Little Melvin can't be exposed to peanuts (1 Viewer)

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Link, go into Main and look for DW as the thread owner. To which I must give a thumbs on his very amicable attempt to provide a better reasoning to the apperant unwelcoming members of the allergy board.

Schlzm

My fault, really. When growlers found the site he did mention they have quite a troll problem. Certainly my invitation to this thread could be viewed as an attempt to start trouble, particularly by mothers, since, almost by definition, mothers are highly protective and defensive of their kids. Certainly it was not unreasonable to smell a rat under those circumstances.

 

[FatMax]

Could someone give a link here so I don't have to hunt through five pages for it?

I want to see if they laugh at my little c-jif joke, but at the same time I don't want to really freak anyone out. Although if I'd gotten just a little of the attention I crave from this thread, I wouldn't even be tempted. So it's on all of you.

Dearest Shiney, I don't really understand it, so I'll just assume your joke is funny and throw a nervous, yet confused chuckle in you general direction.

Regards,

FatMax

 

[Schlzm]

Link, go into Main and look for DW as the thread owner. To which I must give a thumbs on his very amicable attempt to provide a better reasoning to the apperant unwelcoming members of the allergy board.

Schlzm

My fault, really. When growlers found the site he did mention they have quite a troll problem. Certainly my invitaqtion to this thread could be viewed as an attempt to start trouble, particularly by mothers, since, almost by definition, mothers are highly protective and defensive of their kids. Certainly it was not unreasonable to smell a rat under those circumstances.

After looking at some of the posts I have found quite a few members of the board who are outright hostile to anyone or any business that doesn't instantly accomodate them. I'm not comdeming everyone there because there are also quite a few rational posters. However having a fit and screaming at the poor day manager of a dunkin donoughts because they happen to sell something with peanuts on it is wholely irrational and presumptious.Schlzm

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Link, go into Main and look for DW as the thread owner. To which I must give a thumbs on his very amicable attempt to provide a better reasoning to the apperant unwelcoming members of the allergy board.

Schlzm

My fault, really. When growlers found the site he did mention they have quite a troll problem. Certainly my invitaqtion to this thread could be viewed as an attempt to start trouble, particularly by mothers, since, almost by definition, mothers are highly protective and defensive of their kids. Certainly it was not unreasonable to smell a rat under those circumstances.

After looking at some of the posts I have found quite a few members of the board who are outright hostile to anyone or any business that doesn't instantly accomodate them. I'm not comdeming everyone there because there are also quite a few rational posters. However having a fit and screaming at the poor day manager of a dunkin donoughts because they happen to sell something with peanuts on it is wholely irrational and presumptious.Schlzm

Well one of the links mentioned 50 deaths a year. Given that, and their site actually being a medical information resource, I can see why they have no patience for trolls. Still, I think education, calm, reasoned, rational, would be their best long term ally. Of course that is easy to say from a dispassionate distance of not having my child afflicted.

 

[e-mom]

Link, go into Main and look for DW as the thread owner. To which I must give a thumbs on his very amicable attempt to provide a better reasoning to the apperant unwelcoming members of the allergy board.

Schlzm

My fault, really. When growlers found the site he did mention they have quite a troll problem. Certainly my invitaqtion to this thread could be viewed as an attempt to start trouble, particularly by mothers, since, almost by definition, mothers are highly protective and defensive of their kids. Certainly it was not unreasonable to smell a rat under those circumstances.

After looking at some of the posts I have found quite a few members of the board who are outright hostile to anyone or any business that doesn't instantly accomodate them. I'm not comdeming everyone there because there are also quite a few rational posters. However having a fit and screaming at the poor day manager of a dunkin donoughts because they happen to sell something with peanuts on it is wholely irrational and presumptious.Schlzm

I hope I'm doing this correctly. Anyway, hey everyone what's up? I accepted the invite from peanutallergy.com ...thank you. Does anyone have any questions?

 

[Schlzm]

Welcome to the discussion E-Mom. I am personally curious about the average level of affliction from peanut based allergies. Is it more common for a child to suffer mild to moderate or moderate to extreme reaction when coming into contact?Schlzm

 

[Mrs. BSR]

There was a kid in my oldest son's kindergarten class that his mother said had all sorts of allergies. I was friends with his mother. Nice lady. She was constantly going to the doctor to find out why he was "acting out" and always came home with a new allergy. She would run herself ragged trying to find anyting and everything that wasn't made with corn.In 6th grade he was in BSR's class. She would come to the class every day after school to get his homework assignment and see how he was behaving, etc. She warned BSR at the beginning of school that the boy had various allergies and would act out, then warned him her son might hit him. BSR calmly told her the boy would not hit him. She was surprised by his reaction as every teacher this boy has ever had made accommodation after accommodation for him (they were all women teachers, sorry, it's true) and were in a sense bullied by this kid.Well, the boy had his best year ever in BSR's class. No acting out, got his work done, fairly good grades, etc. The mother was so surprised and couldn't understand how he was so good at school and still acted out at home.Ok, so this isn't the deal with all kids with allergies, I know. This was this one particular case. But this was an example of this parent wanting the school to "understand" and to justify the boy's behavior. In this case, it was his behavior, not the allergies.

 

[shining path]

Link, go into Main and look for DW as the thread owner. To which I must give a thumbs on his very amicable attempt to provide a better reasoning to the apperant unwelcoming members of the allergy board.

Schlzm

My fault, really. When growlers found the site he did mention they have quite a troll problem. Certainly my invitaqtion to this thread could be viewed as an attempt to start trouble, particularly by mothers, since, almost by definition, mothers are highly protective and defensive of their kids. Certainly it was not unreasonable to smell a rat under those circumstances.

After looking at some of the posts I have found quite a few members of the board who are outright hostile to anyone or any business that doesn't instantly accomodate them. I'm not comdeming everyone there because there are also quite a few rational posters. However having a fit and screaming at the poor day manager of a dunkin donoughts because they happen to sell something with peanuts on it is wholely irrational and presumptious.Schlzm

I've read a few of the threads too. They certainly have a different perspective on things. What's the most heartbreaking is the parents of kids who have multiple severe allergies, like to all nut, legume AND dairy products. That must be a good 25% of the calories ingested in an average diet, and probably close to 60-70% of common recipes have at least some nut oil or dairy in them.I'm glad I didn't post the joke, to say the least. There are some VERY dedicated anti-peanut folks out there, especially the parents. Read the "Peanut Envy" thread.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Link, go into Main and look for DW as the thread owner. To which I must give a thumbs on his very amicable attempt to provide a better reasoning to the apperant unwelcoming members of the allergy board.

Schlzm

My fault, really. When growlers found the site he did mention they have quite a troll problem. Certainly my invitaqtion to this thread could be viewed as an attempt to start trouble, particularly by mothers, since, almost by definition, mothers are highly protective and defensive of their kids. Certainly it was not unreasonable to smell a rat under those circumstances.

After looking at some of the posts I have found quite a few members of the board who are outright hostile to anyone or any business that doesn't instantly accomodate them. I'm not comdeming everyone there because there are also quite a few rational posters. However having a fit and screaming at the poor day manager of a dunkin donoughts because they happen to sell something with peanuts on it is wholely irrational and presumptious.Schlzm

I hope I'm doing this correctly. Anyway, hey everyone what's up? I accepted the invite from peanutallergy.com ...thank you. Does anyone have any questions?

Yes.Is there a consensus among parents of sufferers just what level of accomodation by others is reasonable to expect? If this thread has a consensus it is that we parents of other children should be willing to control what food items our children bring to schools, but expecting us to search the labels of non-food items for trace amonts is beyond the pale. What are your thoughts?

 

[Mrs DaVinci]

Hi e-mom. Is a peanut allergy similiar to a shellfish allergy where you can eat them all your life and then, BAM, one day you are allergic?

 

[FatMax]

What's the most heartbreaking is the parents of kids who have multiple severe allergies, like to all nut, legume AND dairy products.  That must be a good 25% of the calories ingested in an average diet, and probably close to 60-70% of common recipes have at least some nut oil or dairy in them.

Between the ages 6-9, I got some terrible rashes. I'd scratch myself until I bled while I slept. After multiple visits to the doctor, the diagnosis was food alergies. Don't ask me how they came up with these food groups, but the conclusion was that I was allergic to corn products and dairy products. You never realize how many things have corn syrup in them until you read the label, but it is a bunch. Anyway, that went on for a few years. I was a pudgy little kid and after this span was over, I was skinny.I still don't know if my parents or the doctors got the diagnosis right, but it did suck for awhile when I was a kid. I have no problems now, which leads me to believe that they were full of #### in their original assesment. I don't know if allergies just go away.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

multiple severe allergies, like to all nut, legume AND dairy products.

Allergies to legumes (including peanuts) and dairy products I've heard of. But allergies to nuts? Like walnuts, almonds, etc? I've never heard of that. That would suck. Edit: Does that include seeds as well, like sunflower seeds?

 

[FatMax]

multiple severe allergies, like to all nut, legume AND dairy products.

Allergies to legumes (including peanuts) and dairy products I've heard of. But allergies to nuts? Like walnuts, almonds, etc? I've never heard of that. That would suck.

I have. Actually I've heard of it more than peanuts. The acids in some nuts can cause some real reactions in some people. Walnuts are notoriously acidic. That isn't to say that it is more common that peanut alergies, because it probably isn't.

 

[shining path]

multiple severe allergies, like to all nut, legume AND dairy products.

Allergies to legumes (including peanuts) and dairy products I've heard of. But allergies to nuts? Like walnuts, almonds, etc? I've never heard of that. That would suck.

One of the posters had an allergic reaction after eating tree-nuts. I don't know if that's a legume or a true nut or what.

 

[FatMax]

multiple severe allergies, like to all nut, legume AND dairy products.

Allergies to legumes (including peanuts) and dairy products I've heard of. But allergies to nuts? Like walnuts, almonds, etc? I've never heard of that. That would suck.

One of the posters had an allergic reaction after eating tree-nuts. I don't know if that's a legume or a true nut or what.

Tree nuts is True nuts.What type of nut, BTW?

 

[mom Bridget]

Is there a consensus among parents of sufferers just what level of accomodation by others is reasonable to expect? If this thread has a consensus it is that we parents of other children should be willing to control what food items our children bring to schools, but expecting us to search the labels of non-food items for trace amonts is beyond the pale. What are your thoughts?

Take a few minutes and look around peanutallergy.com if you would like. You might learn a few things. Yes, I'm one of those "lunitic" moms. Been called that and a few other things. My son is 12 and has had the allergy since he was one. He is a very healthy, normal, football loving middle schooler. No, I've never sued anyone nor have I ever asked for a peanut ban. By the way, my son does not bite. Except for the fact that 1/10000th of a peanut could kill my kid, he is just like your kid. If you take the time to learn a little about peanut allergy, you will find a few things:

1) #1 food allergy that causes death

2) The amount needed for a reaction is 1/10000th of a peanut (smaller amount than any other allergen)

3) There is no cure, avoidance and EDUCATION are our only weapons

4) There is no "rhyme or reason" as to why this allergy occurs (although an allergy of any type is usually in the family history)

5) Our other "weapon", a shot of epinephrine (called an epi-pen) should give our kid 15 minutes to get to an ER. It does not cure the reaction and only works about 90% of the time.

6) Food allergies cause about 150 deaths a year (mostly involving peanuts) and about 30,000 trips to the E.R.

I understand a love for PB&J. Most here just ask you not give it to your kid for the five meals (out of 21 in a week) that they will eat at school.

We are also a bit sensitive to comparing a peanut allergy to say "heat sensitivity". Yeah, an intolerance is one thing, death is something entirely different.

So again, welcome football guys. I have a PA (peanut-allergic) exchange student as well. He is in high school and boy can he kick. Consistently making 40-50 yard field goals! He also does all the high school kick offs (lands them on the 1 yard line!) I am serious. He is 180 pounds of pure muscle. No he doesn't bite, either but watch out for his kicks!

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Seems reasonable.

http://www.peanutallergy.com/bbpage.htm

The Food Allergen Protection Act. It's under the "take action" link.

 

[shining path]

multiple severe allergies, like to all nut, legume AND dairy products.

Allergies to legumes (including peanuts) and dairy products I've heard of. But allergies to nuts? Like walnuts, almonds, etc? I've never heard of that. That would suck.

One of the posters had an allergic reaction after eating tree-nuts. I don't know if that's a legume or a true nut or what.

Tree nuts is True nuts.What type of nut, BTW?

They just said tree-nuts. So that's the general classification for non-peanut nuts?

 

[shining path]

BTW, if anyone has any questions regarding the subject, FatMax does have a rich and elaborate education in the nut field. No lie.

 

[Nutcracker]

Screw that kid. I would tell my child not to give him nuts or anything like that, but I am not going to alter how my kid eats or what he/she does just because we have the equivalent to the peanut bubble boy in their class.

Home schooling should be an option for the kid I think (I am referring to the peanut freak).

oh. brilliant. (rounding golf clap)well, I *did* homeschool my child due to a life threatening food allergy(ies) for two years. Because the school was not making accomodations to provide my child with a Free APPROPRIATE Public Education In the Least Restrictive Environment. By the way, my child's food allergies are covered under Federal Law (an IDEA designation of Other Health Impairment) that protects this right.

I made it clear to the district (and the lawyer present) that if those accomodations as recommended by current literature and his qualified physician weren't made, I would not be homeschooling, but *demanding* (through due process if necessary) a homebound option. Schooling, through the district, and taxpayer dollars in my home. No actual results since I never went to "due process" just what I would *demand*.

Care to guess how much that would cost? Care to guess how much that costs for a special needs child? Probably much more than many "extracurricular" activities or sports programs.

Care to guess how many families children in a school of 1000 have similiar needs who might choose the same option? (You'd be surprised how many children have Life Threatening Food Allergies that qualify as a disability and elligible for protection under Federal Law.

Care to guess how quickly the school accommodated?

 

[Schlzm]

Screw that kid.  I would tell my child not to give him nuts or anything like that, but I am not going to alter how my kid eats or what he/she does just because we have the equivalent to the peanut bubble boy in their class.

Home schooling should be an option for the kid I think (I am referring to the peanut freak).

oh. brilliant. (rounding golf clap)well, I *did* homeschool my child due to a life threatening food allergy(ies) for two years. Because the school was not making accomodations to provide my child with a Free APPROPRIATE Public Education In the Least Restrictive Environment. By the way, my child's food allergies are covered under Federal Law (an IDEA designation of Other Health Impairment) that protects this right.

I made it clear to the district (and the lawyer present) that if those accomodations as recommended by current literature and his qualified physician weren't made, I would not be homeschooling, but *demanding* (through due process if necessary) a homebound option. Schooling, through the district, and taxpayer dollars in my home. No actual results since I never went to "due process" just what I would *demand*.

Care to guess how much that would cost? Care to guess how much that costs for a special needs child? Probably much more than many "extracurricular" activities or sports programs.

Care to guess how many families children in a school of 1000 have similiar needs who might choose the same option? (You'd be surprised how many children have Life Threatening Food Allergies that qualify as a disability and elligible for protection under Federal Law.

Care to guess how quickly the school accommodated?

Welcome to the discussion Nutcracker. Way to come out swinging too , excellent use of th eprovided smilies as well.Schlzm

 

[shining path]

Screw that kid.  I would tell my child not to give him nuts or anything like that, but I am not going to alter how my kid eats or what he/she does just because we have the equivalent to the peanut bubble boy in their class.

Home schooling should be an option for the kid I think (I am referring to the peanut freak).

oh. brilliant. (rounding golf clap)well, I *did* homeschool my child due to a life threatening food allergy(ies) for two years. Because the school was not making accomodations to provide my child with a Free APPROPRIATE Public Education In the Least Restrictive Environment. By the way, my child's food allergies are covered under Federal Law (an IDEA designation of Other Health Impairment) that protects this right.

I made it clear to the district (and the lawyer present) that if those accomodations as recommended by current literature and his qualified physician weren't made, I would not be homeschooling, but *demanding* (through due process if necessary) a homebound option. Schooling, through the district, and taxpayer dollars in my home. No actual results since I never went to "due process" just what I would *demand*.

Care to guess how much that would cost? Care to guess how much that costs for a special needs child? Probably much more than many "extracurricular" activities or sports programs.

Care to guess how many families children in a school of 1000 have similiar needs who might choose the same option? (You'd be surprised how many children have Life Threatening Food Allergies that qualify as a disability and elligible for protection under Federal Law.

Care to guess how quickly the school accommodated?

Welcome to the discussion Nutcracker. Way to come out swinging too , excellent use of th eprovided smilies as well.Schlzm

Diverse use of emphasis, as well. Bold, all-caps, *stars*. Nutcracker's a baller, no doubt.

 

[KGB]

Last night Mrs DW and I went to the indoctrination night for my 3 and 1/2 year old daughter's preschool.

The evening opened with a benediction and then a prayer where we were supposed to join in with the Minister in beseeching the Lord that we don't screw up our kids by ever taking them to a "secular" preschool. I tell you now that man put more stink on the word "secular" than I have ever heard put on any word before.

Next we were subjected to a 5 minute marketing presentation by a christian book seller. Seems some books is christian and some ain't, and it's real clear she not only sells the good stuff, but that she and the teachers are going to do every thing they can to bring peer group pressure to bear so that any kid not possessing the good stuff will be ostrasized. I was fascinated. With the Lord and the school as marketing partners I suspect she is going to do all right. I started to comment to Mrs. DW about the appropriateness of this type of marketing to young minds when I got the stare. Married guys know that stare. I was frightened.

Then we moved on to the most remarkable part of the evening, at least in my mind. The director gets up, trundles up to the podium while the baby Elephant Walk song plays in my head, she opens her maw and tells us they have a new student. His name is Melvin. (now normally I would have something to say about parents naming their kid Melvin but with my wife having already used the stare I don't want to push it.) It seems Melvin has peanut allergies. Not just regular peanut allergies, but abnormally sensitive ones. This means, she says, that in addition to not being allowed to bring peanuts, peanut butter, or anything containing peanuts into the school, like say a snickers bar, (every one knows those are packed full of peanuts), we will have to check every product we use on our child for peanut based ingredients. Seems some sunscreens contain the stuff, some popcorns are popped with peanut oil, yada, yada, yada.

About here I am busting. Clearly we have some obligations to our fellow man, but I am fairly certain it doesn't extend to checking whether our chld's lip balm or sun screen is thickened with hydrogenated peanut oil. If the kid is that sensitive maybe his parents ought to find other accomodations.

It was right then that I am snapped out of my revery when the Director goes on to say that it would be good if we did not allow our kids to even eat peanut butter within a half an hour before going to school.

I solicit your thoughts.

Is it reasonable that a parent of a child so hypersensitive to a common substance and product to place that child in a setting where scores of other families will now be expected to examine the minutia of their lives to protect that child?

Is it acceptable to use the schools to coercively market to kids and their families?

The entire 4th grade cant bring penut related products this year

 

[OddibeMcD]

This is an awesome peanut Jihad.I was wondering if there is an explanation to what seems to be an explosion of food allergies. We didn't have lactose intolerant, nut sensative kids when I was in school (or no one said anything about it), why does this seem to be such a pervasive problem now?

 

[e-mom]

Welcome to the discussion E-Mom. I am personally curious about the average level of affliction from peanut based allergies. Is it more common for a child to suffer mild to moderate or moderate to extreme reaction when coming into contact?

Schlzm

Oh my goodness! I'm being tackled...quick someone help me answer all these questions Unfortunately, the answer to this question is that no one knows. I've been dealing with my son's peanut allergy since he was 17 months old, he's now almost 7. At that time, I gave him a bit of peanut butter and within about 10 minutes half of his lower lip swelled and he had blisters all around his mouth. Otherwise, he was playing as if nothing had happened. I didn't know what happened to him either other than he looked as if he had been in a fight.

At the advice of his pediatrician, I took him to an allergist to have him tested for peanuts. That's our story and we've been avoiding peanuts ever since. The allergist had also told us that since there is such a high cross contamination between peanuts and tree nuts to keep him away from tree nuts as well (even though he tested negative to 8 tree nuts as well as testing negative to sesame seed) (these were there standard tests, I didn't ask that he be tested for other things as well).

Through educating myself and learning through the years that the next exposure to whatever the allergy may be could possible be an anaphylactic one. Then again, it might not be. We just don't know. My son has had only 1 reaction that's when he was 17 months old.

On a side note, my little one (I have 3 boys, almost 7, 5 and 2 1/2 and already Patriot fans even though we are in the windy city) had an allergic reaction to Children's Motrin two weeks ago. Both of his lips were swelled so big that I was calling it a "Pamela Anderson collegen injection gone bad", his eye lids started to swell and he had severe hives underneath his armpits. Needless to say, that when I saw his eyelids swelling I had to call 911 because it was after I had given him Benadryl and his symptoms were progressing fast. Ambulance and fire truck came (boys loved this part ) and we were whisked away to the hospital with all kinds of things stuck in him including an IV of more Benadryl. He's fine now but we have to keep him away from Motrin, Advil (anything with Ibuprofen) as well as aspirin. <phew, am I sounding long winded yet? ;p >

My comfort zone with my son's peanut allergy is very lax compared to most. We eat out at restaurants a lot, go to baseball games, etc. etc.

Ok, let's see what else...

 

[shining path]

I need to spend some time in the Shark Pool and out of the FFA. I was reading the posts from the peanut allergy people and thinking "why are they making so many football references?"

 

[e-mom]

Link, go into Main and look for DW as the thread owner. To which I must give a thumbs on his very amicable attempt to provide a better reasoning to the apperant unwelcoming members of the allergy board.

Schlzm

My fault, really. When growlers found the site he did mention they have quite a troll problem. Certainly my invitaqtion to this thread could be viewed as an attempt to start trouble, particularly by mothers, since, almost by definition, mothers are highly protective and defensive of their kids. Certainly it was not unreasonable to smell a rat under those circumstances.

After looking at some of the posts I have found quite a few members of the board who are outright hostile to anyone or any business that doesn't instantly accomodate them. I'm not comdeming everyone there because there are also quite a few rational posters. However having a fit and screaming at the poor day manager of a dunkin donoughts because they happen to sell something with peanuts on it is wholely irrational and presumptious.Schlzm

I hope I'm doing this correctly. Anyway, hey everyone what's up? I accepted the invite from peanutallergy.com ...thank you. Does anyone have any questions?

Yes.Is there a consensus among parents of sufferers just what level of accomodation by others is reasonable to expect? If this thread has a consensus it is that we parents of other children should be willing to control what food items our children bring to schools, but expecting us to search the labels of non-food items for trace amonts is beyond the pale. What are your thoughts?

Oh, nice question DW! A consensus? Well, no not really. We all have different comfort zones. Mine is lax. I personally would NEVER want to put the responsibility onto another parent to check labels. Does that mean that I don't trust them? No but it's my responsibility to keep my son safe. I provide him with his own food, his own snacks, his own birthday treats for when the kids have a party. His school has made it their own responsibility (not by my option but it does help me) to not allow peanut butter in his classroom.

That doesn't mean though that kids cannot bring it for their lunch. There is no way that I could nor would I want to ban peanuts from a school. I would also never tell anyone what they could or could not feed their child at home for breakfast either. That's ridiculous!

I have received great parental support and haven't run into any issues so maybe I'm just lucky I don't know but what I do know is that I am calm, realistic and well educated with this particular allergy and that works for me.

 

[Mrs DaVinci]

Screw that kid. I would tell my child not to give him nuts or anything like that, but I am not going to alter how my kid eats or what he/she does just because we have the equivalent to the peanut bubble boy in their class.

Home schooling should be an option for the kid I think (I am referring to the peanut freak).

oh. brilliant. (rounding golf clap)well, I *did* homeschool my child due to a life threatening food allergy(ies) for two years. Because the school was not making accomodations to provide my child with a Free APPROPRIATE Public Education In the Least Restrictive Environment. By the way, my child's food allergies are covered under Federal Law (an IDEA designation of Other Health Impairment) that protects this right.

I made it clear to the district (and the lawyer present) that if those accomodations as recommended by current literature and his qualified physician weren't made, I would not be homeschooling, but *demanding* (through due process if necessary) a homebound option. Schooling, through the district, and taxpayer dollars in my home. No actual results since I never went to "due process" just what I would *demand*.

Care to guess how much that would cost? Care to guess how much that costs for a special needs child? Probably much more than many "extracurricular" activities or sports programs.

Care to guess how many families children in a school of 1000 have similiar needs who might choose the same option? (You'd be surprised how many children have Life Threatening Food Allergies that qualify as a disability and elligible for protection under Federal Law.

Care to guess how quickly the school accommodated?

I seriously hope that you are nicer to the school/teacher/people in general when explaining about your childs allergies. You win peoples attention by being nice. If your above response is your typical response, you would have pissed me off and to be honest, you never know what a pissed off person will/would do (you would hope not, but I think its correct). Just remember "you attract more bees with honey."

 

[Mrs DaVinci]

Link, go into Main and look for DW as the thread owner. To which I must give a thumbs on his very amicable attempt to provide a better reasoning to the apperant unwelcoming members of the allergy board.

Schlzm

My fault, really. When growlers found the site he did mention they have quite a troll problem. Certainly my invitaqtion to this thread could be viewed as an attempt to start trouble, particularly by mothers, since, almost by definition, mothers are highly protective and defensive of their kids. Certainly it was not unreasonable to smell a rat under those circumstances.

After looking at some of the posts I have found quite a few members of the board who are outright hostile to anyone or any business that doesn't instantly accomodate them. I'm not comdeming everyone there because there are also quite a few rational posters. However having a fit and screaming at the poor day manager of a dunkin donoughts because they happen to sell something with peanuts on it is wholely irrational and presumptious.Schlzm

I hope I'm doing this correctly. Anyway, hey everyone what's up? I accepted the invite from peanutallergy.com ...thank you. Does anyone have any questions?

Yes.Is there a consensus among parents of sufferers just what level of accomodation by others is reasonable to expect? If this thread has a consensus it is that we parents of other children should be willing to control what food items our children bring to schools, but expecting us to search the labels of non-food items for trace amonts is beyond the pale. What are your thoughts?

Oh, nice question DW! A consensus? Well, no not really. We all have different comfort zones. Mine is lax. I personally would NEVER want to put the responsibility onto another parent to check labels. Does that mean that I don't trust them? No but it's my responsibility to keep my son safe. I provide him with his own food, his own snacks, his own birthday treats for when the kids have a party. His school has made it their own responsibility (not by my option but it does help me) to not allow peanut butter in his classroom.

That doesn't mean though that kids cannot bring it for their lunch. There is no way that I could nor would I want to ban peanuts from a school. I would also never tell anyone what they could or could not feed their child at home for breakfast either. That's ridiculous!

I have received great parental support and haven't run into any issues so maybe I'm just lucky I don't know but what I do know is that I am calm, realistic and well educated with this particular allergy and that works for me.

Is this correct. I thought the big fuss about having a peanut free zone is because PA are contact allergies? Which is the worst type of allergy correct? Considering a kid can open a bag of peanuts, residue becomes airborne, lands on your kid and then the reaction occurs--seems pretty serious!?!

 

[e-mom]

Hi e-mom. Is a peanut allergy similiar to a shellfish allergy where you can eat them all your life and then, BAM, one day you are allergic?

Yes it is actually, just like any other allergy for that matter, including environmental allergies, too. I know many people who have developed an allergy to peanuts in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. I believe the reactions are the same as well, too. Just like if you were allergic to bees or wasps as well.

P.S. Just wanted to say and thanks for the welcome from everyone!

 

[e-mom]

Link, go into Main and look for DW as the thread owner. To which I must give a thumbs on his very amicable attempt to provide a better reasoning to the apperant unwelcoming members of the allergy board.

Schlzm

My fault, really. When growlers found the site he did mention they have quite a troll problem. Certainly my invitaqtion to this thread could be viewed as an attempt to start trouble, particularly by mothers, since, almost by definition, mothers are highly protective and defensive of their kids. Certainly it was not unreasonable to smell a rat under those circumstances.

After looking at some of the posts I have found quite a few members of the board who are outright hostile to anyone or any business that doesn't instantly accomodate them. I'm not comdeming everyone there because there are also quite a few rational posters. However having a fit and screaming at the poor day manager of a dunkin donoughts because they happen to sell something with peanuts on it is wholely irrational and presumptious.Schlzm

I hope I'm doing this correctly. Anyway, hey everyone what's up? I accepted the invite from peanutallergy.com ...thank you. Does anyone have any questions?

Yes.Is there a consensus among parents of sufferers just what level of accomodation by others is reasonable to expect? If this thread has a consensus it is that we parents of other children should be willing to control what food items our children bring to schools, but expecting us to search the labels of non-food items for trace amonts is beyond the pale. What are your thoughts?

Oh, nice question DW! A consensus? Well, no not really. We all have different comfort zones. Mine is lax. I personally would NEVER want to put the responsibility onto another parent to check labels. Does that mean that I don't trust them? No but it's my responsibility to keep my son safe. I provide him with his own food, his own snacks, his own birthday treats for when the kids have a party. His school has made it their own responsibility (not by my option but it does help me) to not allow peanut butter in his classroom.

That doesn't mean though that kids cannot bring it for their lunch. There is no way that I could nor would I want to ban peanuts from a school. I would also never tell anyone what they could or could not feed their child at home for breakfast either. That's ridiculous!

I have received great parental support and haven't run into any issues so maybe I'm just lucky I don't know but what I do know is that I am calm, realistic and well educated with this particular allergy and that works for me.

Is this correct. I thought the big fuss about having a peanut free zone is because PA are contact allergies? Which is the worst type of allergy correct? Considering a kid can open a bag of peanuts, residue becomes airborne, lands on your kid and then the reaction occurs--seems pretty serious!?!

Everyone is different. Some have contact, some have only ingestion, some have airborne...some have two or I have also heard that some can have all three types of reactions. The problem is that you just don't know what the next reaction will be.

 

[e-mom]

This is an awesome peanut Jihad.

I was wondering if there is an explanation to what seems to be an explosion of food allergies. We didn't have lactose intolerant, nut sensative kids when I was in school (or no one said anything about it), why does this seem to be such a pervasive problem now?

Actually, we did have them but you never heard about them because most people either didn't say anything or didn't know what exactly was going on. But yes, I would agree that they have become more of a problem than ever before. Problem is that no one knows why.

 

[FatMax]

multiple severe allergies, like to all nut, legume AND dairy products.

Allergies to legumes (including peanuts) and dairy products I've heard of. But allergies to nuts? Like walnuts, almonds, etc? I've never heard of that. That would suck.

One of the posters had an allergic reaction after eating tree-nuts. I don't know if that's a legume or a true nut or what.

Tree nuts is True nuts.What type of nut, BTW?

They just said tree-nuts. So that's the general classification for non-peanut nuts?

I guess. Tree nut is a really vague term though, since all true nuts are tree nuts. Walnuts, Almonds, Pecans, Pistachios, Hazelnuts, etc.

 

[cstu]

Why don't the peanut kids all go to their own separate, but equal school?

 

[Foosball God]

Excellent discussion e-mom. Your attitude is what I would hope for from all parents who have to deal with this. Being a parent myself I can certainly understand the tendancy to go overboard though.

 

[mojorizin]

This is an awesome peanut Jihad.

I was wondering if there is an explanation to what seems to be an explosion of food allergies. We didn't have lactose intolerant, nut sensative kids when I was in school (or no one said anything about it), why does this seem to be such a pervasive problem now?

Actually, we did have them but you never heard about them because most people either didn't say anything or didn't know what exactly was going on. But yes, I would agree that they have become more of a problem than ever before. Problem is that no one knows why.

I defy anyone to find a kid with gd peanut allergy between, oh the BEGINNING OF TIME and 1995. Didn't exist - and if it were so dadblamed dangerous it would have been killing kids right and left. Its only been the last 10 years that we've even seen signs about "Peanuts served here" well no ####, they are served everywhere and never hurt a soul when ANY of us were growing up.According to Auntie Mojo, its the poisons, toxins, preservatives, man-made crap that the food and drug companies serve up to us on a daily basis. We run more, exercise more, have 10X better medical circumstances than even one generation prior, yet we are fatter, and sicker than ever.

 

[14464]

It's gotta be some sort of envornmental cause due to our horrible diets or pollution or something. But it sure seems to strike the most coddled upper-middle class kids more often for some reason.

Could be on to something, I have yet to hear/read anything about this in NYC but middle American you hear about it all the time. I wonder if this has more to do with insane/overprotective mothers.

I went to that peanut allergy board mentioned on the last page and posted a link, so maybe some of those mothers will show up and share their perspective.

Curious but what if a parent says that commercial cleaners could potentiall kill or severely harm their child? Does that mean you must use alternative methods when cleaning your kids clothes so it won't potentiall harm theirs? Where does it end? Look, if your kid loves anything that has peanuts in it, then I see no problem with denying your child just because some most likely "nut" parent doesn't want little Johnny to get ill. Seriously, if my child had a problem with this and my doctor told me she could die with coming into contact with a peanut then I would home school her or find another way.

 

[14464]

I had a lady come up to me in a public place, a freakin' arcade full of kids, when she noticed that my son had a bag of peanut M&Ms. She said "make sure your boy stays away from my boy, he's allergic to peanuts." I said "keep your kid away from my kid, my boy is not allergic."

I wish parents would unite and simply tell their school that kids with extreme peanut allergies should be stay at home school children

From this thread it sounds like the condition is so common that we could start concentrating these kids in peanut-free schools.

I hear you and I had TERRIBLE allegies to dust and pollen when I was little, I guess my mom and dad should have made my school tear down all the trees and make sure that their wasn't a speck of dust in the entire school.

 

[shining path]

I had a lady come up to me in a public place, a freakin' arcade full of kids, when she noticed that my son had a bag of peanut M&Ms. She said "make sure your boy stays away from my boy, he's allergic to peanuts." I said "keep your kid away from my kid, my boy is not allergic." 

I wish parents would unite and simply tell their school that kids with extreme peanut allergies should be stay at home school children

From this thread it sounds like the condition is so common that we could start concentrating these kids in peanut-free schools.

I hear you and I had TERRIBLE allegies to dust and pollen when I was little, I guess my mom and dad should have made my school tear down all the trees and make sure that their wasn't a speck of dust in the entire school.

If they truly loved you, they at least would have tried.

 

[mom Bridget]

It's gotta be some sort of envornmental cause due to our horrible diets or pollution or something.  But it sure seems to strike the most coddled upper-middle class kids more often for some reason.

Could be on to something, I have yet to hear/read anything about this in NYC but middle American you hear about it all the time. I wonder if this has more to do with insane/overprotective mothers.

I went to that peanut allergy board mentioned on the last page and posted a link, so maybe some of those mothers will show up and share their perspective.

Curious but what if a parent says that commercial cleaners could potentiall kill or severely harm their child? Does that mean you must use alternative methods when cleaning your kids clothes so it won't potentiall harm theirs? Where does it end? Look, if your kid loves anything that has peanuts in it, then I see no problem with denying your child just because some most likely "nut" parent doesn't want little Johnny to get ill. Seriously, if my child had a problem with this and my doctor told me she could die with coming into contact with a peanut then I would home school her or find another way.

Where does it end? Well, at death actually. If it can kill our kid, then are we asking too much by asking your kid to refrain from a PB&J at 5 meals a week (out of 21)?

 

[14464]

What's the most heartbreaking is the parents of kids who have multiple severe allergies, like to all nut, legume AND dairy products. That must be a good 25% of the calories ingested in an average diet, and probably close to 60-70% of common recipes have at least some nut oil or dairy in them.

Between the ages 6-9, I got some terrible rashes. I'd scratch myself until I bled while I slept. After multiple visits to the doctor, the diagnosis was food alergies. Don't ask me how they came up with these food groups, but the conclusion was that I was allergic to corn products and dairy products. You never realize how many things have corn syrup in them until you read the label, but it is a bunch. Anyway, that went on for a few years. I was a pudgy little kid and after this span was over, I was skinny.I still don't know if my parents or the doctors got the diagnosis right, but it did suck for awhile when I was a kid. I have no problems now, which leads me to believe that they were full of #### in their original assesment. I don't know if allergies just go away.

When a doctor can't diagnose the problem with a child, usually they give it a general 'Food alergy' stamp. Look, what about the many children (and adults) who by a bee sting can potentially die? Why not rip up all trees around schools and make it all concrete to eliminate all potential dust, pollen and bee situations?

No offense, but sorry, if your child really can die from coming close to a peanut then you need to home school them, not make everyone else change for you. You can say it's not big deal for THEM to accomodate YOU but you don't know that. Also, people in general are pretty sick and tied of having OTHER people tell them to change, this happens from many different sources it piles up and you finally say that's enough. To be honest if anyone has died of coming close to peanuts then YOU need to do something about it as a parent, starting with taking your kid out of school.

 

[mom Bridget]

It's gotta be some sort of envornmental cause due to our horrible diets or pollution or something.  But it sure seems to strike the most coddled upper-middle class kids more often for some reason.

Could be on to something, I have yet to hear/read anything about this in NYC but middle American you hear about it all the time. I wonder if this has more to do with insane/overprotective mothers.

Insane/overprotective mother.... I do whatever it takes. Even talking to rude people on the internet. Any real questions, or just throwing out cheap shots?

 

[14464]

Screw that kid. I would tell my child not to give him nuts or anything like that, but I am not going to alter how my kid eats or what he/she does just because we have the equivalent to the peanut bubble boy in their class.

Home schooling should be an option for the kid I think (I am referring to the peanut freak).

oh. brilliant. (rounding golf clap)well, I *did* homeschool my child due to a life threatening food allergy(ies) for two years. Because the school was not making accomodations to provide my child with a Free APPROPRIATE Public Education In the Least Restrictive Environment. By the way, my child's food allergies are covered under Federal Law (an IDEA designation of Other Health Impairment) that protects this right.

I made it clear to the district (and the lawyer present) that if those accomodations as recommended by current literature and his qualified physician weren't made, I would not be homeschooling, but *demanding* (through due process if necessary) a homebound option. Schooling, through the district, and taxpayer dollars in my home. No actual results since I never went to "due process" just what I would *demand*.

Care to guess how much that would cost? Care to guess how much that costs for a special needs child? Probably much more than many "extracurricular" activities or sports programs.

Care to guess how many families children in a school of 1000 have similiar needs who might choose the same option? (You'd be surprised how many children have Life Threatening Food Allergies that qualify as a disability and elligible for protection under Federal Law.

Care to guess how quickly the school accommodated?

Ok so if your child can really die from this, you think you are being a good parent for having your child attend a school where the risks of children coming to school will have some sort of nut based product that could be injested or touch your child? I don't.

 

[14464]

Welcome to the discussion E-Mom. I am personally curious about the average level of affliction from peanut based allergies. Is it more common for a child to suffer mild to moderate or moderate to extreme reaction when coming into contact?

Schlzm

Oh my goodness! I'm being tackled...quick someone help me answer all these questions Unfortunately, the answer to this question is that no one knows. I've been dealing with my son's peanut allergy since he was 17 months old, he's now almost 7. At that time, I gave him a bit of peanut butter and within about 10 minutes half of his lower lip swelled and he had blisters all around his mouth. Otherwise, he was playing as if nothing had happened. I didn't know what happened to him either other than he looked as if he had been in a fight.

At the advice of his pediatrician, I took him to an allergist to have him tested for peanuts. That's our story and we've been avoiding peanuts ever since. The allergist had also told us that since there is such a high cross contamination between peanuts and tree nuts to keep him away from tree nuts as well (even though he tested negative to 8 tree nuts as well as testing negative to sesame seed) (these were there standard tests, I didn't ask that he be tested for other things as well).

Through educating myself and learning through the years that the next exposure to whatever the allergy may be could possible be an anaphylactic one. Then again, it might not be. We just don't know. My son has had only 1 reaction that's when he was 17 months old.

On a side note, my little one (I have 3 boys, almost 7, 5 and 2 1/2 and already Patriot fans even though we are in the windy city) had an allergic reaction to Children's Motrin two weeks ago. Both of his lips were swelled so big that I was calling it a "Pamela Anderson collegen injection gone bad", his eye lids started to swell and he had severe hives underneath his armpits. Needless to say, that when I saw his eyelids swelling I had to call 911 because it was after I had given him Benadryl and his symptoms were progressing fast. Ambulance and fire truck came (boys loved this part ) and we were whisked away to the hospital with all kinds of things stuck in him including an IV of more Benadryl. He's fine now but we have to keep him away from Motrin, Advil (anything with Ibuprofen) as well as aspirin. <phew, am I sounding long winded yet? ;p >

My comfort zone with my son's peanut allergy is very lax compared to most. We eat out at restaurants a lot, go to baseball games, etc. etc.

Ok, let's see what else...

Perhaps this is more of a genetic thing than allergy thing, come on two of your kids have something you don't really know but COULD severly harm them? I really have to draw caution to the wind here especially whenever you come into contact with a child who has special food needs, you will most likely see a parent who is hyper sensetive and sure enough has more than one child who has this rare allergy. Come on.

 

[14464]

I had a lady come up to me in a public place, a freakin' arcade full of kids, when she noticed that my son had a bag of peanut M&Ms. She said "make sure your boy stays away from my boy, he's allergic to peanuts." I said "keep your kid away from my kid, my boy is not allergic."

I wish parents would unite and simply tell their school that kids with extreme peanut allergies should be stay at home school children

From this thread it sounds like the condition is so common that we could start concentrating these kids in peanut-free schools.

I hear you and I had TERRIBLE allegies to dust and pollen when I was little, I guess my mom and dad should have made my school tear down all the trees and make sure that their wasn't a speck of dust in the entire school.

If they truly loved you, they at least would have tried.

 

[14464]

It's gotta be some sort of envornmental cause due to our horrible diets or pollution or something. But it sure seems to strike the most coddled upper-middle class kids more often for some reason.

Could be on to something, I have yet to hear/read anything about this in NYC but middle American you hear about it all the time. I wonder if this has more to do with insane/overprotective mothers.

I went to that peanut allergy board mentioned on the last page and posted a link, so maybe some of those mothers will show up and share their perspective.

Curious but what if a parent says that commercial cleaners could potentiall kill or severely harm their child? Does that mean you must use alternative methods when cleaning your kids clothes so it won't potentiall harm theirs? Where does it end? Look, if your kid loves anything that has peanuts in it, then I see no problem with denying your child just because some most likely "nut" parent doesn't want little Johnny to get ill. Seriously, if my child had a problem with this and my doctor told me she could die with coming into contact with a peanut then I would home school her or find another way.

Where does it end? Well, at death actually. If it can kill our kid, then are we asking too much by asking your kid to refrain from a PB&J at 5 meals a week (out of 21)?

No, it doesnt end in death, in fact read above and you will see that parents whose children who have this don't really know. What they know is that their child had a reaction then the doctor sends them to an allergist then said allergist says don't take a chance on your child having peanuts. Then you have people who say it's airborn while others say no it can't while most say they really don't know.If a child can die of a bee sting then would it be too much for me to have the entire street remove ALL of their flowers and trees? Please answer my question and I'll gladly answer yours.

 

[14464]

It's gotta be some sort of envornmental cause due to our horrible diets or pollution or something. But it sure seems to strike the most coddled upper-middle class kids more often for some reason.

Could be on to something, I have yet to hear/read anything about this in NYC but middle American you hear about it all the time. I wonder if this has more to do with insane/overprotective mothers.

Insane/overprotective mother.... I do whatever it takes. Even talking to rude people on the internet. Any real questions, or just throwing out cheap shots?

No cheap shots thrown, just telling you what it's like in the LARGEST city in America. Funny, what are the odds in that?

 

[mom Bridget]

Screw that kid.  I would tell my child not to give him nuts or anything like that, but I am not going to alter how my kid eats or what he/she does just because we have the equivalent to the peanut bubble boy in their class.

Home schooling should be an option for the kid I think (I am referring to the peanut freak).

oh. brilliant. (rounding golf clap)well, I *did* homeschool my child due to a life threatening food allergy(ies) for two years. Because the school was not making accomodations to provide my child with a Free APPROPRIATE Public Education In the Least Restrictive Environment. By the way, my child's food allergies are covered under Federal Law (an IDEA designation of Other Health Impairment) that protects this right.

I made it clear to the district (and the lawyer present) that if those accomodations as recommended by current literature and his qualified physician weren't made, I would not be homeschooling, but *demanding* (through due process if necessary) a homebound option. Schooling, through the district, and taxpayer dollars in my home. No actual results since I never went to "due process" just what I would *demand*.

Care to guess how much that would cost? Care to guess how much that costs for a special needs child? Probably much more than many "extracurricular" activities or sports programs.

Care to guess how many families children in a school of 1000 have similiar needs who might choose the same option? (You'd be surprised how many children have Life Threatening Food Allergies that qualify as a disability and elligible for protection under Federal Law.

Care to guess how quickly the school accommodated?

Ok so if your child can really die from this, you think you are being a good parent for having your child attend a school where the risks of children coming to school will have some sort of nut based product that could be injested or touch your child? I don't.

He has had the allergy since age 1, he is now 12 and attends public middle school. I have never asked for a "ban" of any type at school. This year, new school, I only asked that I could get a copy of the planned menu one week in advance and if the school was to serve a peanut product (PB cookies / PB cake / etc) then I would send a lunch from home and he could eat in the teacher's lounge. I knew if they were cooking enough PB cake with PB icing for 400 kids, the smell would at least cause him to toss his own cookies. The school decided to remove peanut items from the menu. Instead of PB cookies, they serve chocolate chip or sugar cookies. The school called and said "What about canteen, we do sell Reece's and Snicker's, etc." My reply "I do not expect you to remove these items. My son knows not to eat them and can move away from a child eating a peanut candy bar. It's just hard to avoid 400 kids in the lunchroom eating PB cake". My son carries his medicine on him at all times in case of an accidental exposure. By the way, a contact reaction would be uncomfortable for him, but an ingestion reaction is the potential killer.

Homeschool is not an option when both parents must work to pay the mortgage and utility bills. Unfortunately, peanut allergy can strike any family, not just the upper middle-class with a stay at home mom.

 

[14464]

Look, all say this, if my child could die from peanuts, there is NO WAY I would allow my child to attend a school where there is a possibility that my child could get in contact with a peanut. End of story.Then again, I just don't buy it anyway and as a previous poster said "Where were all the peanut deaths up til 95?" What a joke.

 

[mojorizin]

It's gotta be some sort of envornmental cause due to our horrible diets or pollution or something.  But it sure seems to strike the most coddled upper-middle class kids more often for some reason.

Could be on to something, I have yet to hear/read anything about this in NYC but middle American you hear about it all the time. I wonder if this has more to do with insane/overprotective mothers.

Insane/overprotective mother.... I do whatever it takes. Even talking to rude people on the internet. Any real questions, or just throwing out cheap shots?

No cheap shots thrown, just telling you what it's like in the LARGEST city in America. Funny, what are the odds in that?

I'll go out on a limb here and say no kids in East St. Louis are allergic to peanuts.