You know how I came to write this blog, and why speaking about allergies is so important to me. You know that my son (and millions of other people) can die from ingesting an allergen. You may read this blog because you deal with allergies in your family, or maybe you read it because you're just a kind, sympathetic person.
Food allergies are increasingly common in Canada (more than 2.5 million Canadians have them), but when it's your own child diagnosed with one, it's scary, isolating, and overwhelming. My son was an infant when we discovered he was allergic to many foods, but allergies can happen at any age. When they do, it's difficult to see the positive in a very life-threatening situation, but as someone who has dealt with these allergies for almost six years, I promise it'll get easier.
If you're allergic to dust mites, you know how frustrating they are to deal with. They're everywhere, and they feed on our own dead skin and pet dander. How totally disgusting is that? But did you know that allergies to dust mites are actually to dust mite poop? Ewwww!
I'm not lying when I say this nut-free cake has totally changed my life. Both my kids love ice cream cakes, but I've always been really nervous about buying them anywhere because of my son's tree nut and peanut allergies. With this super easy recipe, you'll be an ice cream cake superstar in less than 15 minutes for under $15. Awesome, right?
I use Chapman's ice cream (the stuff in the box) because it's nut- and peanut-free, but if allergies aren't a concern for you, go wild!
Fatal allergic reactions are a very real, very terrifying possibility for nearly 300,000 Canadian families. With the prime allergens causing anaphylaxis being nuts, eggs, milk and insects, every day activities can feel overwhelmingly stressful when working to avoid deadly reactions. Allergies interrupt our lives, they're intrusive and annoying (believe me when I tell you I'm mad I can't eat peanut butter, too).
Not too many years ago (I mean, it can't be too many, my kid's only five), we had to eliminate a whole pile of food from my son's life thanks to (confirmed) food allergies. Strawberries, tomatoes, dairy, soy, eggs, white fishes (all of them!), shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts... I'm not sure if there were more, but you get the idea. A lot. It sounds horrible, and you might wonder how we fed him, but you know what? There's a lot of food out there, and he did just fine. In fact, he was 26lbs by six months of age. Ha.
Recently my five year-old son was admitted to hospital due to a severe asthma attack. We hadn't even known he was asthmatic. It was scary, exhausting, and even though he's fine now, I'm finding myself a bundle of nerves and emotions in the aftermath. It was such a blur, really. I noticed he was struggling to breathe, and off we went to a local emergency room. I threw a few things into a bag, but when we got there I realized there was a lot I'd forgotten and I wish I'd had a list to make it easier during that stressful time.
You already know that in the five years I've spent dealing with my son's food allergies, my views on how these things should be handled have changed. Part of that is that he's getting older, but a larger part is that I'm understanding more about how allergies work, and what's realistic for us to ask of the world around us. I think that for young children, food bans have a place, as does Dr. Susan Waserman, one of Canada's foremost allergists and president of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. But as kids age, well, bans need to be loosened.
Before I was a parent, I’d see people struggling in malls with their cranky, annoying offspring and wonder why they brought them out that day. I’d see them pandering to their miniature dictators and think they were too soft on those brats. I’d watch them from the corner of my eye when they yelled at the kids in public and think they must be monsters behind closed doors. I knew exactly how I’d raise my imaginary children, and I knew the kinds of people they’d grow up to be.
May is Food Allergy Awareness Month, and even though I spend every single day spreading allergy awareness, this is the time of the year when it's kicked up a notch. Niagara Falls was bathed in blue and green lights on May 11 for allergy awareness, and many people wore teal on May 12. Me? I'll be sitting at my computer writing supportive emails back to all of you who write me every day asking for advice, help and support.
Asthmatics everywhere are (I'm sorry for this pun) breathing a sigh of relief knowing a cure is on the very near horizon. Every year, about 250 Canadians die from asthma, a point that was made very clear to me just last week when my five year-old son was hospitalized with a severe asthma attack. He has been formally diagnosed as asthmatic now, and the news of the discovery came just as we received his diagnosis. I hope this cure can help him, and my husband, too. Asthma is scary.
In 2012, 12 year-old Ryan Gibbons died of an asthma attack while at his Ontario school. His rescue inhaler was in the school's office - too far to save his life. Ryan's mother Sandra Gibbons made it her mission to make sure this tragedy happened to no other students by starting a petition asking the government to force schools to create asthma management plans that would include allowing them to carry their needed inhalers on them.
Take me out to the ballgame, but hold the peanuts and Cracker Jacks. At the Indians home opener at Victory Field, fans won't be able to buy or bring any peanut products into the stadium. "We've received calls from fans over the years about not being able to come to the ballpark due to peanut allergy," says Indians senior marketing and communications manager Jon Glesing.
Great news, Canadiens fans! The Montreal Bell Centre has just partnered with Pfizer Canada, Inc., distributors of EpiPens to stock emergency kits around the centre. In an awesome trend that seems to be picking up momentum, more public places are stocking the emergency epinephrine kits to help keep guests safe.
Removing your home from Google Maps Streetview is easy, but many people don't know just how to do it. I'm here to help!
There are a number of reasons you may not want your house viewed online. Or maybe it's your car you'd like blurred. Or maybe the Google Streeview car caught you putting out your garbage braless in your pajamas? Whatever, I don't judge.
Holy crap, you guys. Tim Hortons will be serving donuts filled with Nutella. And it'll be a spread option for bagels, too. And there'll be pastries filled with the ubiquitous hazelnut and chocolate gooey stuff. Those in the allergy community are freaking the heck out - and with good reason, right? DANGER, DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! NUT ALERT!
Except, um, no. Back off the panic button, allergy friends.
