When we started watching Grey’s Anatomy and saw the little girl come into the hospital while having an allergic reaction I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch any further. Obviously, this is a sensitive topic to me, but I don’t think a week has gone by where I have not cried watching Grey’s Anatomy in months. It was hard for me to watch Clementine in so much distress, but she pulled through.
I have a few thoughts of my own about the episode. First, I felt that Niko and Clementine were adorable, and their love story was very cute to watch. As far as the allergy was concerned, I thought it was odd that she was never given an Epipen. It was only after she began to show breathing difficulties that they gave her Epinephrine. I’m not a doctor, but I have always been told to take the Epipen the instant I think I am having an allergic reaction. It seemed surprising that she didn’t have an Epipen on her. Also, I felt Niko’s mothers response to giving Clementine peanut clusters despite her allergy was highly inappropriate (that she is too busy to read the letters and reminders sent home about the peanut allergy). Unfortunately this type of attitude is common, and hopefully having portrayed this on the show will help some people out there realize that maybe they should pay attention to the letters sent home. Overall, I was happy to see the scene. It brings more awareness to the issue, and hopefully people learned a little something while watching.
Thoughts?
:)
J.
Showing posts with label peanut allergy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peanut allergy. Show all posts
Friday, February 10, 2012
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Travel-Part 2
A while age I posted about travelling with a peanut allergy and everything that comes with it (calling the airlines, exploring restaurants, proximity to the hospital etc…). A few weeks ago we went to Maine with my sister in law, brother in law and their baby. It was a wonderful week away, especially because it gave me the opportunity to have a full week with the boy. We rented a house, and it was the best decision we could have made. My husband grew up going to Maine every summer, and most of the accommodations are motels or B and B’s. Given we were with a baby and our toddler we wanted a fridge, a yard and enough room for the kids to move around inside. We found a great house that was adorable, updated, and walking distance to the beach.
When renting a house, it is important to anyone with an allergy to consider the fact that the homes utensils, pots and so on may pose a risk of cross contamination. When we arrived, I wiped the counters down, and in an effort to not use anything from the house, I brought all sorts of stuff with me, down to the coffee maker! We travelled by car, so it was easy to bring this stuff. I took cutlery for myself and the boy (we didn’t have the test results at the time), 1 large pot, 1 small pan, a disposable baking dish, 1 small mixing bowl (I used this the most), paper plates, and my own coffee mug. I’m not a breakfast person, so that was not a big deal for me, and the boy was happy with cereal. Given my restrictions of only eating in restaurants that have absolutely no peanuts on the menu altogether it was a challenge to find somewhere to go 7 nights in a row. Ultimately we ate at 3 places, two of which we doubled up on. Myself and the boy even had lunch at one of those three restaurants 3 times! The other nights we stayed home. There were definitely places I would have loved to try out, but given my reality I was better off without it. I’m looking forward to going back next year, and at least the boy can enjoy the bakeries and countless ice cream shops.
Travelling with an allergy can be a difficult task, but this happened to be one of the easier trips for me. I was relieved to know that we were only about 7 minutes from a hospital (the fire chief told me when we were at the station visiting the trucks!).
: )
J.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
BBQ Season
The weather is finally warm enough to break out the BBQ. Last night, we had a family dinner at my mother's and the plan was to BBQ. While walking there, I could smell BBQ everywhere, and I was looking forward to the first batch of real grilled veggies and steak. Unfortunately the BBQ died over the winter and didn’t start. Three people tried to get it working and it was finished. We decided to use an indoor grill pan, sear the steaks and finish them in the oven, which is what I do all winter long for steak and veggies anyways. My mother has never used that technique before, and was not very excited about the prospect of 8 steaks going to waste. I promised her they would be good, and they were. I must admit that the smoke alarm did go off because a lot of smoke developed while they were in the oven, but we managed to save dinner.
Someone half joked that we should ask one of the neighbors to borrow theirs. The whole ordeal reminded me of those public BBQ’s in parks, large picnic areas and even some apartment buildings. For so many reasons those public BBQ’s gross me out, but there is an allergy concern as well. The cross contamination is very risky on any shared kitchen equipment. A BBQ is no exception.
I thought I’d share this recipe. During the summer I make these at least twice a week if not more. The leftovers find themselves in my salad the following day for lunch, or as a topping for pizza on pita.
My favorite grilled vegetables
1 red pepper cut in 4
1 yellow pepper cut in 4
1 zucchini cut on the diagonal
1 box Portabella mushroom slices (the large slices)
1 onion cut in 4 (make sure you keep the root intact otherwise it will fall into many pieces) note- after grilling cut the root off each piece
(you can also use eggplant, asparagus or any other vegetable of your choice)
Marinade:
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
1 Handful of chopped fresh oregano (or your favorite herb)
Salt/pepper
Combine all the vegetables in a large freezer bag, mix the marinade and pour into the bag. Let it sit for minimum 1 hour max 24.
:)
J.
Someone half joked that we should ask one of the neighbors to borrow theirs. The whole ordeal reminded me of those public BBQ’s in parks, large picnic areas and even some apartment buildings. For so many reasons those public BBQ’s gross me out, but there is an allergy concern as well. The cross contamination is very risky on any shared kitchen equipment. A BBQ is no exception.
I thought I’d share this recipe. During the summer I make these at least twice a week if not more. The leftovers find themselves in my salad the following day for lunch, or as a topping for pizza on pita.
My favorite grilled vegetables
1 red pepper cut in 4
1 yellow pepper cut in 4
1 zucchini cut on the diagonal
1 box Portabella mushroom slices (the large slices)
1 onion cut in 4 (make sure you keep the root intact otherwise it will fall into many pieces) note- after grilling cut the root off each piece
(you can also use eggplant, asparagus or any other vegetable of your choice)
Marinade:
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
1 Handful of chopped fresh oregano (or your favorite herb)
Salt/pepper
Combine all the vegetables in a large freezer bag, mix the marinade and pour into the bag. Let it sit for minimum 1 hour max 24.
:)
J.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
My Wedding
I’ve been married for 5 and a half years. When we were planning our wedding it was very important for me to be able to actually eat at it. Since we had a Kosher wedding, our selection of caterers was small to begin with. We chose to hire the caterer that did my sister’s wedding 3 years earlier. At the time of my sisters wedding he seemed to be very well versed on peanut/nut allergies. I was aware that he had 2 kitchens, one for cooking, the other for pastries. When we met to discuss my wedding, he told us in advance that the main kitchen was peanut/nut free but that the dessert kitchen did have risk of tree nuts, though he guaranteed he would not use any for our desserts. A wedding cake was something that was not of tremendous importance to me, so it was no big deal that dessert was off limits. We signed a contract that stated no nuts/peanuts in several places, gave a hefty deposit and I crossed caterer off my list.
2 ½ months before the wedding I personally went to the caterers store front to book a tasting, and reminded him of the allergies. When we went for the tasting with my now husband, mother in law and mother we sat down and before touching anything I half-jokingly, half-seriously said ‘no nuts in anything right’. The caterers response was, ‘Oh don’t eat those’ while pointing to one of the Hors Doeuves samples. I said “what”, he said “there are almonds in that”… I nearly lost it.
That night we made a unanimous decision that we were not going to use this caterer for the wedding. Despite his excellent reputation in the community, he could have killed me. The next morning, my husband went to the store front with the unopened bottles of wine we were given to sample and gave them back. He told him that we cannot trust him, nor his food, and that we were not going to be using his services for the wedding. My husband asked him to send us the deposit back at his earliest convenience and even offered to pay for the cost of the sample meal. The caterer minimized the nut/peanut issue, and refused to give the deposit back.
At this point my wedding was 2 ½ months away and I did not have a caterer. The venue was a synagogue so it had to be kosher. I was freaking out! We called around and discovered that one of the other caterers in the community suffers from personal allergies of his own and guarantees the food would be nut/peanut free. He explained that he has used nuts/peanuts in his kitchen in the past but that he sterilizes everything before starting. Given he has allergies of his own, and he appeared to understand the gravity of the situation, we chose to go ahead and hire him.
As far as the other guy was concerned, we sued him in small claims court for the amount of our deposit and won! He even had to pay the court fees.
I am sharing this story because it is so important for people to be comfortable at their own events. This was a close call for me. I can’t even imagine what may have happened.
:)
J.
2 ½ months before the wedding I personally went to the caterers store front to book a tasting, and reminded him of the allergies. When we went for the tasting with my now husband, mother in law and mother we sat down and before touching anything I half-jokingly, half-seriously said ‘no nuts in anything right’. The caterers response was, ‘Oh don’t eat those’ while pointing to one of the Hors Doeuves samples. I said “what”, he said “there are almonds in that”… I nearly lost it.
That night we made a unanimous decision that we were not going to use this caterer for the wedding. Despite his excellent reputation in the community, he could have killed me. The next morning, my husband went to the store front with the unopened bottles of wine we were given to sample and gave them back. He told him that we cannot trust him, nor his food, and that we were not going to be using his services for the wedding. My husband asked him to send us the deposit back at his earliest convenience and even offered to pay for the cost of the sample meal. The caterer minimized the nut/peanut issue, and refused to give the deposit back.
At this point my wedding was 2 ½ months away and I did not have a caterer. The venue was a synagogue so it had to be kosher. I was freaking out! We called around and discovered that one of the other caterers in the community suffers from personal allergies of his own and guarantees the food would be nut/peanut free. He explained that he has used nuts/peanuts in his kitchen in the past but that he sterilizes everything before starting. Given he has allergies of his own, and he appeared to understand the gravity of the situation, we chose to go ahead and hire him.
As far as the other guy was concerned, we sued him in small claims court for the amount of our deposit and won! He even had to pay the court fees.
I am sharing this story because it is so important for people to be comfortable at their own events. This was a close call for me. I can’t even imagine what may have happened.
:)
J.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Dating
A dating website for singles with food allergies. singleswithfoodallergies.com I saw an add for this site while perusing an allergy website recently. I am all for internet dating, I actually met my husband online, as did my sister in law, and my best friend.
I can totally understand why someone came up with this idea, in fact i'm surprised it wasn't me who came up with it! About 8 years ago, I was set up with this guy and we went on a few dates. I told him about my allergy even before the first date because any restaurant we went to had to be peanut free. He appeared to be somewhat sensitive towards the allergy but made mention of how he missed certain snacks with peanut butter more than once. I was young and should have known better at the time. We dated for about 2 months, I even took him to my sister's wedding. The video later had to be edited to remove any shots of him! In any case a few months after it ended, a friend of mine told me that she knew someone who also went on a few dates with this same guy, and that on their date he openly told her that he was not interested in girls with medical problems. He even told her that he once broke up with someone because she had juvenile diabetes, and another girl because she had a peanut/nut allergy. As for the peanut allergy girl, he was obviously referring to me! The biggest laugh of all is that this guy is a doctor!! Anyways, I hear he's still single…shocking.
All to say, that this website seems like a great idea!
:)
J.
I can totally understand why someone came up with this idea, in fact i'm surprised it wasn't me who came up with it! About 8 years ago, I was set up with this guy and we went on a few dates. I told him about my allergy even before the first date because any restaurant we went to had to be peanut free. He appeared to be somewhat sensitive towards the allergy but made mention of how he missed certain snacks with peanut butter more than once. I was young and should have known better at the time. We dated for about 2 months, I even took him to my sister's wedding. The video later had to be edited to remove any shots of him! In any case a few months after it ended, a friend of mine told me that she knew someone who also went on a few dates with this same guy, and that on their date he openly told her that he was not interested in girls with medical problems. He even told her that he once broke up with someone because she had juvenile diabetes, and another girl because she had a peanut/nut allergy. As for the peanut allergy girl, he was obviously referring to me! The biggest laugh of all is that this guy is a doctor!! Anyways, I hear he's still single…shocking.
All to say, that this website seems like a great idea!
:)
J.
Friday, January 7, 2011
New Diagnosis
Having a child with a peanut allergy or any allergy for that matter is a huge responsibility. It is not trial and error like so many aspects of parenting can be, as the error can be fatal. Anyone who has an allergy or a child with an allergy will establish their own way of handling it and develop their own comfort zones. Like anything, with time they will become more comfortable with the way of life that comes with it. Some parents are more relaxed than others, and some people like myself take the allergy issue to another level, and use extreme caution at all times.
In the past three weeks two of my friends have told me their respective son’s were diagnosed with peanut allergies. When I read the first email, I got teary eyed, not for her son who has to live with this allergy, rather I felt sorry for her. I sort of just accepted it with no tears when the allergist told me that my own son seems to have an allergy to tree nuts. I am used to this way of life, I know the ins and outs, the safe restaurants, the questions to ask at restaurants, how to use an epipen, how to teach the teachers about handling an allergy, how to explain to the other mom’s, what to teach the boy about not eating food from anyone but his parents etc… For my two friends who are new to this world, I can imagine how overwhelming it is. They have to figure everything out, and change so many parts of their respective lifestyles. Of course both mothers’ will make these changes, and they will eventually forget what life was like before they had to check ingredients every time their kid eats. They will educate themselves, and they too will become ‘experts’ on how to handle an allergy. Like me, they will have no choice but to go through life asking questions and reading ingredients.
We all know there are worse things in life. As my friend’s kids are growing older, statistically speaking I will get more calls, and I will tell them all the same thing, that it is scary but manageable, and to never let your guard down.
:)
J.
In the past three weeks two of my friends have told me their respective son’s were diagnosed with peanut allergies. When I read the first email, I got teary eyed, not for her son who has to live with this allergy, rather I felt sorry for her. I sort of just accepted it with no tears when the allergist told me that my own son seems to have an allergy to tree nuts. I am used to this way of life, I know the ins and outs, the safe restaurants, the questions to ask at restaurants, how to use an epipen, how to teach the teachers about handling an allergy, how to explain to the other mom’s, what to teach the boy about not eating food from anyone but his parents etc… For my two friends who are new to this world, I can imagine how overwhelming it is. They have to figure everything out, and change so many parts of their respective lifestyles. Of course both mothers’ will make these changes, and they will eventually forget what life was like before they had to check ingredients every time their kid eats. They will educate themselves, and they too will become ‘experts’ on how to handle an allergy. Like me, they will have no choice but to go through life asking questions and reading ingredients.
We all know there are worse things in life. As my friend’s kids are growing older, statistically speaking I will get more calls, and I will tell them all the same thing, that it is scary but manageable, and to never let your guard down.
:)
J.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
"For Halloween i'm going as a peanut allergy"
That statement was posted as the status for one of my Facebook friends this morning. When I saw it I was triggered and felt as though it was my responsibility to address this ridiculous statement with her. I was consumed with how to respond in the nicest possible way almost to educate her rather than making her feel stupid. I called my husband first. He suggested asking her what a peanut allergy looks like. I called my sister next, she suggested I confront her immediately. I called a friend next, she told me this was just a quote from last night’s Glee episode! Since I am not a Glee fan, or a gleek I don’t know the character that actually made this statement or the context it was made in. I do know that I hold no animosity towards my FB friend, and I also know that sometimes I need to lighten up about all things peanut related!
:)
J.
:)
J.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
The pro's of a peanut allergy
If you grew up eating PB and J every day then it would likely be hard to live my life. Even though it takes some getting used to, life with an allergy is not so terrible.
Considering this is my reality and I don’t know any different, I decided to come up with the following list of the pro’s of having a peanut allergy.
Pro’s
1. Saves money on eating lunch out
2. Not eating desserts at restaurants keeps me slim
3. I don’t feel guilty when I do eat a peanut free cupcake (or 2)
4. An excuse to not kiss people at social events
5. I always have an excuse to not impulse buy the pastries at coffee shops
6. I get to choose the restaurant when I go out with friends
7. A good excuse to leave a classroom
8. Peanut free mars bars
Cons
1. Way too many to list!
Please comment if you think I missed something!
:)
J.
Considering this is my reality and I don’t know any different, I decided to come up with the following list of the pro’s of having a peanut allergy.
Pro’s
1. Saves money on eating lunch out
2. Not eating desserts at restaurants keeps me slim
3. I don’t feel guilty when I do eat a peanut free cupcake (or 2)
4. An excuse to not kiss people at social events
5. I always have an excuse to not impulse buy the pastries at coffee shops
6. I get to choose the restaurant when I go out with friends
7. A good excuse to leave a classroom
8. Peanut free mars bars
Cons
1. Way too many to list!
Please comment if you think I missed something!
:)
J.
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