Support the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act

I'm updating my blog today because a 7-year-old girl has died in Virginia because she had an allergic reaction and wasn't given the proper medication. Or it appears any medication. This is terrible. This is wrong and totally preventable.

Support the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act. Help Save the Lives of Kids with Food Allergies including those who don't even know they have one.

Of course, better education is also needed. It's really horrible that some schools don't know that food allergy reactions can be life threatening. There might not be time to call a parent or even the paramedics. Instead, the medication needs to be given right away.

What will it take to educate people?

Allergy Appointment

Ben had a followup appointment at the allergy doctor. I can't even remember when his last appointment was. May maybe?

The allergy doctor said Ben was looking much better, but she didn't think that we needed to retest him for food allergies since his test results would still probably be the same. I think that Jamie was hoping that we could retest him again now. She's very slow and methodical. For example, she suggested circling days on the calendar when his nose runs so that we can see if he is developing seasonal allergies.

She also suggested that I avoid fish and shellfish--in addition to wheat, eggs, and nuts--just in case he might be allergic, even though he hasn't tested positive for a fish allergy. I think Jamie would like for us not to have to watch everything, read every label, and I have to admit that it would be nice to just be able to order a pizza instead of having to plan for every meal.

I've been trying to eat more fruits and vegetables, or at least buy more fruits and vegetables. Sometimes, I don't always end up eating the things I buy.

As for treating sneezing and runny nose, we're going to try Claritin. Zyrtec does not seem to be working. We really hope that he does not develop asthma, but he's high risk because of eczema and food allergies. It's frustrating to think that we may not be able to stop it.

If my baby can't eat it, I don't want it

Someone asked me recently why I still couldn't eat eggs, wheat, or nuts. After all, I'm not the one who's allergic--It's Ben.

Reason one: I'm still breastfeeding. Yes, Ben is almost 10 months old, but the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you breastfeed for at least the first year. I know I haven't done everything right. For example, we've had to supplement from the beginning because of my work schedule.

Although some of the egg-free, wheat free foods are expensive, it's probably still cheaper than formula feeding Ben all the time would be. The formula we use, when we use it, costs $25 a can.

Reason two: Ben is starting to eat table food, and he's reaching for our food. I don't want to be sitting there eating peanut cake when I know he can't have it. That's just mean. I want Ben to eventually be able to eat everything that we eat, and, if that means that I have to eat not-the-best tasting rice bread, then fine. So, even after I stop breastfeeding, whenever I'm around Ben, I will not be eating anything that he can't also eat. Is that always easy? No, but Ben is definitely worth it.

Precious Time

I've been away from Ben this week at a conference out of state. And I've taken advantage of this time in order to well, eat pizza. Yes, pizza and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and everything I can't have while I'm feeding Ben. My plan for the week is to pump and dump. Sometimes, pumping feels like such a pain, is such a pain.
I wonder if there will be a time where I will idealize the inconvenience of feeding, pumping and look back on this as precious time.
Sometimes I wonder if anything that we remember was wonderful was really wonderful. I'm sad to be away from Ben but also glad. Glad to be somewhere where his demands don't come first, at least not for a few days, and, yet, on the other hand, I miss him terribly. I do feel like only part of me is here.
I wake up and think where is my screaming, crawling, squawking baby?
In a few days, it will be back to scanning labels and limited diet, so I will try and enjoy the time while I can even if part of me wants to hold him and kiss him right now. When I get him back again, will another part of me want just as forcefully to be away from him, to be a woman who is other than mother, who is just myself.

Meltdown in Aisle Four

I went to Giant Eagle to pick up a few groceries, and, as it usually does, a few items turned into several items. I found myself craving things I couldn't have like chocolate covered prezels and Lorna Dunes and pathetically checking the ingredients, thinking, Maybe these Lorna Dunes or these Oreos will be made without wheat flour? I sadly searched the boxes of the Ginger Snaps, the Vanilla Wafers, cookies I haven't eaten years, and yet, because they are not forbidden, they seem so appealing.

A few things were wheat free, but then there were Ben's peanut allergies to consider. Diana's Bananas, which I love, is made with peanut oil. I found myself thinking, Maybe I can eat Frosty Paws, an ice cream for dogs, but I think--though I did not check--that that contains forbidden ingredients too.

I was going to get Ben some Gerber's oatmeal cereal since the Earth's Best says it may contain traces of wheat, but the Gerber's is made with wheat flour. One night a while ago, Ben had a bad eczema flareup, and we think it might have been caused by Gerber's rice cereal, which has numerous ingredients. Earth's Best just has a few.

I did find---some corn tortillas, which appear to be wheat free, some ready-to-eat spare ribs, some awesome lunch meats to make an antipasta salad with, and a not very good Hershey's Carmel candy bar, which I scarfed down at the cash register and later regretted. It is made in a facility with nuts maybe but did not appear to contain them. I also got yummy looking hot-Italian sausage, splurged on Delmonico grilling steaks, got some Bob Evans garlic mashed potatoes and some other meat stuffed with meat as well as organic burgers plus two kinds of lettuce for the salad and plum tomatoes for Jamie.

If Ben continues to have these allergies, I don't want him to feel deprived of anything, so I'll continue to scour the stores and special order when I need to so that he doesn't feel deprived.

Egg-Free Wheat Free Baking

I was so excited to discover Betty Crocker's gluten-free mixes at Giant Eagle the other day.

I thought that I could just use the Enter-G Egg Replacer in the recipe even though the box does say, "It works best in scratch recipes."

The Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Brownie mix called for a half of stick of melted butter and two eggs. So, I put in 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of egg replacer plus 2 tablespoons of warm water. But did I mess up the proportions? Did I use two tablespoons for each one, or is the egg replacer just not going to work for this?

When I mixed the dough together, it was so thick, I didn't know if I could get it to spread in the pan at all. It was more like squish in the pan.

I set the oven timer for 26 minutes, which is the minimum for a 9 by 9 pan. When I opened up the oven when the timer went off, the dough was sizzling. I thought maybe it wasn't done, so I left it in for four more minutes. It may have been overdone because, by the end, it hard started to burn, and it turned out to be completely hard. I don't know if I just need to use another egg replacer or bake from scratch. I saw on the Internet that someone suggested using banana as an egg replacer. But what would the proportion be--one banana for one egg?

I found this egg-free, gluten free recipe on the Internet, but maybe I'll try bananas next time. Or maybe I should contact Betty Crocker to see if they could recommend an egg substitute.

In the meantime, my burned hard as rock brownies are stuck to the pan. I guess I can try digging them out.