Happy Nie Nie Day to You.

This post has nothing to do with peanut allergy. It has to do with a fellow blogger who needs our help. I don't personally know Stephanie (Nie Nie) or Christian, but their story has moved me and I want you to know about it as well.

Last week Christian and Stephanie Nielson were in a very serious plane crash. They are a young couple with four children under the age of six. They are in critical condition. Stephanie has third degree burns covering 80% of her body and Christian has third degree burns over 30% of his body. The recovery will be very long and very expensive.

If you are able, please consider contributing to this fund that will go directly to the family. http://www.nierecovery.com/

Today, several websites are auctioning off items for their benefit. Go here to see the comprehensive list: http://www.designmom.com/ .

Updates about Stephanie and Christian here: http://blog.cjanerun.com/

If you can't donate or join in the auction, could you say a few words/prayers into the universe for these two (and their 4 children)? Anything can help.

It's Breakfast Tuesday!

We went down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium today for a little day trip with Bella. It was great (crowded, but great). We got back home around 4:15 and went out for some gardening - by the time we got in it was 6:30 - oops maybe we should have some dinner!

I asked Bella what she wanted and she said - "Brefkist!" (Ok so she doesn't really sound like a two year old - she just likes to say this one word incorrectly - it's our inside joke). So I made French Toast and Scrambled eggs with Pancetta. So delicious, especially accompanied by some home made strawberry jam and yummy maple syrup. And OJ of course. Who says that having a peanut allergy means you can't eat well?

Anyhoo, when I was making the French Toast I was reminded of something my mom passed along to me this week. A blurb in Woman's Day the September 2008 Family Circle magazine about eggless french toast. A woman wrote in to ask how to make French Toast for her newly egg allergic 10 year old daughter. Their solution? Dip the bread directly in maple syrup and fry it up in a pan!

I was skeptical, but you know what? It's not half bad!?! Of course we mainly ate the French toast with the eggs, but if I couldn't have eggs then I could live with bread that's crispy and sticky with syrup.

Sound terrible? A quick Google search turned up this recipe, using tofu instead of eggs. Now which one will you try?!?

Nominee for...

...The Dumbest Product Ever. After watching an episode of Unwrapped on Food Network tonight, I bring you:

P.B. Slices ('The Funner Peanut Butter")
Yes, you read that correctly: slices of peanut butter. Think cheese slices - but it's not - it's Peanut Butter! They are supposed to save you time (I think) when making a PB&J for your kid in the morning.

What a genius idea, considering how unruly spreading peanut butter with a knife can be. I wont even go into the fact that this is an environmental nightmare. And it's a tad suspicious that they don't actually list the ingredients on the site. Is it just peanuts? What else is in there?

I'm not one of those folks who want peanut butter outlawed, banned, and not manufactured, and I understand that there is always room for product innovation. I've seen the little tubes of PB that athletes eat while they are training - that makes sense! But this is ridiculous. Will mayo be next? And after looking at their website, it looks like they are endorsing putting these on hot dogs - something I just can't get behind. Good Lord!

But then again, maybe this is the 'peanut butter for a new generation'! Maybe the naysayers said this about Kraft Singles? I use the Tillamook kind that isn't individually wrapped, so I wouldn't know.

I could be wrong - maybe these things will catch on (and God Bless the entrepreneur in the inventor of the much needed (?) PB Slice) but even if Bella grows out of her PA, you can bet your life I wont be buying these. My 'Californian Tree Hugger' membership would be revoked.

Great Lunch Ideas in Parents Magazine

I saw another good article in the September issue of Parents Magazine:

Lunch is Served
Keep it simple with 25 easy ideas to make school lunches healthy and fun.

These lunch ideas look great, healthy and tasty, and best of all realistic for a working mom like me. Only one of the examples has PB&J and you could easily substitute cream cheese or Sunbutter (if your child eats it - B wont touch it).

They visualize each lunch with photos using the Laptop Lunch system. On that note, we are LOVING B's new LL system. She polishes off her lunch every day since we starting using it. And subsequently she's been gaining weight (which has been a bit of an issue for us).

Finally, A Treatment for Peanut Allergy?

Well, yes and no.

A cure that eliminates Peanut Allergy? No.

A treatment that had been shown to work but was suppressed due to corporate greed and bickering? Well, then, YES.

I've noticed some of the newer allergy bloggers getting really excited about new research in Peanut Allergy - that a cure is right on the horizon - it is so close! And I am right next to them cheering on the folks in New York and North Carolina that are pushing to the forefront of oral desensitization.

But did you know, that just a few years ago, there was a drug in clinical trials that was proven effective at reducing accidental exposure risk? That it was a drug you could give your child to guard them in the case of accidental exposure? It's called TNX-901. But don't try to get it for your child because you can't.

Yup. It's true.

Here's what I have gathered from my own (frustrating) research. It is probably full of some holes, but I'll try and keep it short and sweet.

Basically a company called Tanox developed a drug called TNX-901 that was an anti IgE antibody. It bound to IgE antibodies in the blood and prevented allergic reactions to peanuts. The FDA even fast tracked it in an effort to bring it to market faster. The clinical trials went really well (if you don't believe me, check out the abstract at the New England Journal of Medicine site and make sure you are sitting down when you read the Conclusions portion of the abstract). Going from sensitivity at ingesting half a peanut to sensitivity after NINE?!? That, my friend, is progress.

But two drug companies, Genentech and Novartis, claimed that the drug was too similar to their drug Xolair (you've heard of that, right?) and tied up TNX-901's progress in legal battles. Eventually, Tanox gave up and were paid to stop researching it. I guess Tanox couldn't afford the fight.

Here's a link to the copy of a Wall Street Journal article that goes into greater detail on the fight and ultimately how financial power was the ultimate decider of this promising drug's fate. (I couldn't link to the original WSJ article - sorry).

So what does that say for Xolair and it's use as a preventative measure for accidental exposure to peanuts? That remains to be seen. Xolair clinical trials were halted in 2006 after two children suffered severe reactions before actual testing of the drug even began.

So why don't Genentech and Novartis get to work on TNX-901 (or a variant of it)? I mean, they own it, now, right? Is it a blow to their pride that a little company got somewhere they couldn't? Your guess is as good as mine.

Something to think about. I'm not trying to be Erin Brokovich here, but how frustrating is this?!?

If you know anything about this drug (or would like to correct anything I've written here) please leave a comment.

Happy Birthday to Me! I am Peanut Free!

Today is a big day around here at PFM.

We're a year old! Yup, August 13, 2007 was the day I decided to document our crazy little journey down the Peanut Allergy road.

Feels like longer, huh?

I don't usually post recent photos of the Mighty B, but I love this shot of her jumping up excitedly (yes, even tho' it's blurry). She'll be 4 in just a couple of months - that went by fast too! Where did my little baby go?

I just want to say thank you to all the kind and wonderful folks out there who visit this site daily, weekly, and/or monthly for a peek into our lives. Not a week goes by that I don't get a nice email from a reader with their story. I'm honored and touched that you've cared or been moved enough by our story to share yours with me.

I hope you all stick around for another year with me. We're all in this together, right?

Being The Overprotective Type

A few weeks ago I was listening to NPR on the way home and heard a great piece in the "This I Believe" portion of All Things Considered.

Here's a snippet...

Courage Comes with Practice
by Theresa MacPhail
I believe that embracing fear produces courage.

After my brother died in an accident, my mother was inconsolable. I was only 4 years old at the time, but I still understood the seismic shift in my mom's attitude toward safety. Suddenly, everything around us was potentially dangerous. Overnight, the world had gone from a playground to a hazardous zone.

------------------

I encourage you to listen it, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I find myself thinking about it alot. And I was wondering why this piece affected me so much. Sure, the message was great, but why did I relate so much to this story?

Why?

Because at so many times in our lives, as our allergic children pass milestones, we are the parent she describes. Overprotective at times in the extreme. I am so like her mother, so afraid of burying a child before I die (there, I said it out loud). I understood too well the fear her mother must have felt. The need to protect her remaining child lest she lose her too.

Parents of children with no allergies really can't understand the absolute fear we go through. Sure they know it's important, but until you're in our shoes you can't imagine the stress. How we worry about their mortality. How every phone call from the school (or daycare or babysitter) brings an instant wave of terror before you even answer. Or maybe that's just me? There are days honestly where I worry I wont see Bella at the end of the day. Some parents at school barely glance at their child when they walk out the door at drop off, but I purposely say goodbye and I love you each morning. Not dramatically or anything, but I am very mindful of it.

But, like the author, I take baby steps of courage for the sake of my daughter. Safe baby steps, mind you, but these baby steps are necessary for her to live as normal a life as possible.

I can't always protect her, but she will always be my baby.

Surprise!

So most of the folks who've been at this peanut allergy game for even a little while know that peanut butter is hidden in lots of food, including stews (and chili), sauces (like enchilada sauce or thai satay sauce), and baked goods (cookies, fudge, etc.). I wont bore you with a list but you can learn more here and here.

But I've noticed an increasing trend in using nut flours in recipes and the not-so-new trend in using them to create gluten free breads and foods.

I know that lots of products catch my eye in Whole Foods when they have a claim on the label of gluten free - those companies are usually great about their ingredient lists and warning labels. But most of those items are off limits for us because they have nuts.

Now don't get me wrong, those gluten free products are allergen free (wheat's an allergen of course). But just because an item claims to be allergy friendly or gluten free, it doesn't mean it's nut or peanut free (or egg or dairy or top 8 free for that matter) so we need to watch out for them.

And we also need to watch out for those innocent looking foods with a dangerous surprise inside. Look at these, for example:

Cute little tomato burgers, huh? Well, the bun is loaded with almond flour.

This really brings home the reality that you can't tell just by looking at something if it contains nuts. I have to say honestly, that if I saw these on a platter I would probably let Bella have it. I'm so used to interrogating (yes, that's probably the right word) hosts about desserts and foods that are the usual culprits (dips, sauces) that this probably would have slipped right by me (with possibly disastrous results).

And when it comes to seeing a sandwich on white bread, I might do the same and let Bella have it without asking, but I know I need to be more vigilant because that innocent piece of bread may have a nutritional boost from nut flour.

Always remember to ask what's in your food and to read your labels - and just looking for the warning label isn't enough. Many foods still don't have a may contain warning even when your allergen is an ingredient.