365 Days With A Food Allergy

This is my favorite time of year!! I love the outward expressions of compassion,  empathy and love that people show more frequently and openly at Christmas. People fill the community coffer's more, and open their eyes to helping others more readily than they would at any other time of year. During this time of giving --an inner conflict can arise to justify the gluttony that we mainstream Christians  will experience. It can raise feelings of guilt for the millions whose ~basic human needs~ are not met. While we're feeling overindulged, and showered in gifts, some people literally have nothing. This is a time to remember that giving is far more rewarding than receiving, and service to others enriches our souls. This is what Christmas is all about right? It also makes us average American families really think about what on Earth our kids really "need". We (as a society) have made this holiday so much about Santa and presents, and less about giving and remembering the...

Halloween Tricks & Non-Edible Treating With Halloween coming up, and all of the psycho movie trailers barricading television, this "food allergy mom" can show you a reality trailer of a scary trip! You know that moment when you become terrified and your brain has been programmed to call 911? This scenario can be a false sense of trust for food allergy families. Under ordinary circumstances seeing the rescue squad or having the P.D. show up in a scary situation would usually give a sense of relief, but for us in the food allergy world it's another level of educating authority . We need to eyeball the scene for signs of food in their cars, ambulances, bodies--anything that can add additional danger to our kids. So when "help is on the way," don't get tricked into thinking your part is done, and make sure "the help" isn't about to add to the danger.   One of my biggest nightmares is calling 911 for anaphylaxis right after the EMT's l...

This past month has been busy! Our organization, Food Allergy Resources & Mentoring (FARM) ,had its 2015 5K themed "Nature vs. Nurture". After months of advocating for food allergies and the need for community awareness, then getting sponsorships from local businesses, the 5K happened! This year's was so amazing because the community really embraced our cause, and I really felt progress in our mission being made. The event was truly an experience from start to finish. The theme "Nature vs. Nurture" wasn't without cause. Our venue was at the Ritch Grissam Memorial Wetlands , a wildlife photographers haven. The off-road course was laid out among all of Florida's native wildlife, and Yes that meant alligators too. With a heightened sense of their surroundings, the race participants learned some eye opening food allergy statistics from posters held at each turn by our amazing volunteers. It was impossible to finish the race without a n...

I always enjoy this time of year when we celebrate America. It makes me see hope when I look at the American Flag hanging from door to door. Our family plays American trivia games throughout the whole month of July, as we remember and reflect on the collaborations of faith, and the hope that people had and still have in this land. We teach our children the grand efforts, most noted accounts of the characters in our history that made such an impact, and leading to the world we live in today. Learning that the world hasn't always been the world we know now. We had to fight for the freedom to call this our America. Despite how we celebrate America's independence, our history is full of people unwilling to accept change and differences. Race and gender are a big part of that. After America's independence, it took almost another century of fighting for changes before Lincoln abolished slavery. It took until 1919, for women to be allowed the right to vote, after an 80 fight throu...

I started this blog as a journal documenting the day to day obstacles that affect my family, as we learned how to live with a life threatening food allergy. I wanted to have a more accurate account of allergic reactions to relay to physicians, and to review with my husband, as we cultivated a lifestyle that works for us based avoidance and educated guesses. I can see now, looking back, how all of those accounted-for days became our story of evolution as food allergy parents. Along my year-long journey were efforts to connect with other moms and I met another "food allergy mom" (virtually). She introduced me to HelloMama's  which has become a great resource for myself, and so many mom's of all kinds to meet other mom's with similar interests and lifestyles. Let's face it, it's hard to make mom friends. It's especially difficult to make food allergy-safe mom friends, I can attest to that! So, thank-you  Hello Mamas for asking me to contribute a monthly ...

Good day food allergy families and family members! It's Food Allergy Awareness week, so I wanted to share some intriguing and magnificent news that I've learned in hopes to educate and support others.  *ALLERGIES INSPIRE HEALTH As a "food allergy mom" to a child with a milk allergy (among other new ones), I've learned more about food than I ever thought I'd have an interest to. Removing your child and family from the billion dollar milk BIG BUSINESS industry has changed our lives. As most people look at us with pity and bewilderment about how a human can survive without milk, we find ourselves soaring into unchartered territory and thriving! We've learned so much about the food industry that has completely changed our lives ...for the better. It's a one way road to the effect that once you learn something, you can never "unlearn" it. In fact, the challenges that food allergy families face come more from lack of compassion toward safety, unwil...

About a year ago, I was elected by some avid followers of this bog to respond to a search for speakers at a new Food Allergy Conference in Las Vegas. I was a honored that some people thought that others would benefit from what I had to say, so I began the application. The conference officials wanted a brief, but clear write up of our suggested topics of interest. Mine was clear to me: Food Allergies reactive to ingestion, physical contact ( touch), and/or airborne. I proposed discussing these as distinctive and the socially misunderstood perceptions between them.  I've been a "food allergy mom" for over 5 years. I've watched the progression of my daughters milk allergy start as an ingestion only allergy, become responsive to physical contact, then eventually become highly reactive to airborne milk proteins. I've witnessed the differences, threats, and social understanding ,and lack thereof, so I wanted to share what I've witnessed and learned. In so many ways,...