emerg was packed. There were 3 people ahead of us waiting just to see the admitting nurse. Again, wheezing cuts in line (gotta take the positives where you can). We were seen by a doctor within 5 minutes of our arrival. Her stats were good, just wheezing. Since we were back so soon, they decided to treat more aggresively. 3 doses of Ventilin followed by oral steroids followed by 6 hour observation.

Thank God for Dora and nap time! We dozed for about an hour in the afternoon. The nurse gave me fantastic instructions and I felt a lot more comfortable about how to treat her symptoms, how to administer the puffers and when to come in if her breathing gets bad again.

Finally, exhausted, we got home in time for dinner.

Shameless Self Promotion!!!!

Today is my Birthday, so to celebrate, I opened my store. Please have a look.

Not Peanuts, Too!

Jeff took Izzy to the allergist yesterday for a follow-up visit and to test for a couple of things. She's been getting rashes when she eats tomatoes and strawberries, but not hives, so I wanted to have it checked out.

Long story short, she's not allergic to strawberries, oranges or tomatoes (just sensitive skin), but she tested positive to peanuts and almonds. I'm not surprised about the almonds since they're in the nut family, and she already tested positive for hazelnuts last time, but I'm bummed about the peanuts. I half expected it, but I was hopeful after the negative test last time. Despite there being so much awareness about peanut allergies, I think it's the most volatile of them all and the one that is most likely to kill. I'm obviously no expert, but I'm most nervous about the peanut allergy.

She's starting her new daycare on Monday (the one that didn't want her due to her allergies), so we'll see how that goes.

I'm off to enjoy the sunny weather we're having. Hope your weekend is great!

NoPeanuts Playdate

One of our local bloggers organized a playdate for parents living in my area whose children have food allergies. It was the perfect day for it! The weather was amazing (finally summer!). We met at a local park with our kids and had a great time sharing stories, getting to know one another and enjoying the morning outdoors. It was a bit hard to talk to adults for longer than 2 minutes at a time because my girls are soooooo active, but nonetheless I was able to have some meaningful conversations.

I have identified what are my personal goals for my involvement with this group:

1. Set up a local internet forum,
   
2. Get in touch with educational programs for childcare providers and review their curriculum on allergies and anaphylaxis,
3. Get in touch with the universities and suggest education about allergies and anaphylaxis be part of the curiculum for graduates of the education program (i.e. new teachers),
4. Get involved with furthering allergy awareness by the general public,
5. Have some fun!

It will likely take me all summer to accomplish these goals, but I think it's a good start.