I have been amazed at how well Tyler is handling the fact that he can not eat everything the rest of us do. Until the last couple of months, I was pretty sneaky so he wouldn't know. But I feel he understands his allergy enough that he can handle it. So, to prevent any melt downs I explained the situation. As luck would have it, we had a small individual serving of Ben and Jerry's in our freezer. I offered to bring that or let him pick some other treat. Amazingly, he picked a safe granola bar.
When we got to the front of the line (there was a LONG line!), I froze. There was a big container of peanuts in front of the ice cream freezer. I reminded myself that instead of hyperventilating, I could this as a "teachable moment." I told Tyler not to touch the counter or anything at all in the vicinity of the peanuts. I pointed to them and showed him why I was saying this. He said "OK" and kept his hands to himself. I never once had to remind him!
Once we got our ice cream, Tyler was more interested in playing in the playground area (we were in a mall). He did not ask for his granola bar at all. Instead, he pretended like he was serving ice cream to others.
One more note about Ben and Jerry's: This is a company that "gets" food allergies. They had a sign that said if you have a food allergy to let them know and they will do everything they can to accommodate you. For me, that would mean opening a fresh container of ice cream and using a throughly scrubbed scooper and getting a serving container and spoon out of an unopened box. I'm still not sure if this is within my comfort level but it is nice to know we might have an option if we ever want to go out for ice cream as a family.
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A special request: Are any of you out there dealing with a soy allergy? I have a friend whose one year old was recently diagnosed with a soy allergy (thankfully he is not PA). She is having a terrible time finding safe food for him to eat. If you deal with soy, would you please leave a comment or email me (peanutallergykid AT gmail DOT com) and give me some suggestions on foods for her son and places to shop. Thanks!!)
5 comments:
Being a past soy, egg, dairy and nut allergy parent who is now thankfully only challenged with PA for my son, all I can say is PA alone is way easier!!!
During our Soy aversion I found that there were no crackers that didn't have soy in them except some like enjoy life brand, AND, I found that the crackers I could find at an imports store or an asian market didn't have soy in them. It seemed to me that all the USA companies had infused soy into everything. I learned to make home made spagetti becuase there seemed to be so few safe jars. I did find that Trader Joes has a yummy pizza that hadn't been made in a facility with nuts or soy and didn't have soy in it. I thought that was a rare find for sure!!!
I had to make EVERYTHING home made for William because of the soy allergy. Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips in the same greatness that it gives us freedom to be peanut free, it is also soy free, PTL!!!! I still have to use them and I am ever greatful.
When going out to eat, Arby's can be your best friend. They use Corn Oil for frying and most of their breads are soy free. Check with them for an option for fast food.
My biggest encouragement is to just remember to go back to the basics. Cook from scratch and it is easy to remove soy. It took a lot more thought to do it, but it was a lot more liberating knowing that the food that Will was eating was healthy. I don't think my family ate as well as they did when I was cooking without soy.
This is my favorite site too for helpful foods: http://www.canyoueatit.com/
Sorry that you are plagued with the allergies, but PTL there is a huge support out in computer land :)!
I am not allergic to soy, but I do have an incredibly painful non-allergic reaction to even the slightest amount of soy (painful like this: if drug-free childbirth was a 10, my soy pain is easily a 7 or 8).
Anyway, Trader Joe's is your friend. Certainly, TJ's is my friend... practically my best friend these days! When I shop in a normal supermarket, 9 out of 10 items go back on the shelf after I've read the ingredients, but in TJ's, only maybe 4 out of 10 things contain soy. I am in heaven! Send your friend there, pronto!!!
I'm 30 and have suffered from a life long severe allergy to peanuts, and a much less severe but equally unpleasant soy allergy. I recently had an allergic reaction to peanuts after having an egg salad sandwich at Silver Diner, because apparently they had a station with peanuts right next to the sandwich station!
With regard to the soy allergy, I have found that I have issues with soy protein, but not soybean oil. That means I can't eat stuff with actual soybeans (like soy sauce, duh) as well as anything that uses soy flour or soy protein to add fiber and protein. But what I don't have any problem with is soybean oil or soy lecithin, which seem to be in everything. A lot of products have big warnings of "soy", except for me at least, they're perfectly safe. You should check with your doctor about it.
Another thing that I've noticed is that peanuts seem to get into everything, but with soybeans, I actually have to eat it -- there don't seem to be "trace" amounts of soy in anything.
On the bright side, not being able to eat most junk food has kept me in really good shape over the years... your child is lucky to have parents who understand the difference between "allergic to" and "don't like". My parents insisted that not eating peanut butter was un-American until the doctor smacked them when I was about 12.
Good luck!
I have a pretty severe soy allergy and am a vegetarian! Everything (almost) has soy in it.
Pam spray, tortillas, 99% of chocolate, most breads. Its a really tough allergy to deal with.
I would say to try and cook whole as much as possible and read the labels.
Lecithin is always soy.
Many lotions and soaps have soy, so be sure to check those as well.
For eating out, Panera has many soy free soups and some bagels are soy free (but not all).
Most pizzas have soy, but not Whole Foods pizzas.
You have to be vigilant and smart.
Ben & Jerrys does have soy free icecreams, but not all are. The oatmeal cookie one has Soybean Oil in it :((( so sad! I want it so bad ;)
good luck!
As for crackers, Kashi also makes a few crackers that are soy free.
And thank god for Enjoy Life! I can eat chocolate again!
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