Whatever it's your life I really could care less what you do, but don't expect me to be all happy for you. Sometimes whether you realize it or not the best support is the support you don't get. :-)
My ramblings
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Totally unrelated post
Being supportive is hard when you don't agree with what you are supposed to be supporting. I have a really hard time with doing this. How am I supposed to cheer you on and wish great things for you, when I believe your doing the wrong thing? I just can't bring myself to this place. So instead I say nothing, you know that old adage that our mom's all taught us "if you don't have something nice to say then say nothing" that's what I do and THAT get's me into trouble as well.
Whatever it's your life I really could care less what you do, but don't expect me to be all happy for you. Sometimes whether you realize it or not the best support is the support you don't get. :-)
Whatever it's your life I really could care less what you do, but don't expect me to be all happy for you. Sometimes whether you realize it or not the best support is the support you don't get. :-)
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Food allergies
Living with a child with many food allergies sucks. We have now had 5 months to adjust and make sure any "bad" food is always out of his reach. However taking him to someone else's house is a nightmare. The first place I go to when I walk in someone's house is the kitchen to make sure there isn't any "bad" food in his reach. It's always a constant worry when he isn't with me or when we go somewhere new. The holidays are going to be a NIGHTMARE. lol
I get really upset about it sometimes. I shouldn't M is a healthy child and I remind myself of that often. But at the same time I just wish I didn't have to constantly worry about him eating something that could potentially harm him. Dairy and Nuts are my big fears. He has been dairy free for 4 months now, and not to long ago I gave him a little bit of a dairy product just to see. Yea that didn't work so well, poor thing had green stools for 3 days afterwards. Nuts are much more of a concern. We have 2 epi-pens that are with us/him constantly, but the thought of EVER needing to use that scares the crap outta me.
Thankfully my family and friends are wonderful, and just as watchful over him as I him. Even better is his sister. Jay is an amazing big sister and she reads every label of everything she eats to see if M can have some. I really am blessed.
I get really upset about it sometimes. I shouldn't M is a healthy child and I remind myself of that often. But at the same time I just wish I didn't have to constantly worry about him eating something that could potentially harm him. Dairy and Nuts are my big fears. He has been dairy free for 4 months now, and not to long ago I gave him a little bit of a dairy product just to see. Yea that didn't work so well, poor thing had green stools for 3 days afterwards. Nuts are much more of a concern. We have 2 epi-pens that are with us/him constantly, but the thought of EVER needing to use that scares the crap outta me.
Thankfully my family and friends are wonderful, and just as watchful over him as I him. Even better is his sister. Jay is an amazing big sister and she reads every label of everything she eats to see if M can have some. I really am blessed.
Monday, May 24, 2010
May is National Asthma & Allergy awareness month
Here are a few facts regarding food allergies:
Peanut allergy doubled in children over a five-year period (1997-2002).
Research suggests that food-related anaphylaxis might be underdiagnosed.
An increasing number of school students and staff have diagnosed life-threatening allergies.
A 2007 study has shown that milk allergy may persist longer in life than previously thought. Of 800
children with milk allergy, only 19 percent had outgrown their allergy by age 4, and only 79 percent had
outgrown it by age 16.
More than 12 million Americans have food allergies. That’s one in 25, or 4 percent of the population.
The incidence of food allergy is highest in young children – one in 17 among those under age 3.
About 3 million children in the U.S. have food allergies.
The number of emergency room visits due to food-induced anaphylaxis in the US ranges from 50,000 to 125,000, depending on the source.
Eight foods account for 90 percent of all food-allergic reactions in the U.S.: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts
(e.g., walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, pecans), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish.
There is no cure for food allergies. Strict avoidance of food allergens and early recognition and management of allergic reactions to food are important measures to prevent serious health consequences.
Even trace amounts of a food allergen can cause a reaction.
Food allergies are life-altering for everyone involved and require constant vigilance.
Here are a few asthma facts:
• About 23 million people, including almost 7 million children, have asthma.
• Asthma prevalence is higher among families with lower incomes.
• 12 million people report having an asthma attack in the past year.
• Asthma accounts for nearly 17 million physician office and hospital visits, 4 and nearly 2 million emergency department visits each year.
• Asthma is one of the most common serious chronic diseases of childhood.
• Asthma is the third-ranking cause of hospitalization among children under 15.
• Asthma in children is the cause of seven million physician visits and nearly 200,000 hospitalizations.
• An average of one out of every 10 school-aged child has asthma.
• 13 million school days are missed each year due to asthma.
Peanut allergy doubled in children over a five-year period (1997-2002).
Research suggests that food-related anaphylaxis might be underdiagnosed.
An increasing number of school students and staff have diagnosed life-threatening allergies.
A 2007 study has shown that milk allergy may persist longer in life than previously thought. Of 800
children with milk allergy, only 19 percent had outgrown their allergy by age 4, and only 79 percent had
outgrown it by age 16.
More than 12 million Americans have food allergies. That’s one in 25, or 4 percent of the population.
The incidence of food allergy is highest in young children – one in 17 among those under age 3.
About 3 million children in the U.S. have food allergies.
The number of emergency room visits due to food-induced anaphylaxis in the US ranges from 50,000 to 125,000, depending on the source.
Eight foods account for 90 percent of all food-allergic reactions in the U.S.: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts
(e.g., walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, pecans), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish.
There is no cure for food allergies. Strict avoidance of food allergens and early recognition and management of allergic reactions to food are important measures to prevent serious health consequences.
Even trace amounts of a food allergen can cause a reaction.
Food allergies are life-altering for everyone involved and require constant vigilance.
Here are a few asthma facts:
• About 23 million people, including almost 7 million children, have asthma.
• Asthma prevalence is higher among families with lower incomes.
• 12 million people report having an asthma attack in the past year.
• Asthma accounts for nearly 17 million physician office and hospital visits, 4 and nearly 2 million emergency department visits each year.
• Asthma is one of the most common serious chronic diseases of childhood.
• Asthma is the third-ranking cause of hospitalization among children under 15.
• Asthma in children is the cause of seven million physician visits and nearly 200,000 hospitalizations.
• An average of one out of every 10 school-aged child has asthma.
• 13 million school days are missed each year due to asthma.
Our Asthma and Food allergy story
These 2 topics are near and dear to my heart since I only have a few days left in May I need to blog blog blog. For those of you who don't know M has Intermittent Asthma and ton's of allergies. Here's a little run down of his history:
At 3 months M had RSV for which he required the use of an inhaler. Now anytime he gets sick he tends to have some wheezing. The only time we really have any asthma issues is when he has a cold. That is why he was diagnosed with intermittent asthma.
At 12 months we started feeding him peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 1 month later at 13 months old I make him a pb&j sandwich, immediately while eating it he developed hives around his mouth. Several days later we see an allergist and do the skin prick testing. Sure enough M has an allergy to peanuts and strawberries. Because of his age and the likely hood of him also being allergic to tree nuts we decide it's just best to say he is allergic to tree nuts as well and keep him away.
From about 6 weeks old and on we noticed alot of belly issues with M. Constipation, reflux, insane crying. Of course he was labeled as "colic" but deep down I knew there was a bigger issue. When we saw the allergist I asked him to test M for a dairy allergy. Along with constipation, and reflux he had also developed eczema since putting him on cows milk. The allergist flat out refused to test him for me. I made another appt for him with a new allergist but it was 4 months away. I decided to switch him to Soy milk to see if that would confirm my dairy allergy suspicions. 5 minutes after drinking Soy milk he started incessantly vomiting. Yep that is a sure sign of an allergy. Eggs also were an issue for my little man. They didn't cause a flat out reaction, but they seemed to really bother his tummy.
January comes finally and we get M in to see the new allergist. I love love love her and she agreed with me to do a full allergy panel. She tested him for Dairy, Egg, Soy, Peanuts and Tree Nuts. The conclusion was that M did in fact have a dairy allergy. Soy and Egg came back negative but we decided it would be best to keep him away from them and to do an Open Challenge this summer in her office. Peanut also came back negative but since he was allergic she said it could just be a false negative and that we would treat him as if he is allergic until we could do an Open Peanut Challenge in the summer of 2011.
Whew that's alot. So for the last 5 months we have eliminated Dairy, Soy, Eggs, Strawberries, Peanuts and Tree Nuts. It was a very daunting and overwhelming undertaking at first, but seriously within a few weeks of all the eliminating I had a completely different child on my hands. He can poop again with it hurting, he can sleep for longer then 3 hours at a time. He no longers cries for hours on end. Finally having answers has truely been a blessing.
At 3 months M had RSV for which he required the use of an inhaler. Now anytime he gets sick he tends to have some wheezing. The only time we really have any asthma issues is when he has a cold. That is why he was diagnosed with intermittent asthma.
At 12 months we started feeding him peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 1 month later at 13 months old I make him a pb&j sandwich, immediately while eating it he developed hives around his mouth. Several days later we see an allergist and do the skin prick testing. Sure enough M has an allergy to peanuts and strawberries. Because of his age and the likely hood of him also being allergic to tree nuts we decide it's just best to say he is allergic to tree nuts as well and keep him away.
From about 6 weeks old and on we noticed alot of belly issues with M. Constipation, reflux, insane crying. Of course he was labeled as "colic" but deep down I knew there was a bigger issue. When we saw the allergist I asked him to test M for a dairy allergy. Along with constipation, and reflux he had also developed eczema since putting him on cows milk. The allergist flat out refused to test him for me. I made another appt for him with a new allergist but it was 4 months away. I decided to switch him to Soy milk to see if that would confirm my dairy allergy suspicions. 5 minutes after drinking Soy milk he started incessantly vomiting. Yep that is a sure sign of an allergy. Eggs also were an issue for my little man. They didn't cause a flat out reaction, but they seemed to really bother his tummy.
January comes finally and we get M in to see the new allergist. I love love love her and she agreed with me to do a full allergy panel. She tested him for Dairy, Egg, Soy, Peanuts and Tree Nuts. The conclusion was that M did in fact have a dairy allergy. Soy and Egg came back negative but we decided it would be best to keep him away from them and to do an Open Challenge this summer in her office. Peanut also came back negative but since he was allergic she said it could just be a false negative and that we would treat him as if he is allergic until we could do an Open Peanut Challenge in the summer of 2011.
Whew that's alot. So for the last 5 months we have eliminated Dairy, Soy, Eggs, Strawberries, Peanuts and Tree Nuts. It was a very daunting and overwhelming undertaking at first, but seriously within a few weeks of all the eliminating I had a completely different child on my hands. He can poop again with it hurting, he can sleep for longer then 3 hours at a time. He no longers cries for hours on end. Finally having answers has truely been a blessing.
Milestones
I really suck at this. LOL
This weekend the kids went to my step-mom and dad's for the weekend. They had a blast and M got his first haircut. 20 months old and his first haircut. After 3.5 inches being cut off, he looks like such a little man now. It's bittersweet but it had to be done. It's getting hot here and the poor thing had about 5-6 inches of hair on his head.
The countdown has begun for Jay. She only has 7 days until summer vacation starts and boy is she excited. Be back later for a bit more info.
This weekend the kids went to my step-mom and dad's for the weekend. They had a blast and M got his first haircut. 20 months old and his first haircut. After 3.5 inches being cut off, he looks like such a little man now. It's bittersweet but it had to be done. It's getting hot here and the poor thing had about 5-6 inches of hair on his head.
The countdown has begun for Jay. She only has 7 days until summer vacation starts and boy is she excited. Be back later for a bit more info.
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