A Different Kind of Challenge

With all the ice buckets being thrown around and on top of the heads of friends, family and celebrities alike, I started to think about how I could harness some of that enthusiasm for a cause close to my heart, food allergy awareness.

ALS #IceBucketChallenge
Given the millions of the money being raised for ALS, it seemed like a given that people around the world would become more educated about the disease.  I mean I had no clue what it entailed.  Without an educational component to the challenge, I wondered how much attention is the actual disease was getting.  I did want to pay my respects, and found out that ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that affects 30,000 Americans at any given time and the life expectancy after diagnosis is grim at just two to five years on average. 

It is amazing to know that in the just over a month since the first person called out ALS as the charity of choice for their polar splash, more than $15 million has been raised for ALS.  I hope that this challenge continues to help those who suffer from ALS and that awareness, education and research for the disease will grown at the same rate as their donations.

Changing it Up
In thinking of terms of food allergies, I wanted a challenge that would be educational along with being something that would be considered a "challenge."  I mean no one wants to be doused by a bucket of ice water, right? I started thinking about all the different ways to get people educated about food allergies. The facts alone are helpful, such as the fact that 15 million Americans have food allergies and that 1 out of 13 children ages 18 and younger is affected by this disease, but how does this help people to understand the world in which we live?

What if I challenged them to live as someone with severe food allergies for just 24 hours. Sure, it's not glamorous and it won't cause your friends to laugh hysterically while you suffer through gallons of ice cold water invading every bodily crevice, but maybe it will open some eyes to the struggles of managing daily life without everyday foods such as milk, bread, and eggs.

The Challenge
I hopped out of bed the next morning (I actually drug my butt unwillingly out of bed) and set to posting the challenge. Here was my first post:

"All of these ALS challenge videos have had my development wheels spinning, so I have decided to ask all of you to help me spread the word about food allergies by challenging each of you to spend 24 hours eating like my Monk. I will make it easy and only restrict you from the 7 of the top 8 food allergens that he is allergic too (not all 20 food allergies.) That means no eggs, dairy, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish or shellfish. Don't think you can manage? Opt out with a donation to FARE (food allergy research and education) at the link below in support of our upcoming food allergy walk. I encourage those that take on the challenge to post pictures or videos of your favorite #monkmeals, and ask your friends to walk a mile in the shoes of those with food allergies. I was going to say that those who accidentally eat an allergen should donate the equivalent of the cost of an ambulance ride, but that might be a bit much." 

Since I have to shop for a much more restricted diet on a regular basis, my pantry and meal list was already prepared for me to follow the challenge and set the example.  

• Breakfast: Monk and I shared our favorite Kale, Mango and Pineapple Smoothie and for a bit of protein I had one of his Applegate breakfast sausages.
• Snack: Banana (which unfortunately, Monk can't eat since it is one of his allergies).
• Snack #2: I'm so hungry!!!!  Now I know why my child wants to constantly eat.  I grab a few turkey pepperonis (again, which Monk can't eat).
• Lunch: Corn tortilla filled with Daiya soy cheese and grilled using Canola Oil "butter". Served with a side of raspberries and strawberries.
• Snack #3: piece of Enjoy Life chocolate (free of all top 8!)
• Dinner: Ground pork, swiss chard and polenta skillet, which calls for parmesan cheese, but I substituted for Daiya Soy cheese again. The whole family got in on the action this time.
• Dessert: handful of Trader Joe's Citrus Gum Drops, which Monk and I shared.

After all of this there were actually a few things that I learned.

1. Soy cheese smells terrible, but it's not bad and melts very nicely.
2. Soy milk is terrible. Period. It just makes me sad.
3. A diet devoid of enriched carbohydrates makes for very hungry people. I totally understand why, "Eatie!!!" is the most frequent word coming from my child's mouth.
4. It really stinks when the rest of your family is eating ice cream bars and you get gum drops.

I hope that a few of you will join me in taking the 24 hour allergy challenge (or donate to FARE) . It can't account for the fear and pain of a reaction, but it can at least help people to understand the efforts taken daily by food allergy parents to keep their kids happy and healthy.

Eat well and remember to plan for lots of snacks!

Adventures in anaphylaxis

 Why would anyone who had a dairy allergic child go visit an ice cream factory?  My Monk has a dairy allergy.  It is both through ingestion and contact, so why risk it?

Allergy Prison
Over the last few months I have continued to try to educate myself and find out everything that I can.  Part of that journey was joining online support groups to be able to hear from my fellow allergy moms.  To know how they live, how they thrive and mainly to just know that there are children out there who have grown up happy and healthy with some of the same allergies that Monk has.

Unfortunately, instead of feeling empowered by their stories, I became more anxious.  Was I a bad allergy mom because I hadn't thought to call each food manufacturer to find out their labeling policies for cross contamination or because I still feed the rest of my family beans, carrots or bananas?

While I have the utmost respect for each and every allergy mom out there and the decisions we each make daily in order to keep our children safe, I was beginning to move back towards my desire to wrap my Monk in a bubble and let him float there beside me forever.  I am a worrier, a panicker, and someone who jumps to worst case scenarios easily, so this new found source of knowledge was threatening to push me back into an allergy prison, where everything would be a constant reminder of the dangers and threat to my child's life.

I need to find a happy place in the middle that will keep me educated but sane, and keep my child safe but with some semblance of normalcy.  So, when my older two children begged to be taken to the Blue Bell Creamery during their last week of summer vacation, I said yes.

Being Cautious
I will admit that the thought of millions of gallons of milk being heated, mixed, flavored, poured, and eaten was enough to give me hives, so we decided before we even left that Monk and I would not go on the tour.  Across the street from the creamery was an Aquatic Center with a great family pool, so our plan was that Monk and I would enjoy the pool while they toured and that they would join us after.

Turned out that we were not the only ones who were pulled by the impending start of school to run towards the country and call of homemade vanilla.  A small change of plan and we headed for the pool first, but not before we headed to the ice cream parlor.

A note for the dairy allergic: One of the employees told me that the scoopers in the Ice Cream parlor would give us a fruit bar if we explained Monk's allergy.  I have begun to carry special treats for Monk with me such as Dum Dum suckers, gumdrops or fruit snacks, so when we stopped first at the Ice Cream parlor, he was happy enough to get his own treat and saved me the additional neurosis of worrying about cross contamination.  I opted to forgo the ice cream as well, which helped defend against any possible jealousy.  Honestly, the lack of ice cream on my part was not as much in solidarity with my child as it was in opposition to my thighs.

Again at the ice cream parlor, I had heart palpitations just thinking of the hands, tables, walls being covered in milk proteins.  I was like the Predator except instead of infrared heat vision it was dairy vision. So I quickly found a table that was separated from most of the others, wiped it down with Clorox wipes and prayed that no one would try to touch my sweet baby. The result...we survived, no hives, no reaction!

Chilling Out Max
We headed off to the aquatic center to cool off and swim away the time before our scheduled tour.  The pool was great for the kids with the entire thing being shallow enough for Punkin to stand up.  There was a "rope course" across floating ice cream sandwiches and popsicles, a slide for the big kids and a banana split slide for the little ones, plus several other water features to keep them entertained.

When it came time for the tour, the other three took off back across the street for more dairy-laden fun while Monk and I enjoyed a bit more time in the pool, which included a short nap of snuggly baby tucked into the crook of my neck (aka...Paradise).

Between the fabulous Texas heat, two rounds of ice cream and plenty of time in the pool, the trip back home was a quiet one, but did include a stop in Chappell Hill, TX, home of Monk's favorite sausage! They have a great shop/restaurant that sells the Chappell Hill sausage and other products as well as serving BBQ, pastries and some of the most wonderful Kolaches ever! We only took a half-dozen home. So much for my thighs.