A "Flatts" Treat

One thing that always seems to be off limits due to Tyler's peanut allergy is chocolate. Not that I advocate over indulging your child in candy, there is something just special about picking out a candy bar at the store on special occasions. (Plus, a life without chocolate is just plain sad!)

The only candy bar I found to be safe for Tyler, on occasion, is a Hershey's chocolate bar. I say "on occasion" because sometimes the label will read that a particular bar has been processed in a facility with tree nuts.

Hershey's gets food allergies and label well. So if there is not a cross contamination warning, I know that it was processed in one of their facilities without nuts. (A special note, I have never found any of the giant bars or miniatures that are safe, only the regular sized bars and not always those. Always, always double check labels!)

If you have read this blog for long, you might remember that I mentioned that Tyler's absolute favorite music group is the country group Rascal Flatts. He is crazy about them. And I do mean "crazy!"

So, you can imagine our joy earlier in the summer when we learned that Rascal Flatts was doing a special promotion with Hershey's. It wasn't for Mr. Goodbar (thank goodness) or even Hershey's with almonds.

No, it was for the one candy bar Tyler can eat: Hershey's chocolate bar!!

Most parents cannot understand the joy of your child seeing a commercial for candy and actually being able to purchase that candy for your child. But we were so excited to be able to do it!

The promotion was only for the prepacked bags of 6 candy bars. I was a little worried these might have a cross contamination warning but they did not. Boy, were we excited!

Now, in our home, a Hershey's bar has affectionately been renamed to a "Rascal Flatts bar."

In honor of Tyler's favorite commercial and the only candy bar that he can eat, here is the promotional ad. Thanks Hershey!!

Looking for "Back to School" Stories

I recently asked you guys for suggestions about what you would like to see on this blog. Since school is fast approaching, that is what is on most of your minds. We are going to a new preschool this year so it is on mine, as well.

So...I want to hear from you!!

**If your child has already been in school (including preschool), I would love to hear from you about what you did to get to a place where you felt comfortable.

**Or, if you are still in the preparation stages of the coming school year and have been working to get to a place where the situation doesn't give you nightmares (trust me, I've been there!), I would also like to hear your story.

I know there is probably not a single reader that is not dealing with this issue or will not at some point in the future. I know we all will benefit from reading a multitude of situations and reactions. We must support each other during this stressful time!!

If you would like to share your story (limit 500 words please), please email it to me at peanutallergykid AT gmail DOT com. (f you have a blog, I will link back to you. Or, if you wish, you can be anonymous.) Depending on the response, this could become a really great and diverse series!!

An Orange Mystery

By far Tyler's favorite place in the grocery store is the produce department. If it were up to him, we would buy one of everything. He absolutely loves fruits and vegetables! For him, our local farmer's market is like a toy store!

(Don't ask me what I did to make him turn out this way because my other child is the exact opposite!)

To encourage his love of produce but not break our budget, I allow him to pick one of anything each time we go to a place where produce is sold. A couple of weeks ago his choice was an orange (pretty tame after some choices like collard greens!). In my mind, there was nothing more ordinary and innocent than an orange.

As is customary with his little ritual, he wanted to carry it around the store rather than put it in the grocery cart. He loves to admire it and talk about his purchase.

As we shopped, I noticed a patch of eczema developing right around his mouth. This was very unusual because I recently cleared his eczema up with a very strict diet. (There is a series of posts coming up soon on how I did this.) So, when I saw the eczema I knew it was something that he had just been exposed to. As I watched him, he was touching the orange to his face from time to time.

While I had not given it much thought at the time, there were nuts (not peanuts but walnuts, I think) in a bin or two over from the oranges. I had not given it much thought at the time since I knew we would be peeling the orange for Tyler to eat it.

But, in his excitement, the orange had touched his face several times. So there is absolutely no telling what he came into contact with!

In the end, that was the only reaction. (You can imagine my panic initially!) But it gave me a good teaching moment about the importance of washing produce before eating it, even if we are peeling it. Really, this was rather unusual situation since our regular grocery store only has nuts in in packages. I tried a new grocery store to take advantage of some sales. I got way more than I bargained for sure!

Had I ever thought to warn him about touching produce to his face at the store? Uh, no. Never crossed my mind! Does he know the protocol for how to handle produce now? Yep!

There are so many teaching opportunities (and panic moments for a mom!) when it comes to nut allergies. This was just one more for us to add to our list of "not safe things to do."


photo courtesy of flickr

PA Kid Returns Tomorrow!

I want to thank all of you who have left such encouraging comments about the blog! I will spend the next few weeks trying to plan and write posts to answer some of your questions. I will return to some regular, more simple posts tomorrow. I will start the more complex posts next week.

See you then!

Where is the PA Kid?

That seems to be the question! Thanks to all of you who have emailed me to see if I have fallen off the planet. (I apologize to those of you who haven't received a reply yet. I will!) For the two or three of you who are still reading the blog, I am still alive. I promise!

I apologize for not announcing my unexpected absence. I kept thinking I would be back into the swing of things. Yet, I didn't.

So, where was I? Well, coping with my own health problems that, thankfully, are not food allergy related. Yet, they have been life changing, nonetheless. I have spent the last few weeks desperately trying to get a handle on my own health where there doesn't seem to be a lot of answers. I am doing a tremendous amount of research.

One thing many of my readers may find very interesting is that many of the dietary changes that I have made in the last few months, and particularly the last few weeks, have causes Tyler's eczema to completely disappear! I still can't believe it was as simple as a few simple changes has helped him be rash free for the first time in his life.

I'm sure I will be sharing my journey over the last few weeks. If you are interested in healthier eating and a lifestyle in general, you might like those posts. For me, sharing this journey will be a bit of a catharsis.

Even though my health problems are not food allergy related, FA's are touching me in very real ways. The dietary changes I must make have forced me to contact companies to make sure the new foods I must eat are safe for for other two nut allergy family members. This has been a draining process!

Thank you so much to those of you that are still checking this blog. There were moments when I felt totally overwhelmed with my own problems that I felt like stopping the blog. Sometimes writing about my son's (and now my husband) nut allergy is depressing. Yet, knowing I help others is why I do it. But hearing from some of you (many of you are people I have never met face to face) reminds me that this blog is needed. It is something I can write while I deal with my own health problems. Food allergies are my passion!

I would love to hear in the comments from some of you what you would like me to cover in some upcoming posts. I'm going back to square one to start planning posts. In addition, I may only blog 3 days a week for the next few weeks so I can devote some time to research for my own health issues. By the fall, I hope to be back to my regular schedule.

Thanks again for all the support! I would love to know what and where you would like to see the blog covering.