<p>greenwitch, sounds like your D has a tough row to hoe with those allergies–but if she is so sensitive that even shellfish fumes are an issue, I have to wonder why you would even consider having her eat in a school cafeteria. Despite the loss of the social aspect of communal dining, wouldn’t she be far better off controlling her own food selection and preparation rather than relying on cafeteria staff to do adequate and accurate labeling? Wouldn’t the whole experience of navigating a cafeteria two or three times a day be far too nerve wracking?</p>
<p>^^^^^It would for me.</p>
<p>I have a friend who has a little girl with many allergies - including peanuts. She recently sent her child off to school, but instead of asking for special accomoddations to keep peanuts out, she wanted to help educate those kids, staff and other parents around her. The most important one she needed to educate was her daughter about what is safe and what is dangerous. </p>
<p>She figured that her D was going to have to deal with this, possibly her whole life, so start it now. </p>
<p>I guess what I wonder with those suffering from these life threatening allergies is - what happens when they are older and go to work or a friend’s house, fly on a plane or sit on a train without being in a protected bubble? Do the allergies become less dangerous with age, or can you ever outgrow them? </p>
<p>My kid had fairly serious allergies and asthma, but none that required an epi-pen - as he was exposed to more things in his environment, he actually improved. His doctor said that the cleaner the environment, the more likely he would hit a trigger and get sick. As his immune system built up, we turned off the HEPA fans and let him be exposed to things. As an adult, he still gets a few significant allergies - but they aren’t worse, and there are fewer of them, but asthma seems under control. </p>
<p>Does anyone here know if peanut or other life threatening allergies diminish over time?</p>
<p>^My understanding is often they do. There are also various regimes to deliberately try to lessen allergies. There was an article about one in the NYT magazine a while back. <a href=“Can a Radical New Treatment Save Children With Severe Food Allergies? - The New York Times”>Can a Radical New Treatment Save Children With Severe Food Allergies? - The New York Times;
<p>We were told when my daughter was diagnosed (by a leading food allergy researcher at Hopkins) that many food allergies wane over time but that this particular one does not.</p>
<p>However, I believe that in the ensuing almost 20 years, there has been some progress in thinking on this matter and they now believe that some patients may indeed outgrow peanut allergy.</p>
<p>One of the other participants in her gap year program apparently was re-tested just before leaving for Israel and found out he was no longer allergic to peanuts…or chick peas! That was obviously a HUGE thing to find out just before embarking on a year in Israel.</p>
<p>We considered whether we should have had my daughter re-tested, because it had been years since she’d had a reaction, but then she had an allergic reaction to something she ate while in Israel (where peanut-allergy is unusual and precautions were, in her experience, very lax) and another one last year at college. So we reluctantly conclude that she is not among those who will outgrow the problem.</p>
<p>Yes, if I were about to go off for a year in Israel I would want to be able to eat chickpeas. Falafel…mmmmm. Sorry about your daughter still having to deal with the PA, though.</p>
<p>A nurse friend with a daughter with a severe PA was invited to be part of a study to investigate some kind of exposure therapy to reduce and eliminate peanut reactions. She really considered it (daughter was in middle school), but the study was to be conducted within arms reach of mechanical ventilators, etc. in a very controlled hospital environment, and she decided she just couldn’t take the chance even with the emergency equipment and drugs so close at hand.</p>
<p>Curtis Sittenfeld has an opinion piece in today’s New York Times about peanut allergies.</p>
<p>
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/opinion/sunday/epipens-for-all.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/opinion/sunday/epipens-for-all.html</a></p>
<p>Interesting piece. By the time I finished it, I was convinced each teacher should be armed with an Epipen in the desk drawer, since it seems like even the delay in getting the child to the school nurse, or vice versa, could be critical. But now I’m wondering whether there would be any serious risk in using an Epipen where it isn’t actually needed–i.e., if a non-medically trained person, like a teacher, misdiagnosed an allergic reaction?</p>
<p>In some circles people are suggesting teachers be armed in schools in order to try save students’ lives in the event of a madman with a gun entering their classroom. I would rather my kid’s teacher have an epipen than a firearm.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And, they may not. All we know from this quote is that they were injected with an epipen. (really sloppy writing, Ms. Sittenfield.)</p>
<p>Agreed, sally! </p>
<p>Came to find this thread to post the article, but happy to see someone beat me to it. Epinephrine increases heart rate. The old fight or flight reaction, but not long lasting, not otherwise harmful. Delay in injection, if needed, is far more risky.</p>
<p>Just make sure its turned around the right way.</p>
<p>There are new epi-pens that are electronic, and they talk to you, counting to five, etc. Hopefully it eliminates panic and error.</p>
<p>Marian,
"No, MIAMI. No one has to ban meat because YOU have difficulty swallowing it, because the solution is that you don’t eat meat. See how that works? "
-Some people have peanut allergy (life threatanning) and some people have my condition (there is a name for my condition, it is not unique to me), which is also life threatanning. who is to say which one causing more deaths? I did not check statistics at all. I am not concerned with me. I am concerned with others who love peanut products but will not have them available while many many other products just as life threatanning (or more?) are still going to be served. So, the conclusion is scream as loud as you can then they will listen to YOU, not others.
And who is to say that “No harm will come to you from eating these traces of beef.”? - even MD cannot answer this question. There is harm in all processed food, and we DO NOT HAVE UNPROCESSED FOOD, period. You and nobody else knows how many die from the process that we put our food thru. In addition, I bet, many more die from contaminated beef, polutry, fish than peanut prodcuts, I really have no question about it.</p>
<p>Miami, are you saying that if you accidentally ingested a trace of meat you could go into shock and die within 20 minutes?</p>
<p>^I am saying that many actually have died ( I am still alive!!) from contaminated beef, polutry, fish, and actually lattuce and many others. I am also saying that, yes, I almost chocked many time on meat and have to be very careful consuming it (thank goodness, not my favorite food) and there is a diagnosis for my condition, I am not unique. Yes, I could have died and not in 20 minutes, but sooner. And most people with peanut allergy (all?) are aware of their condition by the time they are at college and they have special medicine on them 100% of time. The same as I have to be careful with my meat 100% of the time. And others absolutely cannot have glutten or milk and many many continue diying from food contamination in general but more so when eating out and more so eating at student dining halls. Everybody knows that.</p>
<p>The special medicine is an Epipen. All that does is buy the allergic person time to get to the hospital. It does not ensure survival. </p>
<p>There’s a big difference between a life threatening allergy and a choking condition. You will not die because the knife you use to smear mayo on your cheese sandwich was previously used to do the same on a roast beef sandwich. My nephew has the same or a similar condition. It was quite a challenge when he was a baby, but it simply meant his parents had to be careful about the size and consistency of the foods he ate. He still has to be careful to chew foods thoroughly.</p>
<p>My daughter has a guava allergy. If she eats guava the area around her mouth gets red and the roof of her mouth itches. Frankly, big deal. She can avoid guava, but if she accidentally ingests it, as has happened a couple of times, she won’t be rushed off to the hospital in an ambulance.</p>
<p>I have a bee allergy. I have an Epipen and have taken a couple of trips to the hospital. The parallels some have made to not serving peanuts in the dining halls and exterminating all bees on the campus are a bit silly. Of course you can’t get rid of all bees, but if there was a big wasp’s nest over the doorway of my dorm I would have expected the school to bee-bomb it. I would also strenuously object if the only place to eat on campus was in the midst of a field of wildflowers (weird analogy, I know, but the closest thing I could come up with to being asked to eat in a cafeteria where anything could be contaminated with a life-threatening allergen.) </p>
<p>Salmonella and other food borne pathogens are dangerous. That’s why they are not allowed to be in the foods served to the public.</p>
<p>Miami, you are not going to choke on a trace of food that is too small for you to see.</p>
<p>If a large chunk of meat got into your meatless noodle entree, you would notice it. You would remove it. You would not be harmed by it.</p>
<p>This is entirely different from the situation of someone who could die from eating food contaminated with small traces of peanut butter.</p>
<p>This thread has really become kinda crazy. It all boils down to the fact that schools need to make potential students aware of any food restrictions during the decision period so that students can make informed decisions before committing to any school.</p>