I Have a Dream...of Eggs

Is this my dream of eggs?

Square eggs??? AHHHHH!!!! No, not really, but that would be quite an interesting dream. This is posted on the site below along with lots of other interesting things made square including a turtle, a flower and a cat.

http://www.worth1000.com/contest.asp?contest_id=9092&display=photoshop

Is this my dream about eggs???

Yikes, I hope not. What would happen to a baby hatched out of an egg if they were allergic to eggs??? Don't worry, this is a photoshop tutorial so you too can make your own cracked egg to hatch out anything your heart desires. Yes, I do have too much free time on my hands.

http://www.photoshopnerds.com/2006/03/page/2/

I have a different sort of dream about eggs. I dream of the day where I can make pancakes, cakes and cookies using real eggs instead of trying to creatively come up with a way to make it taste ok, not stick to the pan (a big problem with pancakes), and not come out like a brick 1 in every 5 attempts. I dream of the day my quick and easy cake does not involve a can of soda and a pre-packaged box of cake mix. I dream of the day we can eat at Round Table Pizza even though they use egg in their pizza crust. (assuming they are still nut free of course) I dream of the day where I can eat an omelet at home at my kitchen table. Yes, I have a dream.

In a few weeks Conor is going to the Allergist to get re-tested for his egg allergy. Even though I know he will probably fail it, the allergist got my hopes up. She said since it has been a year since he has had any egg, maybe he has out grown it. She seemed so positive and hopeful I allowed myself to dream - just a little bit, what it would be like to re welcome the egg into our world.

I don't have the same anger towards the egg that I do to the peanut. Conor's reactions have never gone beyond hives, and minor facial swelling. The egg does not have the extreme fear and danger that is tied into the peanut for us. The egg is not evil, but merely misguided. If Conor comes across a teeny tiny bit of it, he probably won't explode. (and if he does - hey, I have an epi-pen) The egg also does not have any pretenses such as wearing a top hat, monocle and shoes, and is a nice comforting oval shape. Maybe I don't hate the egg, because people generally don't fight for their right to eggs like they do for peanuts. (this is a generality, and if I am wrong other egg allergic people please let me know, and I will help you vilify the evil egg) Eggs are not handed out in little packets on airlines, and made into a paste that is so addictive some children can not go without it for 5 meals a day while at school. I don't hate the egg, I just miss the egg, and getting the egg back in our diet would be one less thing to worry about.

Wow, all this dreaming about eggs has made me tired. Time to go to bed. I wonder what I will dream of tonight.

To Flu or Not To Flu, That is the Question

I finally got my act together and made Conor's next allergist appointment. This is going to be one exciting appointment in that Conor will be re-tested (skin test) for his egg allergy and will also be getting his flu shot. What a day of fun and merriment.

This will be fun first of all, because Conor needs to be off his antihistamines for 5 days. This is a joy for everyone, in that his nose starts running like a faucet, and he starts getting all that itchy eczema stuff that he scratches until it is raw. He gets really tired of me telling him not to scratch, and always claims he is not scratching, but merely touching the affected area. He also enjoys seeing anyone else in the house do anything resembling a scratch, so he can proudly proclaim to them that scratching is off limits for everyone.

This is also fun since we are dealing with the flu shot. Conor once had the flu shot before we discovered he was allergic to eggs. (Oh, that is why his face keeps swelling up, and he gets hives every time he eats french toast ) I don't remember him having a reaction, but who knows if I would have known what a reaction was short of the cool impressive ones he has had to peanuts. Last year, we had finally found an allergist we were happy with, and he decided to give him a skin test for the flu shot before giving it to him. Of course Conor miserably failed the skin test, and we left shotless and reactionless. (except of course for the skin test). Later in the year we did get a bout of bronchitis, something resembling croup that resulted in a visit to the ER, and a bout of pneumonia. More fun times for all. Conor has asthma that mostly comes on when he is sick, just to complicate things even more.

So this year, our new allergist up here in Northern California, has said that with sweet little ones like Conor, she want to give the flu shot unless it is totally impossible. Basically this involves hanging out in the allergists office for half the afternoon with an epi-pen in hand, staring at Conor and waiting to see if he swells up, gets hives, or starts heaving. I know it is worth it, to try and prevent some of the really nasty illnesses he got last year, but geeze what a great way to spend an afternoon.

I can't wait!!

No Fair, She has Homework and I Don't - School Without Food Allergies

I have whined and complained about our local kindergarten and how utterly confused I am by all that it provides (or does not). It has provided me endless hours of stress about how my food allergic child could attend ( he can't), and where in the world the teacher disappears to during snack time. Despite the fact that I have decided that there is no way in heck that Conor can attend the same school as Michael and Natalie next year, I have to say, those sweet twins who were previously nicknamed "trouble" and "maker", a "temper" and "tantrum" absolutely love their kindergarten.

I figured I would document here, some of the funny little comments they have said, since I know 5 or 10 years from now they will never admit having said them.

They love going to school so much that they get upset when the weekend comes around and there is no school to go to. The first weekend they thought I was punishing them for not letting them go to school on the weekend.

Also, they are very competitive with each other, and one day Natalie came home from school, and excitedly opened her Barbie Wedding Backpack to show me her first homework. She was so excited to have homework that she paraded it in front of Michael and Conor, taunting them that she had homework and they did not. This particularly angered Michael, who angrily declared it was not fair that his sister had homework, and he did not, and proceeded to throw a loud tantrum about his lack of homework. We finally solved this problem by creating homework for everyone to do, and peace reigned again. (at least momentarily)

I had been looking at the school for so many weeks now about all the problems there were, I just realized how great it has been for Michael and Natalie. Sometimes I have to back away from how things effect my food allergic child, and not forget that Michael and Natalie are enjoying kindergarten, doing well, and driving me crazy with tons of spanish gibberish as they absorb the Spanish from their class. It may not be safe for Conor, and that is &^%$#%&&, but I should not let that get in the way of Michael and Natalies experience there.

Even More Great Peanut Allergy and Food Allergy Links

The only upside to having so much stress over where Conor will go to school next year (yes, why not start my stress early so I can enjoy it for longer), is that I have uncovered even more great peanut allergy resources. Check out these great links below.

http://www.allergymoms.com/uploads/newsletters/allergymoms_newsletter_08_11_08.html

This is the Allergy Moms Newsletter from August 2008. I just found it on my travels along the Internet superhighway during my school stresses, and it is really great. There is an article entitled "10 Things Every Food Allergy Child Wants You to Know", which is an insightful look into what it is like to be a food allergic child. There is another article with great info on 504 plans, and a really complete school checklist to help me stress out further about what is needed for school.

http://www.rd411.com/ce_modules/PNT06.pdf

This appears to be some sort of teaching information from a continuing education class. (Yea to the place that has continuing education classes on Peanut Allergies!!) It has alot of great information in a clear and easy to follow manner, and would be a great education tool for anyone who is willing to read it.