Lynda's First Day of Kindergarten

Well Mom and I survived Lynda's first day of Kindergarten. This morning was a challenge remembering every little think like say..... LUNCH for her. Yikes. Our new routine makes the mornings a little more hectic with the additional chores what not. Lynda had a great day, she even got to play with her friend Nicole at recess. Next week Callie starts pre-school and Matt has made it though his first week of his senior year. WOW time is flying by. Laurie went and had lunch with Lynda today to check out the new peanut free table there and Lynda did not want her to leave. More to come as we start this new adventure.

Sean

Grand SLAM at the ballpark!

It was amazing to see the other families affected by food allergies here in Eastern Iowa come out to the ball game last night. I want to say thank you to the Kernel's for pulling this event together! Jessica and I were in close contact all night and niether of us heard of anyone having an reaction while at the game. I also want to say thank you to FAAN for providing pencils, bracelets and documentation to had out to everyone who attended!

Three things that I learned last night were
1. That we really need a FAAN support group chapter here in Iowa.
2. That there is a product called Sun Butter at Wal-Mart for only $3.00. It is a peanut butter substitute. It is made out of sunflower seeds. I will be stopping at Wal-Mart sometime today to read the ingredients to see if this Sun Butter is safe for Lynda to eat.
3.There is one school who is not working with the family as a team to keep their daughter safe.

Lynda had a great time. She wore gloves during the game to protect her from her other allergens. I have already checked out her skin this morning and there does not appear to be any signs of a delayed reaction. Thank you God!

Many people hope that the Kernel's will do this event again next year. We sure hope they do too. I suggested to Jessica to make the Food Allergy Awareness Day the first game of the season. That way the stadium will be still be clean from last game played and from all of the winter snow and spring rains.

Drop Jesssica Fergesen a letter or an e-mail letting her know that you want to see another Food Allergy Awareness Day at the ballpark.

Here is Jessica's contact information:
Community Relations Director
Cedar Rapids Kernels
950 Rockford Rd. SW
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
jfergesen@kernels.com

Thank you to all the families that stopped by to share their stories about their children, friends and co-workers and the challenges. So many said this was the first opportunity for their families to go to a ballgame together. So often we hear that many parents say they feel like they are on an island when dealing with this affliction. Well last night gave us an opportunity to be on the same island for a while!

Have a great (and safe) day. Knowledge is power, so help is keep people informed about food allergies.

The Taylor's

PS Yes the Kernel's did WIN last night :)

Two Great Articles

Hello all ! I hope you are making plans to head out to the Kernels game in Cedar Rapids tomorrow night. Minor League and Major League teams a like are join in this great event to educate and allow children that do not normally get to enjoy our national past time see a professional baseball game! There was a great article today in our local paper (Thanks Cindy) and one recently in Newsweek regarding food allergies. See both articles here:

Cedar Rapids Kernels Article

Newsweek Article

Come enjoy tomorrow nights game! Hopefully we can sell the place out! Let's enjoy a nut free experience at the ball park! See you all there!

The Taylor's

....and the Rockets Red Glare!

I hope you all had a great 4th! We were able to get up early on Friday morning and head to Independence Iowa for their parade (with a name like that how can it not be totally awesome!). We had a blast, the parade was over an hour long and they had fire trucks, squirt gun fights, water balloons and cool stuff to have. Callie got a lot of candy, I got a Pioneer hat, UNI t-shirt and a 4H t-shirt. Callie & I got necklaces too! Then we went to the riverside park and had lunch. Matt had a pulled pork sandwich with hot bbq sauce and Callie and I went to the kids fun zone. We did not stay too long cause Matt had to get back to work. All in all really fun time. Then that night we went to grandma & grandpa meyer's house. They live really close to where the fire works are shot off and we got to fall asleep in our bed there, got woke up for the fire works (which were awesome) and then crash back again. We also spent time in the afternoon swimming in their pool where they live. Callie and I both jumped off the side into daddy and mommy's arms. We also both went under the water. I can't wait to go back. Mom was sick most of the weekend with the flood flu so we got to spend a bunch of time with Dad! Hope all is well. God bless and pray for all the kids with food allergies.

Lynda Dee

PS don't forget allergy night at the ball park for the CR Kernels July 29th!

Skin Infection

We been busy taking Lynda to the doctor since Thursday of last week. She has a skin infection. The first antibiotic she was put on is resistant to the infection, so we are on another antibiotic. Sean is taking her back to the doctor today because this new antibiotic does not seem to be helping either.

Lynda is at grandma's house today. Callie went along so they could play with each other. They took their new squirt guns. Look out grandma you are going to get wet.

Things are starting to Dry Out

Hello all, sorry for the long absence- here is the update from Iowa. We have had intermitent access the the internet due to a host of reasons. Our house faired very well compared to what you all have seen on the national news. A bit of water in the basement, but nothing hard to handle (did not even cover 1/4th of our basement). Lynda has had some struggles as you might guys will all the toxins and whatnot in the air. Her skin is very red and she has been fighting off an infection for the better part of a week. Laurie & I have gone into over protection mode with her since her peds unit is still closed due to the flooding. Dad lost both his boats and we are very saddened by this, it was a great escape for him and we enjoyed watching fireworks from down on the river. We drove down trying to find a friends house in the area near where the boats were docked and it was horrific. We could not even bring ourselves to take pictures it was so bad. If you can and have the means, please do donate to the red cross. If you would like to give to our local red cross chapter for flood relief, please click here!

As a family we count our blessings. All our family members are safe, all our homes made it and god blessed us all for being Iowans!

Have a great day.

Sean

Do we need to build an Arc?

It has been a historic event as they have been saying on the national news. In 1993 we had 19.5 feet, in 1923 the all time high of 20.5 and we are currently at 29.8 and we have not crested yet. They are shooting out estimates of 33-37 feet! Many businesses in downtown CR are wet up over the top door frame, the picture of the City Hall for CR is normally on an Island and the water is 20-30 feet below, not it is trying to go through the front door. Crest for us is supposed to happen tomorrow sometime maybe Sat. On top of that we get storm after storm. Levy breaches, people are being mandatory evacuated and in some cases have to get their entire lives in 1/2 and hour. There are approx 6000 households no including businesses that are totaled by the flood and that is just in CR.
There are a couple towns that are 100% evacuated- Palo, IA & Vinton IA just to name a couple. God bless all the folks that have been devastated. Dad's boat is hanging on to it's dock by a thread, but we just go word on the news that the first house boat at his marina has broken loose and is heading down the river. They have also lost a bridge loaded with rail cars earlier today and the only road north and south that is still open is I-380 and it has been open and closed several times today. We have a mandatory curfew 9PM to 5AM and they have instituted marshal law. The National Guard and local authorities are patrolling. So far we have been able to keep the water in our basement at bay by digging trenches around our house. Pray for no more rain.

Have a great day.
Sean

Rain rain go away!

Well here we go again, more rain. I can't go outside and run and play. My skin is doing pretty good, but it is a bit bumpy. I did not have to do wet wraps tonight :) Yesterday we got to go over to grandpa John's to swim and celebrate our cousin Landon's 2nd Birthday. It was great everyone else had ice cream and cake and I had a snow cone my mommy made me. We got just a ton of rain today something like 8 inches in an hour. The whole back yard was flooded and dad said this was worse that 93 whatever that means. We drove downtown Center Point and saw some trees down and also a street closed because a creek had taken over it. The tornado sirens went off (Callie and I don't like those at all) and we had to go down in the basement for awhile. Matt was working at McDonald's and had to go into the bathroom until they had the all clear. I guess there was a small tornado about 10 miles north of us. Everyone was ok here!

Hope you all had a blessed weekend-
That's it for now!
Lynda Dee!

I spoke to soon

Lynda woke up Sunday morning with her face red and swollen again :(
Back to wet wrapping.

Gage is in the newspaper!

Lynda is doing much better. She was able to go to school with out wet wraps on Thursday.

Now our friend Gage is in the Ottumwa Courier newspaper select this link to see the story:
Click Here

Courtney said in our weekly e-mails that people are now contacting her to help with a fundraiser to get Gage to National Jewish. This is very exciting news!

God is wonderful!

Wet wraps

Lynda's skin has decided to flare we have been wet wrapping every night. Today she went to school in wet wraps. She was not very excited about this at all. Her face is our biggest concern, it is red and it is swollen. We do wet wrap her face at night. We will most likely have to start wet wrapping her face during the day.

Last night brought back many memories that I hoped I would never have to live again. Lynda did not want to get into the bath tub, because she knew that the water would burn her skin. She was crying and and screaming no mommy it will burn, then she started frantically scratching her legs, arms, and stomach.

When someone has eczema there are many little cuts and scraps that we can see and many that we can not see. The water will get into those openings and it will burn or sting.

I remembered that Beth Ann at National Jewish gave Lynda a squirt bottle and said you can squirt me with one hand, while I hold the other hand. That way Lynda would not be able to scratch at her skin and cause any more damage, and it would allow her to calm down and let the water heal her skin.

After our 20 minute bath, it was time to get lotioned up and wet wraps on. Then to the rocking chair we go to sing songs, wrapped in a warm blanket from the dryer.

She fell asleep and did not wake until morning.

I hope and pray that this latest flare will pass quickly. Our biggest fear is that she will pick up a skin infection while at school or daycare. We love our friends at the hospital but we do not want to see them anytime soon.

If you are living with someone or know someone who has eczema remember that we must provide them compassion because they must take one day at a time, and sometimes we must take every hour or every minute at a time we just can't control what our bodies are going to do when it comes in contact with a eczema trigger.

New Story on Local Toddler with Food Allergies

Yesterday someone was kind enough to alert us to a story on KWWL News 7 about a toddler in Cedar Falls dealing with food allergies and they did a very nice story on this family. Check out the story on the KWWL website HERE! It was a well done story and resonated home with us here at Taylor central. We are very glad to see these issues get more and more attention. Knowledge is power and may save a life! Laurie met today with representatives at the Cedar Rapids Kernels to talk about the upcoming allergy free game (They will not be selling any peanuts at the game on April 29th!) We hope you all go out and support them for this wonderful event. A special thank you to the Kernels for making this event safer for those with food allergies! Hope you are all having a great week.

The Taylor's

Spring is here! Well sort of.......

According to the calendar is it spring (and Callie's nose) and the pollen is flying. The temperature is not though, it was a very cold and rainy mothers day here is Iowa. The forecast is for rain for the next week and we are hoping for some dry weather. We are planting a Lynda friendly garden this year so we can maximize our food dollar during the summer. Matt has been been doing ok with his allergies this spring so far and Lynda has kept herself out of the hospital (knock on wood). We painted the girls room Pink & Purple upon request of the occupants of said room. Lynda is also graduating from Pre-School this week! Her teacher says she is doing well and we are preparing the kindergarten staff for what they are in for. We did a dry run in April with a visit day and they had a big list of things they need to make sure they are covered for. Matt has decided to continue with football next fall so Friday nights will be fun at our house. And Maybe a bonfire or two after the varsity games come Sept. Iowa has a bill going to the house and senate on how to handle kids with food allergies when they are in the care of the school. It is very similar to the Sabrina's law passed in Canada. We are very excited about the prospect of this passing. Have a great week everyone. We love hearing from you all!

The Taylor's

Sad News- Local Child Dies from Food Allergies

In the Gazette on Saturday there was an article about a local Cedar Rapids boy who died while in the care of a daycare provider. It happened earlier this year and it was recently discovered he died due to allergies to wheat. We are sending out special prayers for this family and a warning for those that have children with food allergies to be diligent. Never think you are being over protective. In this case the daycare provider was working with the parents and it sounds like the wheat was undisclosed on some food she fed him. He was only 18 months old. God Bless this little soul and remember if this happens once it has happened too many times.


Hope you all have a great week! Pray for the family as they deal with their loss.

The Taylor's

You can sure tell it is Pollen Season

This week has been a rough one. Callie has the hardest time during this time of year if you can believe it. She has been a continuing flow of snot (gross) due to her allergies. We have been doing her nose washes and that has helped a ton. Lynda is a bit red but nothing compared to last year at this time.
Matt seems to be suffering a bit this year too. There is so much rain here that we have had to resort to rain boots and rain coats. Dad has to goto Salt Lake City next weekend for a conference. Matt has to get his hand worked on, he has a bump the doctor has to fix. We really can't wait for the farmers markets to start up again so we can get fresh produce every week. We also like getting balloon animals from the guy there too.
Last weekend Mommy taught another little girl and her mom how to wet wrap her eczema. She is from a near by town as well. There are several kids around here that are like me with either food allergies or eczema. Last week we also had an earthquake in the midwest and some felt it here. I thought that territory was reserved for California where my aunt, uncle and cousins live. Matt went to prom and his pictures came back great! Keep an eye out for future updates. The scooters were a present from the easter bunny (since we don't get candy and all).

Lynda Dee

It's Sunday- Weekly Recap

Hope all are doing well. Lynda had a bout with Walking Pneumonia that was diagnosed on Thursday. So home we stayed and got some antibiotics to help us get better. She still has red spot where she broke out around her eyes. It kind of makes her look like she is wearing a racoon costume. So by Friday afternoon she was back to bouncing off the walls and driving mom crazy! Callie as been doing well and getting ready to goto preschool next year. In the last 2 weeks we have had kindergarten roundup and preschool roundup. We are pretty roundup at this point. Callie & I went to the PTO spring carnival and found out on the way home that tornado sirens are pretty loud. Ya got to love Iowa spring weather. In the last couple weeks we have had 2" of snow and tornado touch downs (south of here about 30 mi), high winds, rain and more rain. We are excited about the coming we as we are supposed to have a dry out period and reach 70 degrees. :) Matt had to have his toe worked on for an ingrown toenail this week and it hurt to have it dug out. He has had to have this process done several times, but this time was the most painful (and he has a high tolerance of pain). He is at Chrystalsys this weekend for church. We will see how he does with 3 strait days with no cell phones, no TV, no video games or computers. I hope he does not come back in a catatonic state (ha). Lynda sent in her annual request to the governor for a proclamation for National Food Allergy Awareness in May and we got it back in the mail Thursday! Thanks Gov. Culver for your support!

Hope all is well with you and yours
The Taylor's

Food Allergy Awareness Week: Living and Learning Together

FAAN has announced the dates for this years Food Allergy Awareness Week (FAAW) for the week of May 11th to the 17th. If you need ideas on how to celebrate this week or help on ideas on how to bring awareness to your community, visit FAAN's website for more details (Or click here).

I am sure we will be cooking up some fun for Lynda's weekly activities. Post a comment and let us know if you have activities planned!

Have a great week!

The Taylor's

New FAAN Poster

Download your copy of the poster here!

Gage is in the hospital

Our friend Gage is currently admitted to the Mayo Clinic for a skin infection. His mom is hoping that they will do some allergy testing or refer her to National Jewish.

She mentioned some hospital in Wisconsin that has a similiar program as National Jewish. Once she has more information she will pass it on to me and I will pass it on to others.

This family needs our thoughts and prayers right now.

Sometimes Second Place is great!

Tonight was the season finale of the Celebrity Apprentice. Unfortunately Trace did not win, but he did make parents and family members of kids with food allergies proud. He brought this important issue to the forefront of national attention. If you missed the great video talking about FAAN last night check it out here. It sounded like things I have said or Laurie has said a million times. It also gives us hope that we should not give up this fight. Trace is also donating all the proceed of the iTunes downloads of his #1 country hit You're Gonna Miss This to FAAN, so if you are a country music FAAN (pun on purpose) then please consider downloading this track and supporting kids with food allergies. Even if you are not, download it as a gift to someone else. Laurie and I are supporting a move to get Sabrina's Law passed in Iowa, we are going to need a lot of help and support. I am warning you now I am going to be asking for letters and calls to our leaders and I may be looking for help to raise money as we have a couple kids here in Iowa that need help with their trip to National Jewish. Does anyone know Donald Trump, I would like to ask him for a couple donations.....

Have a great Friday-
Pray it Forward :)

All our love,

The Taylor's