guest post

I submitted the following for a spot to guest blog. :)


Imagine.....You have just bought a house, and found out you are pregnant with your 3rd baby. You have a just turned 3 year old and an 18 month old. Life is good. Life is great! Your kids aren't picky eaters, you try to eat healthy, you want to do more, but well, life gets in the way sometimes. Then suddenly one day your 3 year old gets hives ALL over his face. You start going crazy, what can it be? He had a peanut butter sandwich, but it can't be that! I mean he JUST had one and no reaction! So you think of everything it could be. No answer. Then he has a BITE of your pb &j sandwich a week later and gets hives all over his face and chest. You freak thinking how terrible it will be that you r kid is allergic to peanuts!!! THEN he starts reacting to other things too and you realize it's not peanuts, but soy! WAY worse!!!!!!!! Then you finally get in for allergy testing and they hand you a list of allergies.

corn, wheat, egg whites, soy, strawberries, peanuts, tree nuts, 4 molds, 5 pollens, cats and latex.

I remember my husband and I took my 3 year old home and got a sitter so we could just go and freak out. We went to Applebee’s and I just remember sitting there STARING at their menu saying "can't have this, this, or this! OMG Honey WHAT ARE WE GOING TO FEED HIM?!?!?!" It was bad.

This was my life almost a year ago. My name is Niccie. I'm a stay at home mom to 3 kids now. Married to a great guy who works crazy hours. We thought it was the end of the world! We had to change everything about lives, from what we eat, to how we eat out, to how we do family holidays, to certain things our son can't play with (play dough), to how we do our yard work! It is crazy how much of our lives Gabe's allergies touch!!! The big debate of peanut free tables at lunches, labeling laws, school allergy action plan laws and fears of people leaving peanut m&ms in the carts with cars, suddenly pertained to us!!!! Before allergies there is just so much that we did not know and understand. I will never say that I'm glad my son has allergies, however I have to say that I am grateful that we have come to understand so much because of them. Before our son had allergies, we, like most people, didn't understand anything about it.

Because of the allergies, I have learned SOOOO much about what we put in our bodies! I have learned about America's big dependency on corn. Did you know a company does not have to list where its ingredients come from? If it's not one of the top 8 allergens then it doesn't have to be listed!!!! (egg, soy, milk, fish, peanut, tree nut, shellfish and wheat) I have learned how to better feed our family and have cut out almost all preservatives!

My son, Gabriel, has learned that he has to watch what he eats. He always tells people he has allergies and that he needs to ask me if it's ok. People try to feed him all the time! At picnics I have a hat that says don't feed the kid!!! He has learned to be responsible and that life is not fair. It's hard on him some times, but for the most part my little boy has been amazing at adapting! Because of Gabe's allergies I have had to learn how to alter recipes to fit us. I see it as a challenge! I want my son to do the same things the rest of his class does!!! We've gotten to experiment with different kinds of foods and substitutes! Different flours, duck eggs, golden syrup etc. We've gotten to try a lot of things we never would have otherwise!

Some days it's hard, but the hardest part is people who don't understand. People who think that because he doesn't stop breathing it's not an allergy. People who comment on me telling him he can't have something. "Lighten up mom, some candy won't kill him!” For Easter he wanted to do an Easter egg hunt SOOO bad! So we compromised, I let him do the hunt and then for every egg he found I traded him for a yummy earth lollipop or homemade marshmallow. Then he gave away the candy he couldn't eat. One lady asked me as loud as could be in a very rude voice right in front of him "WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT BOY! WHY THE HECK IS HE GIVING HIS CANDY AWAY? IS HE DUMB?” I explained that he had food allergies and she rolled her eyes at me. (BTW I did NOT hit her I was good!!!)

So anyways I guess the point to my post, now that you know my back ground, is this.

If someone tells you they have a food allergy, respect it. Even if it doesn't cause them to stop breathing it can make people VERY uncomfortable.

If you are going to a pot luck type event, write down the ingredients. Takes an extra minute, but it could mean that 1 more person could enjoy your dish! I know I appreciate it SOOO much when people go out of their way to help us out like that.

Please don't let your kids take food into the playground, play place etc. It can make other kids really sick! Just the residue is enough to make some kids really ill.

There is no explanation or cure for food allergies. It's not like environmental allergies where you can do a shot. Having a little of what you are allergic to can not only make you sick, but it can also make your allergy worse. Each exposure gets worse normally.

Just because someone has had a food before doesn't mean they aren't allergic to it. People almost NEVER react the first time. Some food allergies can even take years to build up.

Some food allergies are out grown, but not all and not everyone. Each case is different.

If your child ever has problems with vomiting, stomach pain, constant stomach issues, hives, sunburn rashes, eczema, itchiness, throat swelling, lip tingling, and even on occasion strange symptoms like unexplained pain, hand swelling, hyper activity, migraines etc. check into allergy testing. It's popping up more and more and something as simple as cutting out eggs could make life 100% better! There have even been cases of fibromyalgia being explained by food allergies! It happens!

If you are making food for someone with a food allergy be very careful about your counter areas, utensils etc. It's such a little thing, but it could keep a kid from getting sick! One girl in Canada died after kissing her boyfriend after he had eaten a peanut butter sandwich! It doesn't take much for some!

Teach your kids about allergies. That some people can't eat certain things and so they should never offer food to other kids. We once were at McDonalds and some one let their kid take fries inside. The child trying to be nice offered Gabe some fries. He told them he had allergies, the nice child then told Gabe they were ok. He didn't understand and Gabe just heard its ok and ate them. Almost ended up in the ER that night.

And most importantly and this goes for every allergy mom or sufferer I've ever met, ASK questions when in doubt!!! I'd rather answer 20 questions for someone than have them feel like it's too hard to make the effort so that Gabe can be involved. For instance I always bring Namesta brownies to school functions, (LOVE LOVE LOVE this company!!!!) I've talked to the other allergy kid’s mom and made sure they are safe for him too. That way I know my son and him will have something they can eat at school functions!

Thanks for taking the time to learn something new about allergies today! The more people know the safer it is for allergy sufferers!!!!

Follow my food experiments and allergy issues at www.cornfreeeat.blogspot.com! I LOVE a challenge so if you or anyone you know suffers from a food allergy and is looking for a certain food let me know and see if I can alter the recipe for you! I've taken on all kinds of things! Crackers, pumpkin pie, marshmallows, jam!

Thank you for this chance to guest post and spread information on allergies!