Stop the March, I Want to Get Off

I was talking to a friends sister the other day, and the topic came up as to whether her 2 year old food allergic child was going to have asthma. I asked her if her son was on the Allergy March. She looked confused, and stated she had never heard of such a march. I tried to explain it to her, but made a terrible attempt at organized thought.

I had first learned of the "Allergy March" upon visiting our first good allergist (not our first allergist though - evil Dr. story I am still angry about). I was saying how I was concerned he might have asthma, as we ended up on albuteral every cold, but all his Dr.s were saying no. The Great Allergist asked me a few questions about eczema, prior illnesses, and his food allergies, and told me in a way only he could. "I can not diagnose anything officially right now because he does not have any symptoms, but between you and me and the doorknob, I am sure he has asthma". I was relieved as I had a feeling and said, "I thought I was crazy, but I had a feeling he did." The Cool Allergist replied, "You may very well be crazy, but you are not crazy to think he has asthma." He then went on to explain the Allergy March. (Also known as the Atopy March)

Below are some articles and resources that explain it far better then I ever could. Click on the links for the complete articles.

Is it Allergy.com


Allergic sensitivities may affect not only a child’s symptoms today, but also his or her long-term health. In the small child, elevated food-specific IgE antibody levels are associated with significantly elevated risk of developing inhalant allergen sensitivities later in childhood.1 Ultimately, asthma may result from a cascade of atopic illnesses known as the pediatric Allergy March. In the Allergy March, symptoms manifest from low-level food and/or inhalant sensitivities and can trigger a progression of diseases from atopic dermatitis to gastrointestinal distress, recurrent otitis media, allergic rhinitis, and ultimately asthma—often by the age of 3 to 4 years.2,3 Although atopic illness often follows the common progression of the “march,” allergic sensitivities may emerge with symptoms of any one of the five conditions—and may involve more than one allergic illness at a given time.



Science Blog

Unfortunately, there can also be unpleasant milestones, such as allergic diseases occurring at a specific age range. These include eczema shortly after birth, gastrointestinal diseases as the child approaches age two, and asthma and other upper respiratory diseases starting at age three and lasting through young adulthood. This is the "Allergy March."


The Atopic March

The atopic march refers to the natural history of allergic
or atopic manifestations characterised by a typical
sequence of clinical symptoms and conditions appear-
ing during a certain age period and persisting over a
number of years. Characteristic of the clinical signs is
that some features become more prominent with time
whereas others diminish or disappear completely.
In general the clinical features of atopic eczema occur first
and precede the development of asthma and allergic
rhinitis.

The Science of Stupidity

I am sure that anyone who reads this blog is already painfully aware of the utter idiocy of some journalists who have recently published articles about how their theories of science support nothing but their own Science of Stupidity. I get it that they were trying to be funny and sarcastic and witty (I know all about these things) by playing the nut card, but jeez, not so funny and witty when it discredits and calls into question a documented medical illness. Now lets have a chuckle about kids with Diabetes, Cancer and AIDS. Wow, good times....

So, instead of calling attention to the stupid journalists, I thought I would try and to compile all of the really great responses I could find. The one good thing to come out of others stupidity is that a discussion has been created and many great bloggers and journalists have given well informed, heartfelt rebuttals. Instead I choose to celebrate them. Read on....

Louise on the Left
Nut Allergies- A Yuppie Invention - As If


The Nut Free Mom
Shedding Some Light On the Nut Allergy Backlash


Strollerderby
Peanut Allergies, Peanut Smallergies


MaMaPoP
LA Times Writer Gets My Irish Up


Food Allergy Mama
Edward R. Murrow Would Be Rolling Over in His Grave


Rational Jenn
I Am Not an Attention-Seeking Psycho


Paging Dr. Gupta
Food Allergies: Not So Nuts After All


Sure Foods Living
What Some (Ignorant) People Think About Food Allergies


Noted and Blogged
Forget the Epi-Pen, It's All In Your Head. Not Mine Though, I Can't Keep Anything In There.


And Now It's All This
Joel Stein is an Asshole

Please let me know if I have missed any other worth responses..

Anaphalyxis Grading Charts

Those totally awesome people over at the Food Allergy Support Boards have done it again. I think I previously wrote about their resources page that contains tons and tons of great and useful information before. At the bottom of this general page they have added a link to two great things.

The first is an Anaphalyxis Grading Chart. These are charts that help you figure out when you should give the epi-pen. They have even put up two versions of it, the Medical Professionals Chart, and the Average Joe Chart. These charts help assign a grade level to the anaphalyxis based on the symptoms of 5 different body systems, such as cardiovascular and respiratory. They also bold face the symptoms that they feel make an epi-pen necessary.

The second piece of great info is a link entitled Top Ten Mistakes People Make When Using an Epi-Pen. These are some really useful tips to think about now, and not in an emergency situation.

A Wonderful Suprise

We have headed back into our non vacation schedules with full force, and I have been so busy I have not had a chance to do anything except try to get 3 little children to school, from school and around town. I forgot how hard it is to get everyone dressed, fed and out the door by 7:40 am every morning. I am exhausted by 8:00 am.

Because I am not so happy with our present pre-school, and our present pre-school director is kind of well annoying and ignorant, I have decided to transition Conor to that really cool peanut free school he is going to attend for kindergarten next year. I just realized they had a preschool that where he could go 2 or 3 days a week for half days. Woohooo. Since he does not seem so fond of his present school, I thought he would be excited to go to that other school he had a great time visiting a few months ago.

Boy was I wrong. Apparently Conor is very upset that he is not going to the same kindergarten and school as his older brother and sister, and has told me in no uncertain terms that he does not want to go to the school "in the little blue house". I felt so bad that I had to explain to a 4 year old that life is not fair, and unfortunately the school his siblings go to is not safe for him. Of course he does not understand why it is not safe, and why life has to be unfair (then again I do not understand why life is unfair either), and somehow thinks it is in my power to control things. If only I had such powers.....

I dragged a very unwilling little boy to visit the preschool side of the school a few days ago. I tried to explain to the staff why he was mad, and engage him in the activities they were doing. He did loosen up a bit, and it seemed a good fit, but it made for a very stressful morning. I don't know how many times I said "he really is not usually like this - very outgoing and personable", and have them look at me and think "of course lady", and working on prying an angry preschooler from my leg.

I decided to start Conor two days a week, and keep him at his other school two days a week to help the transition. I guess it is better to deal with this now, then when we start kindergarten in the fall. So I took my registration packet and headed home to fill out tons of stupid paperwork.

As I went through the papers later that day, I came upon a wonderful surprise. There was a paper entitled "Consent Agreements ---Peanut Free Zones". Apparently before anyone is able to enter the school they must sign and agree to abide by the schools Peanut and Nut Free Rules. This rules include hand washing when entering the classrooms, and that outside food must be okayed by a staff member. They also provide education on to the parents on life threatening food allergies, and ask the parents to all help educate their children on these allergies.

I want to go over there and hug anyone and everyone who helped put this together. I had always heard that the school was very good regarding peanut allergies, but this is more then I could have ever hoped for. It really does make such a difference when people take the time and energy to be educated and help facilitate our children's disabilities.

Now if only I can pry Conor off my leg next time we go.....

Things I Am Glad I Did Not Get For Christmas

Peanut Shaped Soap

"Fun, realistic looking "peanut" shaped soaps! These soaps vary in size, just like real peanuts from a bag would vary. Peanut soaps are like the real "in shell" nuts, complete with textured finish. This soap set is scented. Each "nut" ranges from about 1.25" - 1.5" long and about 1/4 - 1/2" wide & thick." Check them out here.

The Quirky Peanut Characters

"History & Heraldry have created a quirky resin character that you'd be nuts to miss out on! The cute little nut characters are styled in a whole variety of occupations from Doctor to Bus Driver... so there's a nut for everyone! Each figure stands on a resin base fitted with a spring to add movement. The relevant job titles are engraved on each base and the nuts sit in nifty brightly colored open presentation boxes." Read more about these exciting peanut figures here.

You can get them in almost any occupation or character you can think of. I know a really annoying non understanding former pre-school teacher I could get this one for. he he he

A Resin Nut Bowl here.

"NUT BOWLS

Even those with nut allergies won't be able to resist our mixed nuts bowls. Designer Harry Allen casts walnuts and peanuts in white resin, capturing these everyday items and elevating them to the level of modern art. The perfect catchall for fruit, or even the daily mail, and a fun conversation piece. Made in the USA."

Somehow, I think I will be able to resist it.

New Years Resolutions - 12 Personal Commandments for Myself

After discovering the great quote from my last post "The Days are Long, But the Years are Short", I also discovered a great blog where the movie is posted called The Happiness Project. The author of this blog Gretchen wrote a really great post about making personal commandments for yourself for the New Year. I was inspired by her idea, and thought it was particularly applicable for those of us dealing with life threatening food allergies and all our challenges. After some thought, here are mine below.

1) Remember the goal is the journey

2) Laugh often

3) Lighten up - Keep things in perspective

4) Be kind and gentle to everyone, including me

5) Smile, it's only life

6) Choose not to take things personally

7) Remember we all are what we are when we are and how we are. Find the beauty in that and embrace it.

8) Accept pain, difficulties and obstacles, acknowledge them, and use them to learn and grow.

9) If you want to cry, try and find a way to laugh instead.

10) Action, not reaction

11) Make alot of mistakes, just never the same one twice

12) Love Life

The Days Are Long, But The Years Are Short

So, a new year is upon us, and I have been reminiscing about the year that has just passed. It seems as the years go by time speeds up and slows down at the same time. I just found this absolutely profound little movie, and I have to say, it really expressed how we should enjoy what we have right now. Check out the movie here. It ends with one of my new favorite quotes "The Days Are Long, But The Years Are Short".

All these thoughts have me remembering the year past. 2008 for us was filled with big changes, and little moments all of which created a year of memories, growth and learning. So without order, here are some of my reminiscing of the year.

Mick and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary.

We made a move of over 300 miles from Southern California to Northern California where Mick started a new job with a new company. This was a complete shock to me, and if you had told me a year and a half ago that we would be moving that far, I would have thought you crazy. While the move has both good and bad elements (farther away from sick grandma, but nice little town, better job, etc), it again reminds me that life is frequently unexpected, and all the planning in the world can not make it come true. I never planned to have 3 children 18 months apart, I got the shock of my life when I discovered Conor had a life threatening allergy to peanuts (I never even heard of a life threatening allergy before), and even grandparent illness can come on unexpectedly without notice. Life can and frequently will change in an instant, it is more about how that instant effects our change long term.

Conor decided his Nana was cute, and now refers to her as Cutie. He likes to go by her and say "Hi Cutie" and run away, proud of his cleverness. It makes everyone smile including Conor.

I ran my first Marathon. (I finished, but had a little visit to the hospital after for dehydration. Long story)

We got our first real nebulizer. (No more of those sissy inhaler things for us!)

Michael and Natalie started Kindergarten this past September.

Conor taught himself to read a month before his 4th birthday.

Conor outgrew his allergy to eggs, and we now have eggs back in the house again. Yea!!!!!!

I started this blog, which has turned into a great outlet for me to express all my frustrations, triumphs, emotions, and joys. It has now turned into sort of a memoir for myself of our past year and our day to day journeys. I have always loved to be creative, make things, and write for myself, but never over such a long term. The fact that I am able to put together a blog that people might even read - (yikes, someone is reading this???) is a great accomplishment for myself for the previously year.