Welcome to my comeback – well ,I just really took a short sabbatical. You understand, right ? I mean after 16 years as an allergy parent it gets pretty old and depressing talking about all of the things that your kid can’t eat. We focus our entire lives around those things we need to run from (e.g., nuts) and all those things we need to make sure we take with us (e.g., epipens) ; it gets a little tedious , doesn’t it ? Let’s not even mention those family members we ignore because we are so focused on worrying about one person. It is then little brother with no allergies and/or our spouse that ..read more

How crazy is it that as a mom I have spent 90%of my child’s life trying to keep him safe from the tree nuts he is allergic to ? Now , after a successful oral challenge at 15 years old at the allergist’s office he is now eating Almonds like they are going out of style. I can’t quite wrap my head around it and I know it’s safe now , yet to change my way of thinking so fast will require a bit of time . This happened at age 8 with Dairy & age 9 with Egg ; yet for some reason the Nuts did not come with a smile for me . The allergist then told me that I can challenge Cashews, Pistachios and Peca ..read more

We all know all know how exciting it is when we find an item at the store that is does not have nuts ! But what is even more exciting is when we find a product that specifically says MADE IN A NUT FREE FACILITY !! Having been a member of several online social media groups I have had the opportunity to see allergy parents at work; post after post of how they called the manufacturer to verify the allergen statement .  It might state that the item is made in a facility with nuts or on the same equipment as nuts or it may not say anything at all . By law it doesn’t need to – FALCPA , the food ..read more

  It’s a snow day here in Michigan (our first this school year). It’s been a very long time since I’ve blogged; kind of just got blogged out! Not to mention – started substitute teaching ; I love it ! Who knew ? It’s truly amazing how things can change over the years; like our interests – what we thought we wanted to do as a profession has evolved. Why now though ? We have evolved (especially 25 years after declaring a major at university). Food allergies; they can evolve and have for us. What was a typical food allergy as a young child has evolved into gastrointestinal issues for a ..read more