Alright, I don't know how many of you had heard about the incident in Florida where parents of a child with food allergies was asked to home school (I don't believe the school itself did this because it's illegal, but I could be wrong). Many people are throwing out opinions like "Parents should be teaching their children to be kind to those with allergies. It's not that hard to follow an allergy list."
Here's my opinion. It is that hard. Not so much at home (this depends on the amount of allergies the child has) but in a school setting where there are 20 or more students per room, how many do you think have allergies and to how many things and to what degrees?
For me, at home, having a child with mild allergies to dairy, eggs, peanuts, and ham (this includes baked goods) is not that hard. Even if he has something he's allergic to, it just means we're going to have to deal with diarrhea. The doctors even told us he may grow out of it, so in a few years when my son is attending school, I will test him again. Of course, I'll tell the teachers to avoid it so they don't have to deal with his messes, but if he ends up getting some, it won't be the end of the world.
For others, that is harder. There are some who will quite literally die if there was contact between their allergy and a spoon used to stir the dish. Obviously, they'll have to be a lot more careful about where the food came from, who made it, how careful were they, etc.
Honestly, I don't understand why food served in a school should be any harder to figure out than food served at McD's. Now mind you, it was mind blowing when I was reading the allergen list at one of our favorite drive-thrus (they have milk in their french fries) and it is a lot to take in until you start crossing off things my child wouldn't eat anyway...
They should have a simple sticker system showing what allergens (at least the basic 8) are in the foods they serve so that the child with allergies can learn to spot them himself. My son knows if I pull down the jar of peanut butter, he's getting the almond butter. If I pull out a gallon of milk, he's getting any number of non-dairy milks. He does get some of his allergens (again, not life threatening) but that is my choice as a parent.
To other parents (those with children without allergens), it's really not that hard to find allergy free stuff. In fact, Starbucks (number 1 coffee shop) sells allergen-free cookies right on it's counter top (you'd have to buy them one at a time) and if you're looking for dairy-free, egg-free, peanut-free cookies then Oreos (yup) is awesome.
Showing posts with label allergies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label allergies. Show all posts
Friday, March 25, 2011
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Test Results
Okay, since the last time I came on here I talked about doctors and how they usually annoy me (they still do, even though my husband wants to be one), I am really glad that I have the doctor I have now.
We waited forever in the waiting room though it was a nurses fault because she didn't want to take a few extra minutes to schedule us in for an appointment and told us to just drop by for a walk-in. The nurse who was working when we got there was awesome though.
My son was on his best behavior (he wasn't all week while I was sick with a headcold and just wanted to sit and watch tv or take naps). I was extremely grateful for this because he has been horrible at other times while we try to see the doctor. I chalk it up to our prior planning on bringing several snacks, a water bottle, and his Nintendo DS for while we were in the doctor's office.
The doctor came in and told us what he thought would be extremely horrible news. My son is apparently allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts, and ham. For those who don't understand, this doesn't just mean that he has to avoid dairy products, but everything that is made with milk. This extends to breads, cookies, and even some soups.
Well, because my head cold has not gone away, I haven't really wanted to cook. While we were at the store yesterday, I asked my husband if he could check the ramen noodles to see if they had any allergens in them. He told me they did not. Yet, after I started cooking them today, I realized they had eggs in them. I'm not sure if this is because of the type of ramen we bought or if it's because of the noodles themselves.
We waited forever in the waiting room though it was a nurses fault because she didn't want to take a few extra minutes to schedule us in for an appointment and told us to just drop by for a walk-in. The nurse who was working when we got there was awesome though.
My son was on his best behavior (he wasn't all week while I was sick with a headcold and just wanted to sit and watch tv or take naps). I was extremely grateful for this because he has been horrible at other times while we try to see the doctor. I chalk it up to our prior planning on bringing several snacks, a water bottle, and his Nintendo DS for while we were in the doctor's office.
The doctor came in and told us what he thought would be extremely horrible news. My son is apparently allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts, and ham. For those who don't understand, this doesn't just mean that he has to avoid dairy products, but everything that is made with milk. This extends to breads, cookies, and even some soups.
Well, because my head cold has not gone away, I haven't really wanted to cook. While we were at the store yesterday, I asked my husband if he could check the ramen noodles to see if they had any allergens in them. He told me they did not. Yet, after I started cooking them today, I realized they had eggs in them. I'm not sure if this is because of the type of ramen we bought or if it's because of the noodles themselves.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Update
Don't you just love doctors? Sometimes you just have to stop and think that they paid all that money to go to school to lose their common sense.
I really don't hate doctors. My husband wants to be one. I have had some wonderful doctors who listened to what I was saying and solved issues. I've heard about some terrible doctors that I wish no one would ever have like a sister of mine who was giving birth and the doctor left the hospital while the baby was crowning without waiting for the replacement doctor.
The newest doctor my son is seeing is okay. He's sort of in between. He gets these ideas in his head and runs with them. So, for the last month, he was adamant that my son had a virus and allergies to milk. So, we have been avoiding milk to the best of our ability, first buying nothing that had milk in it at all (like flavored chips, most cookies, and even some breads) on to getting things that have dairy but no lactose as the doctor kept changing his mind as to what my son was allergic to specifically.
Last week, we finally got him in for the test. All they did was draw blood, so I was happy. I was not looking forward to possibly trying to hold my son down as they scratched him or anything. My little boy was very brave and didn't cry at all. The person drawing the blood was very good at her job and she was done very quickly.
The doctor told me that he would call me and let me know the results if they matched what he was thinking which meant that if my son was allergic to milk and/or soy I would get a call from the doctor so I wouldn't have to go back in. He said that if the tests came back negetive, we were going to have to go back in to do more tests because then there would be something seriously wrong.
The nurse calls me the other day and tells me that I need to go in for an appointment to discuss the test results. I know she's not allowed to tell me the results, but I ask her if I should be worried. She told me that she never looked at the file, so she wasn't sure. She did say that the doctor normally tells her to say not to worry to the patients that she has to call back in, but he did not tell her to say that to me.
Now I am worried. I was hoping that he wasn't allergic to milk because we love food in general and so many foods have dairy in them that makes it taste that much better. But now, after talking to the nurse, I am very worried. Now I am just hoping that he's allergic to something the doctor never thought of, but something that wouldn't be hard to get out of our house or to take out of our diet.
I really don't hate doctors. My husband wants to be one. I have had some wonderful doctors who listened to what I was saying and solved issues. I've heard about some terrible doctors that I wish no one would ever have like a sister of mine who was giving birth and the doctor left the hospital while the baby was crowning without waiting for the replacement doctor.
The newest doctor my son is seeing is okay. He's sort of in between. He gets these ideas in his head and runs with them. So, for the last month, he was adamant that my son had a virus and allergies to milk. So, we have been avoiding milk to the best of our ability, first buying nothing that had milk in it at all (like flavored chips, most cookies, and even some breads) on to getting things that have dairy but no lactose as the doctor kept changing his mind as to what my son was allergic to specifically.
Last week, we finally got him in for the test. All they did was draw blood, so I was happy. I was not looking forward to possibly trying to hold my son down as they scratched him or anything. My little boy was very brave and didn't cry at all. The person drawing the blood was very good at her job and she was done very quickly.
The doctor told me that he would call me and let me know the results if they matched what he was thinking which meant that if my son was allergic to milk and/or soy I would get a call from the doctor so I wouldn't have to go back in. He said that if the tests came back negetive, we were going to have to go back in to do more tests because then there would be something seriously wrong.
The nurse calls me the other day and tells me that I need to go in for an appointment to discuss the test results. I know she's not allowed to tell me the results, but I ask her if I should be worried. She told me that she never looked at the file, so she wasn't sure. She did say that the doctor normally tells her to say not to worry to the patients that she has to call back in, but he did not tell her to say that to me.
Now I am worried. I was hoping that he wasn't allergic to milk because we love food in general and so many foods have dairy in them that makes it taste that much better. But now, after talking to the nurse, I am very worried. Now I am just hoping that he's allergic to something the doctor never thought of, but something that wouldn't be hard to get out of our house or to take out of our diet.
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