I Couldn't Do It...

Thanks for your comments on the last post.

I just couldn't do it though. We ended up getting one of those little Haagen-Daz single serving ice creams. She doesn't know any different, so she didn't care.

Someday though, I hope we can walk through the doors of BR and not have to worry.

Someday.

Baskin-Robbins Soft Serve: Yay or Nay?

So I am on a Baskin-Robbins email list and just got a notice about Bump Day - apparently any pregnant woman can go into the stores tomorrow TODAY, May 21st and get a free soft serve cone.

I did a little investigating and saw that you can get plain vanilla soft serve cones at BR. Their allergen facts page says it has no nuts or peanuts. In theory, one could go in there and get a soft serve vanilla cone without incidence. In theory. I mean, there's no double scooping or anything. It just squirts right out of the machine into a peanut/treenut free cone.

Seems simple, right?

With summer coming up, it would be great to be able to bring Bella to an ice cream place and let her get a cone with her cousins.

Not sure if I will take the chance.

What do you all think? Yay or Nay?

Parents: June 2008

When Bella was born I somehow started receiving free subscriptions to both Parents and Parenting magazines. I usually toss (err, recycle) them when I get them, but a cover article in the June issue caught my eye:

Oh Nuts!
Food Allergy News You Need
Forbidden Foods, by Jan Sheehan
p. 146

So I took a look, expecting a dumb article about peanut butter alternatives (like almond butter - d'oh!). But you now what? It's actually really good and gives a good overview of food allergies, research, etc.

Unfortunately the folks at Parents Magazine haven't linked to the article online, but I encourage you to pick up a copy (or read through YOUR recycled one) and take a look.

I'll try to scan the pages today and/or find a link to the article (somehow).

It's a SAD World After All

We're going on a family trip at the end of the month to the happiest place on earth.

Just browsed their site last night to see if there were any character breakfasts, etc. for the kids and saw that every little girl's favorite ride (well at least in my world) is closed for refurbishment until the fall.

Aw nuts. What's a trip to Disney without a visit to a nice, cool, LONG ride in "It's a Small World"? That ride is an awesome break when you are in a hot, sunny, and crowded park.

I'm praying Bella wont notice. (I know, yeah right. kids can't remember to put their clothes in the hamper, but they certainly remember this type of stuff).

I'll be contacting the park about peanut free options while we're there. I'll be sure to let you all know if there's any exciting (or just plain informative) news about the park. We've already been a couple of times so I'm not too stressed about it, but it's always good to be prepared.

Buy My Stuff!

How's that for subtle?

If you want to declare to the world that you are, in fact, a Peanut Free Mama just like me, check out the Peanut Free Mama store. There's even stuff for the Peanut Free Papa in your life.

And, by the way, there's no way for me to make a fortune off of this :) All profits will go to FAAN (or another worthy group - care to suggest one?).

Look for even better artwork soon!

The One Where I Come Back and Talk About the Isolation I'm Going Through

Hi Everyone,

First of all, sorry for my absence. Between work, illness, and family, I've just been plain overwhelmed.

Have you guys ever been in one of those funks where you just feel like you're in the movie Groundhog Day? I've been feeling a lot like that lately. I feel like I've been sick forever (I'm at the tail end of it, but yes I am still congested!) and all I do is wake up, get Bella ready for school, go to work, pick up Bella, come home, cook dinner, do chores, run her bath, etc., etc. I don't know how I am going to get out of this funk, but it better be soon.

I'm going a little crazy people :)

My mother's day was ok (not bad, not great), but now Mark is getting a cold and we ALL know how men are with colds (sorry if I am being sexist here). I could cry thinking about all the 'taking care' of him I'm going to have to do. Sigh...

Oh wait, isn't this a peanut allergy blog? Oh yeah.

On the allergy front, two things for today:

1. This week marks the 11th Annual Food Allergy Awareness Week. I'm not suggesting you hold a seminar to educate everyone you know about food allergies, but how about talking to a fellow parent that has a child with a food allergy different than your child's? You can't expect other's to be super vigilant and aware of your child's allergies if you don't make the effort for their situation. Better yet, how about supporting FAAN and their efforts? Even though they are a big organization, they can always use our help.

2. No news about Bella's RAST results. You bet your life that I will be online pronto once I hear from her doctor. I have been trying visualization exercises to imagine what the doctor will say (and what I want him to say). What is it they say about wishful thinking? Maybe all this projecting will come true. Some of you are probably rolling your eyes, but I live in California and used to go to Grateful Dead shows, so I'm bound to get a little hippie-dippie on ya.

Well, off to bed, but I'll be back again soon with better content.

Oh, actually, here's something good: I made this yogurt cake over the weekend and it was spectacular. Sadly, it's not gluten, dairy, or egg free, but by the looks of it, this recipe would work well with substitutions. And if your kids like to cook with you, this is the perfect recipe - you use the empty yogurt tub to measure the rest of the ingredients. So yummy and easy!

Myanmar: Peanut Allergies are NOTHING when you see this

The New York Times is reporting that the death toll as a result of the cyclone in Myanmar could reach as high as 100,000 people (that's like erasing the city of Berkeley, CA).

In cases like this, you just assume that the Red Cross will step in to help. Trouble is, Myanmar has been reluctant to accept help from outsiders.

Sounds like they might change their minds though.

If you have an extra dollar or two, the folks at Unicef would love your help. In times like these there are always groups out there after your dollar, but Unicef continues to be a reputable organization committed to helping the children of the world.

If you don't have an extra dollar or two, then a prayer or two (or more) would go a long way as well. And if you don't pray, well a few good thoughts would be good.

Things like this make a peanut allergy look awfully small, now don't they?

Bella and the RAST: Part 1 (and how a pinwheel saved the day)

Bella had her RAST test this morning. To say it was anything less than stressful would be a lie.

We met with her incredible allergist and had a great chat about how Bella was doing (no reactions the whole year - yay!) and what to do next.

I knew he would want a RAST this year, he had said as much at last year's appointment. So, in the last few weeks, as best I could, I prepared Bella for the blood draw. She seemed ok with what would happen, and although she wasn't too pysched about it, the promises of a visit to her favorite toy store seemed to help her accept it.

So after our appointment (if you need an allergist, btw, email me - I can recommend a GREAT one on the SF Peninsula), we headed down to the lab, which is thankfully located in the same building. I walked through the door and the sign said:

ESTIMATED WAIT TIME: 60 MINUTES

And right about then, my heart sank. She wasn't going to hold on for 60 minutes (I mean, hello? she's 3). But the person checking us in asked "are you here for you, or for her?". Once I told her it was for Bella, she immediately told us to go through the waiting area and take a seat in the two chairs just beyond it (out of sight of everyone else).

And in about 5 minutes, we were in. Thank goodness for all women staff who obviously have kids. And shame on all those adults who gave us the stink eye for cutting in front of them. Whatever!

So we get in and sit down, and Bella, bless her heart is so happy and smiling (she had no CLUE what she was in for) and holding out her arm, telling them her name, and how old she is (THREE FIVE! she says, which means 3.5 or three and a half). So they get the rubber tourniquet around her arm, clean the area and then go in with the needle (mind you, she was in my lap/clutches, there was one phlebotemist doing the draw and another holding Bella's arm, and poor Mark standing there holding my purse).

And could they immediately find a vein? Oh, OF COURSE NOT! They had to dig a while - I mean, why make it easy? And by now, Bella is looking down and she literally says "I do not want that in my arm anymore!" and immediately starts weeping (and with tears, there's drool people) and then - BAM- it's waterworks for dear old mom, and we're both dripping tears, drool and snot everywhere (did I mention I am STILL sick?). And they fill a large vial with her blood, which Bella wouldn't stop looking at, crying the whole while. We must have been quite a sight.

But then, like that, it was over. They put a gauze on it, and wrapped her arm in that rubbery, sticky tape stuff that was orange with little smiley faces all over it.

And then I whipped out the treat. A HUGE lollipop (not one of those weenie dum dums - I called in the reinforcements :->). And the tears were gone. And she SMILED.

I think that getting your blood drawn is alot like labor. You totally forget the pain (well most of it) after it's over.

And as we walked out the door of the lab, guess what they gave her? A pinwheel! Is that the coolest? Whoever is in charge of that decision should be promoted - she LOVED it. She had her lollipop in one hand and the pinwheel in the other and she was just invincible as we walked to the car.

For the rest of the day, she was very proud of herself, telling the folks at my office what happened, and then my folks. And I think the memory of it all faded even more as the day progressed, because tonight she had to ask "Mama, which arm did they take blood from?"

And I wont tell you the story about how a certain 3 year old was waving her pinwheel out the window of the car only to have it drop in the middle of traffic, and how said mom had to drive all the way back to the lab where they were nice enough to give us another? Well, maybe I should because that's how a pinwheel really saved the day today. I think Bella would still be crying if they didn't give us another.

Thank God tomorrow is a new day.

We'll have results by the end of the week. I am trying to stay very positive. I hope, hope, hope that we get a low level, so we can hope for her outgrowing this allergy some day. I would do just about anything to see that day come. I am hoping that the good deeds I've done in my life will come back to me on this front.

And how are you?