School Days

School has begun and the related issues for allergic children are beginning again. I have spent the last 10 minutes catching up on my Google alerts, and I am really disturbed by what I am reading.

First a story of a 19 year old high school student who smeared peanut butter on an allergic classmate. Fortunately there was no reaction, but what was he thinking? What kind of person does that? I do not think I will ever understand bullying, I guess this kid was just trying to get off on a power trip. The police are looking into the situation, but the victim did not want to press charges. Why would he? That could just set him up to continue to be a target.

Then a story about a school secretary who resigned from her job due to the schools no nut policy. Apparently they do regular lunchbox checks to make sure that no one brings in any peanut product. (how the school has time to do that I'll never know) Parents feel that it is a hassle, and she is getting a lot of community support towards a petition to change the policy.

Finally a story about a boy who was pulled out of school when students threw rocks at him and said they were peanuts. Apparently the school also has a no nut policy, which is under fire from non allergic parents. This poor kid is under so much pressure because his classmates can not have the treats and food they like because of his peanut allergy. How is a child supposed to learn and thrive in that kind of environment?

It seems like this peanut / no peanut issue is tearing some schools and communities apart. Because of "those parents" that their child can not take their favorite treat to school. Believe me , I sympathise - I know it is a pain to have to read the labels. I do it every day for 9 different allergens! Why are we so focused on the foods we can or can not bring to school. We should be focused on education and nurturing the next generation.

My allergic boys are not in public school yet. so I have not had to deal with this directly. Our schools are not nut free, but they seem to be very nut aware - requesting that food eaten in the classroom (only snack) does not contain peanut products. Peanut products are allowed in the cafeteria, but there is always a buffer around the allergic child of friends who are not eating peanut butter. My daughter and her friends are learning to be considerate of their classmates with peanut allergies.

To be honest, I do not what nuts banned from our school. I do not think it is the best way to handle the situation. Peanuts are also not the only allergen out there. I think it can make our kids targets to ridicule from classmates as well as insensitive parents. Clearly many people don't get it, they never will. They do not want to be bothered with worrying about food allergies because of some other kids. Some people are just like that. We need to teach our kids the skills they need to survive in a world with peanuts and insensitive people.

I Don't Know What to Expect

This is not the post I had planned for today. I just saw this article on Janeen's website. It also came across my Google alerts. It is a tragic story of a man who lost his life from a bite of a cookie. All it took was one bite and 90 seconds. Unfortunately he chose not to carry an Epi pen and the life saving measures they did take were not successful. You can read the story here.

This story has got me thinking about my own kids. My son R. has a severe peanut allergy (98.9 IgE on his last RAST,) but I have no idea what kind of reaction to expect if he were to be exposed to a peanut. He has only every had one reaction almost 3 years ago. He ate some of my peanut butter toast and broke out in hives. He had eaten peanut butter before did not have a reaction. We do not have a history of allergies ,so I was surprised he reacted. I knew immediately what was happening so I gave him Benadryl and took him to the pediatrician. He was fine and we have been carrying an Epi pen ever since. I guess we are doing a good job avoiding peanuts ever since. But, I have this huge fear of the unknown. What would happen if he were to eat a peanut? Is he one of those kids who will drop right away? Or will his reaction be gradual? Not knowing what will happen really has me concerned. I do not think he is contact sensitive, but I can not think of a time he has even been in a room with a pure peanut product.

Does anyone else have this same concern?

I also wish I had insisted that he have a RAST test done as part of the initial diagnosis. I did not know anything about food allergies then, and figured that the scratch test was enough. I would love to know what his initial IgE levels were. Have they increased over the last few years? I suppose one piece of advice I would offer moms who are just starting on this journey is to get a RAST done. It may not mean much right away, you need to avoid the allergic food regardless. However, it can be useful to track the progress of the allergy from year to year.

What has Happened to Tolerance and Compassion?

I came across this article today on newsday.com. - http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-linut035711913jun03,0,5213082.story Apparently American Airlines is being sued for allegedly endangering a boy with a nut allergy. The mother in the suit claims that despite all the precautions she took in advance to work with the airline to prevent peanuts from being served on the plane, the flight attendants served them anyway. I would be very upset if an airline seemingly ignored my requests as well, but I doubt that I would sue. Fortunately her son did not have a reaction on this, but I am sure it was a very stressful flight for the family.

I am not a lawyer, but it seems to me that the flaw in this case is that fortunately her child did not suffer a reaction or worse. It is sad to say, but it will probably take a tragedy for the airline industry to really step up and take notice. I have not flown with my children yet, but when I do I will do my research and be very selective on the airline I choose. I have heard that Jet Blue is great to work with.

I also took a few minutes to scroll through the comments following this article. I have to say that I was shocked and saddened by how flat out mean and inconsiderate a lot of the comments were. The comments being flung about were just hateful. People really think that we are going to ruin their lives by requesting that they go a few hours without a peanut! I know most of this stems from ignorance, but I can not help but get mad at how insensitive people are to others situations.
I want to make it clear – I am not looking to go around banning foods. I am not even convinced that we should ban peanuts from schools. I am trying to teach my kids that they need to learn to take care of themselves in a world where they are surrounded by allergens. This includes surrounding themselves with a supportive network of friends, family members, teachers and colleagues.

But what has happened to being tolerant and compassionate? I have never really understood what motivates a person to be so hateful. What else can we do to communicate the dangers of food allergies without creating barriers?

If you want to raise your blood pressure a few notches – check it out. If not , just take this entry as a reminder that our society is self centered and most people do not give a lick about anyone but themselves. The best thing that we, as allergy moms, can do is stick together to help each other out.