It's been a while....

Sorry for my tardiness on this blog (for the 3 people that actually read it).  I find this process to usually be more cathartic for me, and less interesting to others.  :)

Since our trip to Orlando, we have discovered a few more allergies for Kason.  We can add Sesame, chickpea, pineapple and almond to our list of allergies, although the severity is not as extreme as the peanuts, eggs and milk.  The egg allergy #'s have gone down, so our allergist would like to do an egg challenge in the upcoming year.

Here is the odd thing about allergies, there is no template.  Kason has been eating pineapple (and lots of it) since he was less than 1 - with no reaction.  Then on the weekend of his 2nd birthday, he had a reaction to pineapple.  I spent the entire weekend preparing an allergy friendly meal for all our friends (which included pineapple of course) and Kason had a reaction.

We met someone when we were at Children's Hospital for Kason (he had injured his leg - he was ok) and she said that she has a shellfish allergy that was discovered in her 20's while she was on a cruise ship.  She had always eaten shellfish but all of the sudden went into anaphalactic shock.  The allergist said that 'her bucket had spilled over'.  That basically meant that she had eaten her lifetime quota of shellfish, and her body could no longer handle any more. That's really how allergies work - for Kason his quota for peanuts and milk was none, but pineapple - well he had some time.

So the battle goes, we are still coping.  soon we will be talking about an egg challenge.

Allergy Friendly Vacation

Not always an easy task! 

I will admit, I was stressed about this trip, from the airplane to the restaurants to the condo we were staying in.  But as we know, a first impression does a lot and we got that at the Winnipeg Airport from an awesome Westjet representative.  Basically, we told them of Kason's allergies, and we were not even 2 steps away from the desk and we heard a westjet's radio blast "no ice cream on the Orlando flight - we have an allergy".  Sorry to those kids but how awesome was that!?

We got to board first, and wipe down our entire row with 'Wet Ones' and they made a very generous announcement about the peanut allergy.  Then, as Kelly went to the washroom he heard a young girl say to her grandmother "it's ok grandma, I don't need that granola bar, they have peanuts".  Unreal!  Not only was Westjet willing to ease our mind, but so were the other people headed to Orlando. 

Did you know that Westjet carried Epinephrine Injectors on the plane too?  And they let you take more than 120ml of liquid if it is for health reasons (i.e. Claritin). **I tweeted Westjet when we got to Orlando thanking them and they tweeted me back personally!  pretty cool!**

4 hours later - we were exhausted but in 30 degree weather so we were ok!

We rented a fantastic condo with a fully equipped kitchen.  We walked 5 mins to Publix grocery store (how convenient) and picked up fresh fruit and veggies and some of our allergy friendly favourites of course.

Having the condo is a must while travelling with an allergy child, but it wasn't as annoying as I thought.  We ate three suppers at home, all our breakfasts and most of our lunches.  The leftovers were Kason's meal for when we went to restaurants.  All in all, I felt good and confident.

Whenever we went out in public we wore our trusty allermates wristband - Kason wore it around his leg:

The flight home was great, although they singled us out in the announcement "there is a child in row 15 with a peanut allergy" so all the heads turned to us, but I would rather that then no announcement at all.  

Overall - This vacation gave me confidence, as well as a well needed break from REALITY.  I love our little guy and feel happier and confident about his allergies every day!  And from all I have heard - Disneyworld is the place to be if you have food allergies!  That will be our next trip!

Worrying does not empty tomorrow of it troubles....

Why is it that your kid must have an allergic reaction right before bedtime?  He is tired and cranky, and let's admit it, you are ready for your nap time coffee!

Even worse (which is almost very time) is the game of trying to figure out what caused it.  Today- we think it was dust.  DUST!!!!  That's what we get for cleaning the top of the fridge during lunchtime- a ton of hives and an emergency bath.  Then the sneak ins during nap time.  He is fine and happily snoozing hive free btw.

Any parent worries about their kid- we are not special.  The lack of peace of mind at anytime is sometime stressful.  But knowing that knowledge and preparation is power is comforting.  I have to constantly remind myself of this.  We can only live in the now and not worry about tomorrow- but be as prepared as you can to try to avoid a future reaction.  Then the tomorrow is as fantastic as today.  (Does that make sense?  It did in my head)

This is a great blog post about what every allergy parent wants you to know... In the nicest and most grateful way possible:

Http://smartereachday.com/?p=2891

http://smarttereachday.com/?p=2891

Cookies!!

Thank you Christie for giving our family so many delicious cookies that are super safe... And that I don't have to bake from scratch!!

Not like the  'Enjoy Life' brand snicker doodle cookies which are ridiculously overpriced and still gave Kase multiple reactions.  Sometimes the allergy friendly foods are not so friendly and way too complicated.

Hey look!  They are free of all the major allergens!  Either life is playing a mean trick on me or something is up.  I'm going to contact the company- wish me luck.  

Another Epic Fail

Here is something that sucks about being an allergy mom- 9 times out of 10 your kids will have a reaction because of something you did.  You didn't mean to do it- in fact you probably worked very hard to avoid a reaction.  But the odds are simply not in your favour and you are just screwed.  Allergy moms like to be in control and prepare almost everything by hand, so likely some cross contamination or milk challenge reason cause the reaction, but since it came out of your hands you feel so responsible... And terribly guilty.

Allergy moms (and dads ;) ) also have the terrible task of testing out new foods.  Now I haven't tried one of the high allergen food since Kason's first birthday- as far as I am concerned we will learn more about sesame and tree nuts from a test and not from the incredibly shitty task of watching your kid eat while you mentally take note of where your epi pen is.  

Because of Kason's milk challenge- I have to give him something cooked with milk daily.  I made a casserole with a cup of milk in it and cooked it.  After about 5 mins it became clear that I put too much milk in there and his face was really red.  Like REaLLY red with a few hives.  1/2 tsp of Claritin later (and some time and a bath) he was all good, but just like many many nights- I'll be checking in on him throughout the night.  

I'm getting sick of this- is that ok to say?  I want to give him something prepared at a store... Or even better, a restaurant!   I want to take a break from cooking, researching recipes, doing the never ending dishes and forcing him to eat things with milk!  Especially when he eats them and you can see in his face that he knows it isn't something that he should be eating.  

Kelly told me once that I was meant to have an allergy kid.  I am the kind of person who jumps in with two feet and will only do something 100%.  It's really a complement because it means we take such good care of this seemingly fragile guy( ps - he isn't, he is indestructible some days) but I wish that fate didn't create this situation for us some days.  Well- most days.  Ok- every day.

What a whiny suck I am today. Have I told you lately how much I love my kid?  Just the way he is..... :)

A great article

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/314369

A fantastic article detailing how challenging being an allergy mom is- but knowing that it's a way of life for our kids and thus far less challenging for them.

I can especially relate to the comment about being an allergy mom.  Cross contamination is a big deal and I would always rather be safe rather than sorry.  Not everyone understands that, but as a parent I am those who should make the call.

Great article- and yes- I constantly worry about him when he moves out.  I'll probably be calling him daily asking if he has his epi!

Crazy cook

Ok, I'll admit it.  I'm not a great cook.  I enjoy cooking and Kelly will have to admit, I have tried hard!

When we got married, I tried to fit my wifely roll and do a lot of cooking.  Lots of burning!

When we had kason I tried again- with the help of Pinterest and a crock pot.  But now that I am an allergy mom, there is no choice.  I am officially a cook, 7 days a week, so I have no choice but to try to be good at it.  I still rely on Pinterest and a crock pot!

I put together my 5 freezer meals for the week- it took 2 hours and a HUGE mess!

 I took this picture because I was really proud that I hunkered down and got this done- dinner is somewhat prepared for the rest of the week.  No stress, no trouble.  

I also made a delicious brownie recipe for kason as part of his 'cooked milk' daily snack!

So yummy and yes!  Kason loved it!

I used a new egg substitute- home made edition.

1 tsp baking powder + 1.5 tbsp water + 1.5 tbsp oil = 1 egg

At first I was nervous- it was like that volcano science experiment!  Once I added the water it fizzed up!  But once added to the batter, it settled and created some delicious brownies with a purpose!

So, I'm not going to be so bold to say that I have become a good cook, but when the situation creates itself- you have to jump at the opportunity to try.   And hopefully this situation of having to always to cook from scratch can create more than just an(almost) good cook- family dinners, conversation, learning how to use utensils, smiles and laughter. 

Ya- I can deal with that :)