<p>I don’t think you need to rationalize your lifestyle by calling my statements silly. Good luck to you - I don’t call your choices silly.</p>
<p>Here is the story about the little girl saved by Natasha Richardson’s tragedy:</p>
<p>[Natasha’s</a> lesson helps save Ohio girl - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/26/head.injury.emergency/index.html]Natasha’s”>Natasha's lesson helps save Ohio girl - CNN.com)</p>
<p>Kelowna, you are minimizing the seriousness of food allergies. Anaphylactic shock is life-threatening, and it can be triggered by a minute amount of the allergen. The Epi-pen will stop the symptoms for about 15 minutes; therefore, they are prescribed in pairs. That gives you half an hour to get to the emergency room. No matter how careful you are, you have no control over what restaurant cooks put into their food. While I don’t tether my son to a hospital, I do make sure that any place where he spends a significant amount of time has an emergency room nearby.</p>
<p>NYMomof2 - I am not minimizing it. I am an RN with a family member with life threatening food allergies. I am saying that , in my world of things, an anaphylactic reaction to a known allergen is different than an accident. That’s all.</p>
<p>NYMom - did you read the thread about the peanut sniffing dog?</p>
<p>Thanks for the interesting about the epi pen by the way. My best friend carries one and I had no idea it only really helps for 15 minutes so would have had no idea that I would have still needed to cart her off to the ER ASAP. Good to know.</p>
<p>swimcatsmom, It is important to know that anyone who has been given the Epi-pen needs to go to the ER right away, in an ambulance. Benadryl should also be given, if possible (sometimes the throat is swollen). The Epi-pen will usually stop the reaction immediately, but as I posted above, its effects do not last very long. </p>
<p>I have not read the thread about the peanut-sniffing dog, but I should. My son is not allergic to peanuts, only to several tree nuts. Early on he was allergic to peanuts, as well as to about a dozen other foods, but he outgrew the allergies to everything but the nuts. It is not common for children to outgrow a documented peanut allergy, but it does happen sometimes.</p>