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.

Vacationing with Allergies

It's not the first time. Last summer we went to Mexico for my brother's wedding. Of course all we knew at that point was that Monk had an egg allergy, and even then I was a crazy person who waved the EpiPens at any and every federales chanting, "Needles. Medicina por mi nino!"

At least this time there is no language barrier, no customs to get through,  and I have had a year of experience behind me to better prepare.

We opted for a much closer destination this time around, and headed out to the Hyatt Lost Pines in Bastrop, Texas.  Just a few hours car ride meant that we got to forgo the panic of boarding an airplane as well as having the option to pack the kitchen sink if I felt so inclined.

Prep Work
Anyone who has ever gone anywhere with three kids knows the prep work needed to make even a trip to the grocery store happen.  Needless to say, there was a bit more planning that needed to be done in order for all of us to be able to enjoy our time away.

Beyond making certain that everyone had enough underwear, appropriate shoes, and a toothbrush,  I needed to make sure that we could all eat without indecent. A quick call to the hotel and I was told that each room had a mini fridge, but none of their rooms were equipped with a kitchen.  I am not at a point yet where I am willing to trust others with food preparation for Monk.  I mentioned my concern to the hotel reservationist (side note: I have discovered that you get much more information and accommodation when you speak to the on-site reservationist, not the folks you get when calling the 1-800 number.)  Apparently the hotel has a finite number of microwaves available, but given our situation, she was able to guarantee that we would be able to have one.

I didn't really pack the kitchen sink, but I did pack the pantry.  I cooked pork, corn, broccoli and brown rice pasta, took various fruits, breakfast sausage, soy milk, soy yogurt, Chex cereal and numerous toddler squeeze pouches.  I researched the closest hospital to the resort (better safe than sorry).  I double checked ingredients on our sunscreens to ensure that they were allergen free.  Lastly, (and probably most importantly) we brought extra adults.  Vacations are always better with grandparents, right?  And when you are already outnumbered by your kids, the extra hands are much appreciated.  Plus, my parents have  actually gone the way of Benjamin Button and are more adventurous and fun as grandparents than I remember them being as parents.

Grams with Punkin on the water slide.

Monk and his favorite person, Boppa.

Rest and Relax
Well, sort of.  Has anyone ever rested on vacation with three children?

We arrived at the Hyatt Lost Pines where a very energetic young man had the privileged of unloading 400 lbs of suitcases, coolers, snacks, pillow, stuffed animals and such.  Kristen (yep, a guy) was our first staff interaction at Lost Pines and he set the tone for what would end up being the norm for their customer service.  Helpful smiles and, even though I'm far too young, lots of ma'ams greeted us consistently. 


Once we got settled I visited the concierge desk to ask questions about their medical emergency procedures.  I found out that I could dial a specific two digit number from any phone on the resort and immediately be connected with their emergency team.  Granted, it was not an emergency medical team, but they would go into action getting us to a safe place in the resort and getting ambulances to us.  They again mapped out the closest urgent care centers and hospitals in the area for me.

With all that handled, there was nothing left but to head to the pool and sit for countless hours soaking up the sun with a Mycolada in hand (just trust me that its better than a Pina Colada.) 


Entertaining the Masses
The pool area was a parent's dream. With a water slide, lazy river, splash pad, and beach all within feet from each other, the kids could enjoy themselves safely and within eye-shot of my lounge chair.  We found that the pool area didn't get busy until about 10:00 am, which was when the water slide opened.  So each morning after breakfast we went straight to the pool and staked our claim on prime territory at the base of the water slide.

The view from our shaded lounge chairs.

The pool was probably enough to entertain and exhaust my children by itself, but the resort offered several other activities on their daily schedule.  Bikes for all sizes (including ones with toddler seats for Monk) were available to check out, there were art projects twice a day (beyond your standard coloring sheet), visits from the resort's ponies and longhorns, exploring the butterfly garden, and Jag's personal favorite were the sports offered on the lawn each afternoon, such as soccer played with a 3 ft inflatable soccer ball! The Hyatt also offered paid attractions off property such as horseback riding and rock climbing complete with a zip line from the top!

Ponies were an added bonus for Punkin.

Jag got to show off his climbing skills.

Night time entertainment abounded as well with movie nights each evening on the lawn and s'mores at the fire pit, and even star gazing tours where we were lucky enough to get a close up view of Saturn and her rings. Amazing! And even with the added sugar of melted marshmallow and chocolate, my kids still managed to crawl into their beds and snooze off almost immediately each night.

Precautions
I knew that we would be spending countless hours outdoors and since Monk's EpiPens needed to be stored between 59°F and 86°F (meaning you can't be outside in Texas with one nor can it be kept in a cooler/refrigerator) I sought out a way to keep our EpiPens safe and cool.  I found Kool Blankets from Allergy Apparel, which have individual cells filled with liquid to keep the heat from getting to the medicine. I purchased two and kept one in the cooler while the other was wrapped around two EpiPens.  I swapped the blankets about every hour or so to ensure that they were kept cool.  I also purchased a waterproof EpiPen carrier so that we could carry them around the lazy river.  I will say that we did end up with condensation inside the carrier (none in the Epi containers), but overall it held up and relieved my fear of Monk having a reaction on the opposite side of the pool from our stuff.

Meals proved to be a different challenge. We don't eat out a lot at home.  Beyond having three children and the shear not fun-ness of having everyone sit still at a table for longer than 30 minutes, it can get expensive and certainly is not allergy friendly for Monk, but vacationing means restaurants and letting someone else do all the cooking.

Our reservation included a buffet breakfast each morning complete with omelet station. Cue anxiety! However, each day we would arrive at the hostess station and I would explain Monk's allergies and that we needed to be far from the food and omelet station as possible, and each day the hostesses were wonderful. They didn't blink or ask questions, but made arrangements to seat us on the far side of the restaurant.

For each meal I would pull out some of what I had prepared for Monk beforehand, pop it in the microwave and head out to the restaurants.  I would wipe their tables and their highchairs down with Clorox cleaning cloths amidst a few "she's that mother" kind of stares,  but, out of twelve sit down meals, we didn't have one food allergy reaction. Looking toward what I hope will be a future with less food allergies, I was actually fairly impressed with the resort's kids menu as it offered several allergy friendly meals, such as sunbutter, jelly and banana sandwiches and gluten free blueberry pancakes.

When Can We Go Back?
We managed 5 full days of fun and entertainment without the excitement of a full blown reaction (what's a week without a few hives to keep things interesting).   For our family, who were in much need of a vacation, it was perfect.  Close enough for comfort, but far enough away to feel the escape.  Thank you to the great staff at the Hyatt for helping to make it a great trip!

Is there such a thing as a family photo with everyone smiling and being still?

Check ups and milestones

Monk had his 18 month check up this week.  We went through all the questions of toddler milestones.

Does he say more than 8 words?
Lots more if you count "no" "mine" and different versions of "mom" used interchangeably depending on mood and how loud he has to be to get my attention.
Can he walk up stairs with assistance?
He can climb a 7 foot ladder with the bottom rung removed and get himself into his own high chair, so yeah.
Does he run?
HA!

While we all want to make sure that our children are hitting those milestones, I was anxious about a different measurement.  Weight.

Monk had been teetering just under the 20 lb. mark for months.  He would have a bad allergy month and loose several pounds only to put on enough weight to come back up to 19lb. 10oz. at our next appointment. No one said to me that he needed to be over 20lb. and no one seemed worried or was questioning his weight.  I mean he basically lives off of one source of meat (pork), fruits, veggies and rice, and doctors have commented that he is "small but growing." So the fact that we hovered just out of reach of what I considered in my head to be a milestone weight was really beginning to get to me.

When we got on the scale this week at the doctor, I cringed just a little bit.  I had the same feeling I get when I watch "Extreme Weight Loss" and the contestant needed to loose those last few lbs but ate a cheeseburger the week before weigh in!!!!  Beep, beep, beep.  The numbers go up and then down, and then...wait for it....your kid hits the power button.  Reset. Start again.  And the scale said...22lbs!!!  Needless to say I was excited.  Enough in fact to write a whole post about it.

It has been almost 2 months to the day since our last episode of anaphlaxis, and he has grown from being in the 9th percentile to the 21st percentile.  So I will be labeling this a success and hoping against hope that this is the new trend in our life.  In fact, I'm calling it a new year starting July 1. This family now runs on a fiscal year plan!