I ran a poll on the site asking whether you thought your child would outgrow his or her allergies. 75% of you expect your child to live with lifelong food allergy. For peanut allergic kids this is perhaps the reality. For children who are allergic to milk or egg the prognosis is better with 70-80% outgrowing their allergy by age 16, though it is possibly taking up to 13 years longer for that to happen.
This past week I had the pleasure of attending Anaphylaxis Canada’s inaugural BC Conference held in Vancouver. The event covered two days, with a training session for spokespeople on Saturday and the formal conference agenda on Sunday.
This was my first Anaphylaxis Canada event and I was immediately struck by the sense of camaraderie and common purpose that the participants shared.
For those unable to attend, there were the NoPeanuts event highlights:
NoPeanutsPlease is about to reach a significant milestone ... 10,000 visitors! To celebrate I have decided to host an event in Vancouver during Food Allergy Awareness Week (May 11-17).
The first-ever NoPeanuts Playdate will be held at 11am on Saturday, May 17 at a local Vancouver park (TBD).
If you are in the Vancouver area and interested in attending the first NoPeanuts Playdate, please email me. Of course allergy friendly snacks will be provided ... please let me know in advance what allergies you are managing and I will endeavour to provide treats that are safe for everybody. (I'm up for the challenge!)
Regular readers will know that I have an issue with unshelled peanuts at sporting events. It's very dangerous for those with peanut allergies as the dust and shell debris are generously distributed within a six foot radius of the person actually enjoying the peanuts.
The last time I brought our daughter to a Canucks game, a fan threw an unshelled peanut out of the upper section (after a bad call by the referee) ... as luck would have it, the peanut landed right on my daughters seat! My heart skipped a beat but I do not think she even noticed.
Just this week I posted about the Nashua Pride baseball team offering a peanut free section for its games. The AAA Rochester Red Wings have gone one step further, offering an allergy-free concession stand called 'Free'. In addition the team has designated an entire area of seating in left field a 'peanut and tree-nut free zone'.
The allergy free concession stand is very progressive thinking! I actually prefer it to the peanut free zone in the outfield.
So why did they take action with the food they are serving fans? Naomi Silver, chief operating officer of the Red Wings, said the idea came about as a result of "several fan inquiries." Of course it probably didn't hurt that Ms. Silver's son has a peanut allergy.
The irony is that the Wings are the "oldest and longest running minor league franchise in the history of professional sports", yet they are showing some of the most progressive thinking in terms of addressing the issue of food allergy at sporting events.
Let's hope that 'Free' excels as a AAA baseball prospect and gets promoted to the big leagues in the near future. 'Free' could possibly become a multi-sport phenom with Dave Nonis, Canucks GM, looking to make several moves in the offseason.
Perhaps one day I'll be able to go to a Canucks game without having peanut shells on my shoes and pant legs when I return home.
I read an article today from CTV Winnipeg, in which a mother was contending that "her daughter's spring break was ruined because of an airline policy that can't guarantee safety for passengers with severe food allergies."
I have two issues with this contention.
First of all, like it or not, airlines cannot guarantee the safety of ANY passenger. Though the incidence of medical emergency from any and all causes has doubled in recent years from 19 to 35 per 1M passengers, the increase is primarily due to the "rising number of older passengers". There are multiple safety concerns facing airlines and they cannot be expected to provide a 100% safety guarantee, short of not allowing passengers with anaphylaxis to fly.
My second issue is with the sensationalism of the statement that West Jet ruined spring break. That type of rhetoric serves only to illicit a forceful, and opposite, response from the non-allergic public. Those dealing with food allergies are best-served to remain calm and stick with facts and logic when raising their concerns.
Notwithstanding the fact that airlines cannot guarantee safety, there are precautions that travelers and airlines can take.
What can airlines do to (easily) accommodate allergic passengers?
In multiple posts I have proposed that a very simple procedure that would significantly minimize risk, without unreasonably inconveniencing other passengers.
My simple proposal:
The airline crew should announce, as a courtesy, that there is a peanut allergic passenger on board and that it would be best for people to not eat peanuts, especially in the rows in close proximity to the passenger.
I have to believe that most reasonable people, upon hearing such an announcement, would forgo their peanuts to ensure the safety of an unsuspecting allergic child.
Air Canada recently followed this procedure for us and it worked perfectly. Other passengers were more than happy to help. It was a simple, practical announcement that made sure passengers were aware without alarming them. This is relatively easy for peanuts as airlines no longer serve them, and only those passengers who brought peanuts on board would be negatively affected. This could be somewhat more difficult for a cashew allergy since Air Canada sells those in-flight.
This relatively minor concession is worth the risk. In the above-noted post I told the story of another flight (when I was traveling without my daughter) and a passenger directly behind me opened a bag of peanuts at 7am. During that flight two peanuts rolled down under my seat ... that is a significant risk factor for my daughter and if we have to make an emergency landing everybody is inconvenienced.
I am often struck by life's little ironies. One such irony is that despite the volume of Blogger content covering severe food allergy, Google spell check does not recognize the word anaphylaxis.
As regular readers will know, I have a strong opinion that unshelled peanuts should be removed from larger sporting venues. This week the Nashua Pride, a minor pro baseball team, announced a peanut free section for their home games. I am fine with people eating peanuts at these events, but the unshelled variety of peanuts poses an unacceptable risk to people in the vicinity, should they have a peanut allergy.
Many times we have come home from Canucks games to find peanut debris on our shoes, pants and jackets. I would certainly be uncomfortable watching the game with my peanut allergic daughter if somebody nearby was spreading peanut shells all over the floor.
I am happy to see organizations taking a first step toward what will hopefully be removal of unshelled peanuts entirely.
For those of you in the Vancouver area, please note that tonight our family will be featured on Global TV as part of a news hour series on anaphylaxis and severe food allergy. The series is a run-up to Anaphylaxis Canada's BC Conference, being held in Vancouver on Sunday, April 6.
We will be featured somewhere between 6-7pm during Global TV's 6 o'clock News Hour. The local channel is 11 (Shaw).
This series is great for local exposure of severe food allergy and anaphylaxis.
Our 3 year old daughter is severely allergic to peanuts and, to a lesser extent is allergic to egg. One of the challenges of managing an allergy in a young child is to ensure that she knows that peanuts can 'make her sick' while not causing her to have overly heightened anxiety.
Recently I tried to get the point across by telling her that her Barbie was allergic to peanuts and eggs. I wanted her to understand that her 'allergic Barbie' could do all the things her other Barbies could do as long as she did not eat peanuts or eggs. Not surprisingly our daughter has latched onto the 'allergic Barbie' and become somewhat protective.
Tonight she took the game to a whole new level.
Apparently at 6:25 PM this evening 'Allergic Barbie' ate a peanut. Our daughter surprised me by playing out an entire emergency situation. She did not panic and dealt with emergency swiftly. First she took down Barbie's pants and used a needle in her doctor's kit to give Barbie an 'EpiPen'. She then used her Elmo phone to call the 'ambuhlance' and had Mommy open the front door to let the paramedics in. The paramedics helped make Barbie safe and everybody went to the 'hostibal' together.
I was very impressed. Since our daughter is three, she would not likely have full comprehension of the seriousness of an emergency. She simply knows that Barbie is 'sick' after eating a peanut, and she wants to help make her better. That being said, the emergency game clearly demonstrates that she knows to act fast, use an auto-injector and call an ambulance. Understanding the basics of an allergy emergency will make her safer.
In this month's issue of Allergic Living there is an article about children developing heightened anxiety as a result of managing their severe food allergy. The Barbie games we are playing in our home seem to be a healthy way to deal with a serious health issue without shocking our daughter.
It will be interesting to see how this develops over time.
The Villager of Distinction accolade goes to a person or group that has done something remarkable or special for those with severe allergies. The latest recipient of this accolade is Trace Adkins, the renowned country music star. Let me explain ...
Tonight my wife and I watched the finale of Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice. We have watched the Apprentice occasionally during its run. At first I have to admit that the celebrity version of the show seemed to be ill-conceived, yet for some reason I was drawn in.
The basic premise was that celebrities would play the game in the normal fashion, but instead of getting 'hired' by Mr. Trump, they would win $250,000 for the charity of their choice.
Over the course of the game I was struck by the way Trace Adkins carried himself. The man of few words seldom spoke but when he did it was often very insightful and noteworthy.
It was only in the last few episodes that I realized that Trace was supporting FAAN!
Trace has a six year old daughter with severe food allergies. In the finale Trace told Mr. Trump that he was playing for the "3 million fathers" who send their children to school living in the fear that they may not come home. He spoke with a passion that was seldom seen from him during the game. Being one of those fathers I was deeply moved by the emotion behind his words.
Trace is receiving this accolade for two reasons. As you can see from the enclosed Google Trends chart, there was a significant spike in Google searches for 'food allergy' after the March 6 episode of the Apprentice. It was in that episode where Trace was project manager and was able to talk about about FAAN.
I am also acknowledging Trace for the way in which he carried himself as an ambassador for the allergy community. He played hard but always with integrity, and he never lost sight of his motivation for playing in the first place ... his six year old daughter who suffers from severe food allergies. Very touching.
Well done Trace!
Please note: You can support Trace and FAAN by purchasing "You're Gonna Miss This - Single" at iTunes ... all proceeds go to FAAN and the charity single is only on sale for two weeks!
