The Financial Toll on Families with Food Allergies

There is an article published on the NY Times website on May 14th of this year talking about the struggles of families that have true food allergies. If you want to read the full article go HERE.

I can tell you from the Taylor standpoint the amount of money we spend in co-pays, deductibles and specialty foods far outweighs most peoples budgets. Yes some people dealing with cancer and other lifelong illnesses are in the same boat we are. Although I would estimate we spend more per month on Lynda's specialty food required for her than the other three folks in the household (Scary it was still true when Matt lived here too).

“The loss of income and the additional costs associated with food allergies can have a significant financial impact,” Dr. Perry said the article states.

The other issue is that families with serious food allergies tend never to get ahead. It only takes one bite or someone who did not wash their hands after exposure to peanuts or milk and we have a several hundred or thousand dollar medical bill. It is hard for many people to comprehend. And if either of us is out of work-that puts a larger strain on the family finances.

"Take a quick look at any health food store and you will immediately notice the high prices. Factor in the dozens of special products people with food allergies need, and you have a huge grocery bill. " the article continues- many of these food items need to be produced in facilities that also do not produce items with tree nuts, peanuts or milk.

Most of the public does not realize how much their food is cross contaminated. The same equipment that makes your M&M's also makes the Mars Bar with peanuts.

Moral of the story- if you have a child with food allergies- watch every dollar even in the good times, if you don't... pray for those who do.

Have a great week.

The Taylor's

Huge Increase in MRSA with hospitalized Children!

Recently in an AP story talked about MRSA and the huge increase in cases involving hospitalized children.
"The number of children hospitalized with dangerous drug-resistant staph infections surged 10-fold in recent years, a study found." the story read. This is especially concerning for us as Lynda easily contracts MRSA as it is with her skin reactions due to food allergies. Once MRSA gets into the blood it is hard to beat and for children that are allergic to most antibiotics this presents in most cases more hospital time.

"Almost 30,000 children were hospitalized with MRSA infections at the hospitals studied during the 10-year period. Most had skin or muscle infections, and 374 youngsters with MRSA died." the article continued.

This should be concerning to any parent as MRSA can turn quickly and can cause death. Keeping your childrens hands clean, cleaning and disinfecting their cuts is important to keep this threat down. For those children who have skin issues due to eczema or open sores it may cause you to resort to adding bleach to baths. By adding a table spoon or two to a bath tub full of water you can greatly minimize the risk of MRSA.

If you would like to see the full article you can access it HERE.

Have a safe weekend.

The Taylor's

Food Allergies: What's the Reality?

Food Allergies in the News- Story today on GMA

As I ready for work this morning I see that GMA is reporting on food allergies. See the Video Posted above. Once again the media diepcts this as something most people don't really have. They do provide some helpful and useful info in this clip- but to the casual watcher all they here is " food allergies are real?. This as you can image concerns me about way this is reported and sensationlizing of the story to get viewers. <>

Parents and Food Allergic adults already have a tough enough time with people thinking they are over reacting or it is not as bad as they make it out to be. Then to have an story like this it makes it worse. Due to what is available for testing- the limited resources in the medical community and the lack of funding and research on a national level this is not going to get better any time soon. If someone is intolerant vs. allergic I would rather them assume they are allergic then for their family to find out the hard way.

Food for thought- I wish that everyone keep safe when it comes to food allergies and the danger they pose to your loved ones. GMA's expert did remind everyone to check the expiration dates on their Epi Pens- what a great reminder- do me a favor and check yours TODAY!

God Bless

the Taylor's

Stormy Weather.....

Well we had a few days now of cold rainy spring season- that has prompted a nice asthma attack and we ended up in the hospital ER this afternoon. Then off to the Pharmacy for another round of steroids to get her through this bout of asthma distress.

Opening Night at the Kernels

Another HUGE Thank you to the Cedar Rapids Kernels for another wonderful Allergy Free Night at the Ball Park. It was a cold spring game and the good guys ended up not winning, but fun has had by all- there will be another Allergy Free Night in June- more to come.

Lynda has out grown her allergies to dogs!

I has been seven long years since we first found out that Lynda was allergic to dogs. Our neighbors got two new puppies several weeks ago and Lynda has been playing with them everyday. Not one sign of an allergic reaction. The puppies even have licked her, nothing.

Consulted with her doctor if we could get a puppy, and she said yes with two conditions. 1. that it be an outside dog. (totally I don't want a dog in my house). 2. that it must be a lab because that is the same breed as the puppies.

We will have to see what the future holds for the Taylor family and getting a dog.

Springtime brings Asthma

The spring rains are coming- damp weather and temperatures that go up and down. With this weather asthma attacks can come at any time. This is a great time to check your inhaler and make sure you have your stock of medicines for your nebulizers.

With spring also comes increased pollen, molds and dust as those spring winds start to kick up. Do you part to keep an eye on your symptoms.

Enjoy the warmer weather and keep yourselves safe!

The Taylor's

Interesting Article- check it out

Time magazine has an interesting article about poisons and allergens in household dust. The article can be seen HERE.

This article brings to the forefront how important it is when you have an allergic child to have a whole house filter and to sweep or vacuum on a regular basis. This time of year especially with the cold weather in the upper midwest we have to be a little more diligent.

Hope you all are keeping safe- check out the FAAN site as they have had a lot of changes in personnel. It should be interesting to see the direction of the organization.

Keep safe-
The Taylor's

Food Allergies and Vaccinations- Be careful

Hello All,

There seems to be a conversation that has been coming up more frequently in the food allergy world for kids (and adults) that due to a recent trip to the hospital for Lynda came back up to the surface. Many of the vaccinations such as the H1N1 vaccine are made from Eggs, thus making it unavailable for Lynda and many other children with food allergies. Over the years when working with her doctors and pharmacists we have gotten push back regarding the ingredients within certain drugs due to the companies not wanting to disclose what is in their product for "trade secret" reasons. I can understand protecting your brand and product, but when so many of these children have to pass on potential solutions to medical issues because we can not take the chance it makes it difficult to treat against medical issues to keep our children safe. In Lynda's case she already has so few options and we get concerned about long term issues like those 2-3 drugs her body will become resistant to and then we are at a potentially life threatening situation.

Here is a link to a website that has 3 articles regarding this issue:

CLICK HERE

Be safe and have a great valentines day. (Men do not forget tomorrow is Valentines Day!

The Taylor's

January Rain!

Well what a winter we have had in Iowa so far! First a ton of snow, then ice and now over 1/2 inches of rain in the last 12 hours- so what does this have to do with anything- When the air is cold and damp it triggers asthma attacks- Several times in the last week Lynda has come to either Laurie or I and indicated she needs a breathing treatment. Well the little bugger has been right each time. Her peak flows have been low- so watch your asthma kids closely and listen to them during this time of the year. It seems that the moisture in the air and the cold is a bad combination for our little one.

Lynda and her sister Callie had a birthday parthy for one of Callie's classmates. How excited was Lynda when there was some Lynda safe food at the party. And it was a pool party to boot so a little extra hydration time for her skin as well. They both had a blast from the report I got.

Have a great weekend.

The Taylor's

We got to Come Home

Well after a few days in the hospital Lynda got to come home and and to have a PIC line put in to facilitate a portable IV pump. She has been doing pretty good by not using the off hand and watching her tubing to make sure does not pull the pic line out. Dr appt tomorrow to see if we can be done with the anti-botics. Thurs should have the pic line taken out. She has been doing pretty good and she has had to miss two weeks of school.

Looking forward to getting life back to normal.

Have a great week.
The Taylor's

All good things must come to an end......

Well today after a 2 1/2 year hiatus we are back in the hospital. Lynda got an infection that she could not beat so we are back in the hospital for another 10 day stint. She is doing very well, last night was really rough with all the attempts to get her IV in and then once it was in it did not stay- so we had to do it again. She has been a real trooper.

On a real positive note- we are the only folks on the entire peds floor. I see that as a huge blessing that there are not any other kids here. I like empty hospitals!

Callie is not happy since with the H1N1 regulations in the hospitals these days she is not allowed to come up and visit. She told me this morning that her sissy needs here and she needs to go up. What a sweetheart. A special thanks to all our family, church family and friends and they have been a great support. We appreciate all your prayers and assistance. Hoping we can get this knocked out and it is a bump in the road....

Have a great weekend.
God Bless
The Taylor's

Welcome to 2010!

Hello all,

I hope you had a very safe New Years Eve. We spent the night with family to make sure we did not have a situation with Lynda. Parties are always an issue with lots of unsafe food, people that do not understand cross contamination etc. We have been blessed this year with Lynda not having any hospital visits in 2009 and we are hoping that we continue this trend into the new year. We were able to skirt the flu for the most part- both the girls had it this fall, but not as badly as we were concerned they would. Now that the temperature has dropped to the below zero on a more regular basis and the wind has kicked up her asthma, we have had a few more breathing treatments.

We are so excited that our local minor league base ball team is expanding their Allergy Free nights to 2 this season- so we will be attending both in support of the Cedar Rapids Kernels! Thanks for all your help Jessica and support the safety of kids with food allergies! We will pass along the dates as soon as they are firmed up.

We are also continuing to lobby for funding so our schools can keep nurses in each school. With the budget cuts across the nation many school districts are going to part time medical professionals and many are are services to they do not have the same person at the school all the time. It is so important that there is consistency when dealing with children with food allergies, if they don't know what the norm is for the child they don't understand when there is a problem. And this is just one medical issue that children could face- we have to consider others such as diabetes etc. Write your legislators to change the laws or provide funding so these positions do not get cut. We are also still pushing for better and more accurate labeling of food, training for school bus drivers etc.

I hope you all have a great 2010 and a very safe 2010. God Bless

The Taylor's

Merry Christmas

Hello all,

It is only a few days before Christmas. Us here in the mid west are bracing for an ice storm to bring in the Christmas Holiday. On my way home tonight due to Lynda's asthma kicking up we bought a present for the family of a generator. A few years back we had an ice storm and we were without power for 3 days. A very scary 3 days with Lynda and cold weather. Reminder for all of you that are hosting holiday parties to keep a close eye on your kids with food allergies, especially when you have new people that are unfamiliar with the rules around to celebrate with you.

Safe alternatives to traditional fare is also a good idea so that your child can participate in the holiday. But beware to make sure all things are kept separate so cross contamination does not occur or worse an accidental ingestion.

Check your candy canes- Spangler brand is manufactured in a gluten and tree nut free facility. Lynda enjoys them each Christmas season.

Have a safe Christmas- travel safely, love HUGE and remember the reason for the season!

All our love,


The Taylor's

Matt is coming home from the ARMY

Yes the girls (and us too!) are very excited to welcome Matt home for Christmas. This will be his first (and likely only) leave before he goes over seas as a combat medic! He has been trained on Food Allergies as part of his medical training and it will be interesting to hear what he knows. All our food allergic friends, please be careful during this holiday season! Make sure you know what you are eating! You are your own best advocate!

Happy Holidays!

The Taylor's

Spaghetti for those who can not have egg or wheat noodles

One of the things we try very hard to do is to make mainstream meals for Lynda. One we have done for a while now is Spaghetti. We have a local oriental food store that has great prices on rice noodles of all types- when we go to the local chain store in their health area, a pound of rice noodles can be as much as $4 where we can get them at the oriental store ranging from .85 to $2.35 depending on the type. Lynda likes the thicker Alfredo style noodles.

So here it is:

3 Lbs Turkey ground and browned (or our favorite meat)
1 medium can Tomato paste
1 large can Tomato juice
2 lbs Alfredo style rice noodles-

Boil the noodles as normal- strain and rinse off with cold water- add the turkey and tomato products to the bowl and heat for 10 minutes and enjoy. This is also a great dish for those calorie counters out there.

Hope this helps- we will post more recipies as I remember to right them down.

MN Food Allergy Group Trying to effect change at resturants

I got this from the Minnesota Food Allergy Assocation Newsletter. This would be great to do in any area.

Make Eating Out With Food Allergies Safer!

The City of St. Paul is considering an ordinance to increase food allergy awareness among food service employees. The ordinance will:

1) require a food allergy awareness poster in the employee area of restaurants and;

2) offer a discount on license fees if trained restaurant staff are on site and an allergen plan is adopted.

Due to opposition from the food service industry, the ordinance evolved into these two provisions. Earlier versions also included requirements to keep updated ingredient lists; having ingredient lists to be available to anyone at all times; and public signage.

Although not as comprehensive as earlier versions, AFAA and national food allergy advocates feel that the ordinance is an excellent step and ask for your support.

They also provided their supporters with a listing of contacts, armed them with information and invited them to the city council meeting. This is a stripped down version of what was originally presented due to push back from the food service industry.

Here is the text they provided on the what to say:

What You Can Say:
Share information -
12 million Americans have food allergies
6-8% of children have food allergies
1-2% of adults have food allergies
200,000 Minnesotans have food allergies
30,000 Minnesota K-12 students have food allergies
allergic symptoms include digestive upset, hives, swelling, breathing difficulties, blood pressure drop, and sometimes death
24% of restaurant operators thought eating tiny amounts of allergens was okay*
35% restaurant operators mistakenly thought fryer heat destroys allergens*
25% restaurant operators thought it was safe to remove an allergen from a finished meal*
awareness is essential
reactions you/your child has experienced
your experiences in restaurants
*statistics from an Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine 2006 survey of 100 restaurant operators

If you need a contact there to find out how to start this campaign in your area, send me an e-mail through the blog. Knowledge is power- we all just need to help educate the rest of the world!

The great Christmas Tree Experiment

Well as you all know Lynda has many food allergies. She does not (according to our visit at National Jewish 2 + years ago) have environmental allergies. So we are going to try the great Christmas Tree Experiment! Lynda and Callie wanted a real tree this year for the holidays. So we went to our favorite local Christmas Tree farm (who also happens to be the place we pick blueberry's in the summer). So in the best tradition of Clark W Griswold we went out into the wilderness and acquired a tree. As only a manly dad can do I conquered the tree by cutting it down in nothing flat, hauled it to the family truckster and mounted it to the roof for the 20 mile journey home. Once we purchased the tree it was determined we now needed stuff for the tree since we have pre-lit artifical trees- so off to help the economy buy purchasing lights, bulbs (the glass ones the girls all broke last year) and a tree stand. So now that Thanksgiving has passed it is now officially the Christmas Season at the Taylor house. (not to mention at every store we were at today they wished me a Merry Christmas).

Have a great week.
The Taylor's :o)

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving all! Well it was an uneventful Thanksgiving. We were able to have breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa. The off to Grandpa John's and Grandma Diane's for Thanksgiving with the extended family. Today was not as great however. Lynda was diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia today so a few days without contact of her friends. Unfortunately she was supposed to have her birthday party with her cousins from out of town this evening. Lesson- take what comes at you one day at a time. We have a lot to be thankful for this year. Many blessings for the Taylor's. We are looking forward to a great 2010. I hope your family has had many blessings and more to come.

Enjoy Black Friday- what is left of it anyway.

Have a great week and a safe food day!

The Taylor's