Welcome to the club where nobody wants the free membership card. First, take a deep breath and know you aren’t alone.
Amy Billington
Fueled by coffee and a passion for helping families living with food allergies.
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Last month I was asked by our OIT doctor to give an interview with a staff writer at Healthy Utah Magazine. I’m pleased with how the journalist really seemed to understand the stress and anxiety food allergies can cause a family. Quality of life was one of the largest reasons we chose OIT vs strict avoidance of peanuts…oh yeah, that and avoidance doesn’t always work. I love sharing our experience so that others can determine if oral immunotherapy for food allergies is right for their family.
It’s a fantastic week for the food allergy community as many users on Facebook and even the Empire State Building are turning teal this week to create awareness for the millions of Americans living with food allergies. Continue reading
Food allergies are scary. Food is supposed to be nourishment and a source of joy and even companionship when you eat with those you love. It’s personal. Continue reading
February 18th was the one year anniversary of my son finding freedom from his peanut allergy. He felt safe and secure. Gone was the anxiety ridden little boy who couldn’t imagine his own future. Then…it happened.
This is going to be long because I need to preface my daughter’s story with that of my son, for you to fully understand why home was the best place for me to give birth:
I didn’t go into labor with my son with any real expectation. I had a birth plan that requested minimal interventions, but I was determined to be flexible to the occasion. After more than a day of laboring, I was given one bully of a nurse who turned the birth of my child into a torture session rather than a beautiful event. Continue reading
5. The number of years since my son’s peanut allergy diagnosis.
100. The maximum IGE (number that measures the body’s allergic response via blood test) the standard allergy test will show. His tests always read Peanut IGE >100.
2. The number of years since his anaphylactic reaction from peanut cross contamination in a grilled cheese sandwich from a restaurant.
Wow. Nothing like realizing what a fucked up mess you really are. In September I committed to attending the Food Allergy Bloggers Conference in Denver. Keep in mind, I haven’t flown since 2013 due to in large part to managing my son’s peanut allergy at 20000 feet. So here I am in the air thinking back on the last 12 hours.
Having a life-threatening food allergy can sometimes make the world seem very scary and dangerous…especially when you are a child and things like playing with a toy or eating a grilled cheese at a restaurant have proven to be unsafe. My son suffered reaction after reaction outside our home from peanut residue and cross-contamination in the strangest and unlikeliest of places. In turn, he withdrew and exhibited many behaviors that could have easily been misconstrued as spectrum traits.
A year ago, I was with my kids in a one bedroom apartment in Utah while my son was in the midst of oral immunotherapy for peanuts. My husband was back home in Arizona. We saw him roughly once a month for a few days at a time. Many of our regular Christmas traditions weren’t possible in a new place, though we did try some disastrous things like ice skating.
Many of our activities were put on hold because no one wanted leave my husband out and we knew he was missing us and wanted to be there as much as we wanted him to be with us. So we waited. And waited. And finally, two days before Christmas he arrived for his 9 day stay. 8 of those days, at least one of us had the stomach flu.
Amy is an advocate and an educator, passionate about food allergies and an innovative new therapy called OIT. She is a fan of an organic & mostly paleo lifestyle.Top Posts & Pages
© 2020 Amy Billington