Trick or Treat for Food Allergies- 7th annual campaign

It is that time of year again- the 7th annual Trick or Treat for Food Allergy research and education. The Taylor's will be particapating again this year. How can you help. Get out your check book and send a check to Sean or Laurie Taylor marked with Trick or Treat FAAN in the memo- we will add it to the money Lynda will collect on Halloween night and send it to our favorite Food Allergy charity to help kids like Lynda. Can you help? If you need our address,

105 Maiden Street
Center Point, IA 52213

Thanks in advance for helping the cause!
Boo!

Breathing Treatments!!!!

Well it is that time of year when Lynda's asthma decides to kick into high gear. The cool, wet and falling leaves set her asthma off. Her eczema has flared too. Just have to keep her healthy, so we can avoid the hospital.

Puffy Eyes

Last night Lynda slept in her brothers bed- he is off at AIT Training in the Army and I think she was missing him. With new sheets on the bed she had a reaction to the mattress. She woke up with puffy eyes and swollen face. So off we went to church with sunglasses. Benadryl and ice packs took care of it.

Have a great Sunday.

The Taylors

Too hot

Lynda got to hot at school today so her eczema has flared up. In the tub she went, then it was 2 tsp of benadryl, lotion, and wet pjs. I rocked her for about 10 minutes and she fell asleep.

Emergency Room

Last night I had to take Sean to the emergency room. He was having an allergic reaction to acorn squash. Redness and some swelling in the face, broke out in a sweat and then had diarrhea within 1 hour of eating acorn squash, he said that it felt like his throat was closing. It was very scary. He was able to come home. We went to church this morning and he has been sleeping ever since we got home.

Last week Sean and I were out of town and grandma and grandpa were taking care of the girls. Lynda's and Callie's lunches were put into the wrong lunch boxes. Lynda opened her lunch box and saw that the food was not safe for her. She called the lunch room supervisor over for help. The nurse drove Lynda home and grandma was able to fix Lynda a new lunch. We are so proud of Lynda and the school for paying attention. This could have been a tragic disaster. God was watching over Lynda while we were away.

Unfiltered Raw Honey

I read that if you apply Unfiltered Raw Honey to your skin if you have a cut it will act like an antibiotic. So last night we tried this on Lynda's skin where she has these staph pustules. Then we covered them with wet socks and then dry socks. This morning to my surprise the pustules were just a red spots on her skin. A pustule basically looks like a pimple. The yellowish head on the pustules were gone. We are going to do this again tonight. Now that I know this works when we just see one pustule we will pull the honey out of the cabinet put some on her skin and then put on a bandaid.

Take care and God bless

Skin Infection

Lynda does have a staph skin infection. We are keeping her skin covered and she is on antibiotics.

The First Day of School- 2009!

The first day of school is an anxious one for any parent. The rush of emotions, glee, sadness, excitement, worry and pride. But for a child with food allergies (and their parents), all these emotions are multiplied. A new teacher, kids and maybe even a new school that has to get used to your child, understand their "rules" and learn to live with the differences. We are very blessed to be in the Center Point-Urbana School District (CPU) and they have a wonderful staff, and excellent nurse and kitchen staff as well as understanding parents and classmates. That being said it does not mean that all is always rosy. Lynda's skin flared 2 days before school started. With this mild summer we have had we have been blessed that she has not had much to report on the eczema side of things, but the humidity hit like a freight train a few days ago when the reality of Aug finally hit. So through careful planning and enacting "the plan" Lynda looks great on her first day of school. (see picture above) It took 2 days of wet wraps, face included, and her daycare provider doing the same while her parents were at work. You never know what each day will bring, except the smile of your beautiful child. So those with allergies, eczema or asthma please know your hard work is worth it everyday. It can be frustrating, hard emotionally for your child if they are teased or made fun of, but know that you and the strength of the Lord will pull you both through.

Check List for the Start of School:
________________________________
* Meet with the Administration- share your story, what it takes to keep your child safe and what you would like to see
* Be flexible- the plan you had may not work for the school as a whole- work with the staff at your school to come up with an alternative or compromise.
* Know your school nurse- make sure she has a list of your child's allergies, triggers and issues
* Make sure the school knows how to get a hold of you. Cell Phones, Pagers e-mail etc.
* If your child is highly allergic to certain things and they could come in contact with them in the course of their education, have a plan for gloves or masks to protect your child.
* Find out if there are other children in your school with the same issues, maybe you could start a small support group or have someone to discuss issues or ideas with.
* Suggest to your school that rewards should not be about food and to use food items as little as possible in their curriculum. i.e. using M&M's to learn counting.
* Start a PAL program in your classroom- your child's classmates need to understand how to help keep your child safe as well.
* Use on-line resources- share them with your district- they don't know what they don't know. This is your time to be an educator.
* Take Epi-Pen trainers to the school- Give them to the teachers, lunch staff and nursing staff so they know what to do should that time come.
* Create a safe zone for your child in the lunch room- Don't segregate children with food allergies, just create a safe zone on your child's table.
* Meet with the District Nutrition Director and staff, chances are they have not been trained in cross contamination. Help them help you- teach them how to keep your child safe.

I hope these back to school tips help. If you ever have any questions- post to the blog, send us your e-mail we will do what we can to help.

Have a great new School Year!

The Taylor's

Eczema flare and possible skin infection

Lynda's skin has flared up. It also looks like there might be a skin infection starting. Of course this would have to happen the weekend before school starts. We are wet wrapping and bathing three times a day to get her skin under control before school starts. We don't want her to miss the first day of school, but to keep her physically and emotionally healthy that might just be the route we take.

Lynda is becoming very aware that her skin is different from everyone else. She prefers to wear long sleeve shirts and pants. Her arms and legs are easy to cover up but when her entire face is affected that makes life much more difficult for her to deal with. She will ask to have her hair down to cover her face. She wants to wear her big sunhat and glasses.

Lynda needs a friend that goes to her school that has eczema too. Someone she can relate too. That way she does not feel like she is the only one that is different.

Callie's Birthday Party!

Boy the summer has flown by and we have been so busy we did not mention Callie's birthday party. We had a blast and Callie wanted a cupcake cake, so dad found one. We invited over all the cousins and kids from the neiborhood. The picture shows how center of attention Callie was. Did I mention she is a Hanna Montana superfan? She had a blast and fun was had by all. We had a record July as no place in the state of Iowa reached 90 degrees on any day, so with nice weather we were able to have the party outside on the 20th of July without melting away!

Have a great summer, we will be talking Back to School tips shortly- 2 weeks until school starts... whew, where did the summer go?


The Taylor's

The Blank Park Zoo

A couple weeks ago the family took a day trip to Des Moines and the Blank Park Zoo. Sean & Laurie had both grown up in Iowa and never been there. It was a pretty impressive zoo by all accounts. Lynda and Callie had a blast watching the sea lions, the feeding penguins and see the Lions and Tigers and Bears. We walked around for hours checking out the various animals- birds and general wildlife. We had a snack at the snack bar and enjoyed the cool July weather.

We heard from Matt

Hello All,

We heard from Matt- sounds like Basic Training (Army training Sir....) is going well for him. He did well on his first day on the shooting range putting all his bullets into the inner circle. Bad new though, he will not be returning in Sept to see us all due to the Army fast tracking his training. Will keep you posted as we hear, if you need his mailing address let us know.

The Taylor's

Happy 4th of July America

Well the annual Taylor tradition of going to Independence Iowa for their huge 4th parade continued yesterday. This year was not as sunny and dry as past years. Yep we all looked like soaked rats by the end of the hour and 1/2 long parade. The girls had a blast, grandma and grandpa came with us to hang out, get wet and drive back. We did not get to take pics due to the amount of rainfall- so next year we will double up. The girls have had a good forth, we have been trying to incorporate tradition with food allergy safety. So far so good- knock on wood as always. I hope you all had a great 4th weekend and enjoyed the birthday of our country. We have heard from Matt a couple times at Basic as he went through the reception process- sounds like things were going well so far- can't wait to hear back from him again soon! God Bless America!

Have a great week!

Summer Season of Parades Begins

Well is you are not aware the Taylor girls most favorite summer activity is parades and fireworks. So this time of year is GREAT! We overslept for the Freedom Fest parade so we went to Fairfax for their parade! What a great place, Daddy ran into his friend Lance there as well. Next week we are going to the world famous Independence Iowa parade. We were thinking of heading into town for the free drive in theater at the CRBT for Hotel for Dogs, but we had been out running around all day and we are pooped. So pooped both Callie and Lynda crashed when they got home. Hope all is well with everyone. Lynda's skin is starting to break out from the heat so we are back in the mode of getting back on top of it. Callie and Lynda had a great week at vacation bible school learning their "moves" to the go fish songs as Callie puts it. Hope you all have a great week. Be safe with your food.

Happy 4th!

Summer is just a little sweeter this year....

Well yet another milestone. One of our worst memories of summer has been when the ice cream truck starts rolling down the street. Every year all the kids (and there are a lot) from our neighborhood would run and wait for the ice cream truck. Lynda always looked so sad. Sure we made her own Popsicle, but they weren't the same. Well the folks that come through our area got some that are Lynda safe and she was able to purchase her first Popsicle from the truck. She was grinning from ear to ear. It is such the little things in life.

Happy summer everyone!

Angel Food Ministries

Great news for all those allergy suffers out there. Angel Food Ministries has a program where you can get $60.00 worth of food for $30.00 bucks. No qualification needed, just submit your order and you are in. It is a great deal. Now for the new and exciting news.... They have an Allergen Free Box. Here is what their website says:

ALLERGEN-FREE BOX

Processed to eliminate the eight top serious allergens: Peanuts, Soybeans, Milk, Eggs, Fish, Crustacea, Tree Nuts and Gluten (wheat, rye and barley). Great for children and adults!

A link to this months menu can be found HERE!

Support this great cause and get great food to eat. Hope this helps out someone! Have a great afternoon. 2 days until Gage's benefit!

Graduation Weekend

Lynda's oldest brother Matt graduated from High School yesterday. We had a great party and had a bonfire past midnight. Lynda's skin has been a bit iffy the last couple of days, but she has been outside playing a lot and the pollen count for trees is through the roof. With the holiday weekend we have had lots of fun with the neighbor kids and all our visitors. Matt did great at graduation and we are a few weeks away from heading to the army. Ships off to South Carolina for basic. Looks like Laurie and Sean will be heading east for graduation again in a few weeks. All for now we have more to come very soon. Has been really busy getting through the end of the school year and Matt's graduation. Remember next weekend is Gage's fundraiser- head over to Ottumwa if you can. If you have anything for the auction Sean & Laurie will take it over there.

God Bless!

Gage's Benefit is finally Scheduled! Horay!

Hello All,

The benefit for Gage is set! Please see the flier posted here. We will be taking donations for the silent auction and donations on behalf of Gage here in Eastern Iowa and get them down for the benefit. If you or you business can help us get Gage there, please prayerfully consider whatever you can do. Gage's mom does not have the benefit of insurance like we did, so this bill will be HUGE! Help how you can.

Let me know if you have questions.

Allergic Reaction Day Three

Lynda is doing much better the redness is almost gone and the swelling is starting to come down. We did not have to seek medical attention this time. The only thing I can think of that would have brought on this reaction is that she slept with the wrong pillow. The pillow she got a hold of did not have the dust mite protective zipper cover. That pillow has since been removed from our home.

Allergic Reaction day two

Her face is still swollen and red. No other part of her body is being affected at this time. She is not having any breathing problems. Spoke with the doctor on call this morning and we are going to wait another day and see if she can turn the corner her at home. If she is still bad on Monday we will go to the doctor.
We are wet wrapping and giving Benadryl every 4 hours.

If any of the Mercy Hospital nurses are reading this we may be coming to see you soon.