For Those Who Have Had "Lifetime" LTFA and who have kids with LTFA

[LaurensMom]

I'm wondering. Excluding labelling laws, how has living with food allergies changed over the years for you? I'm particularly interested in those who have had it for several decades.

I do not have LTFA but when in early elementary school, we used to walk home from school for lunch. Parties were limited to Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine's Day. There were no food projects. Matter of fact, the first time I came in contact with food in a non-cafeteria/non-party situation was during Home-Economics in 6th grade where we learned how to make french toast and pancakes. I'm wondering if it was different for  you than for your LFTA children.

I've run into someone in a position to make decision in Lauren's life who says, "Well, it wasn't that difficult" or "Well, that never happened to me" and "Well, that wouldn't bother me".  While this person's statements are just wrong - inserting her own personal bias into her decision making - I guess I'm just trying to see the other side.

Thoughts??

[starlight]

I was born in the early 80's, and had my first reaction when I was...three? maybe? I don't remember the ones I had. I haven't had a reaction since I was 5. Because I had such a violent reaction and reacted to pretty much every single thing my allergist pricked my back with, he gave up and said to just assume I was allergic to all nuts and shellfish. I didn't get re-tested until high school, and the assumption was wrong, I'm only allergic to peanuts (food allergy wise at least). The wheal was about the diameter of a golf ball.

Since no one was really educated about FA's back then, the allergist never told my mom about cross-contamination. We knew enough that if someone picked peanuts off a salad and then I ate the salad I'd have trouble, and if a relative kissed me after eating peanuts I'd have trouble. But we didn't know about cross-contamination at food factories. And I used to get cookies out of the store bakery case every week. I never had a reaction to any of it, just when I ate things with declared, intentional peanut.

I didn't have a nut-free classroom. I went to a private school w/o a cafeteria, so we ate our lunches from home at our desks with placemats. Kids brought in treats for holidays and birthdays. I had a safe treat box, but I was often too embarrassed to call attention to myself eating something different than the rest of the kids so I'd just say no thank you and go without.

I remember vividly the first time I saw a cross-contamination warning because that's when life started changing in a bad way. I was at a production of ShowBoat, flipped my halfway eaten box of Sno-Caps over, and PEANUTS was listed at the very end of the ingredient list. I showed my mom, and I stopped eating them just in case. No thought to delayed reactions because I always reacted hard and fast so we went on watching the play and I was fine. I was so excited that I must have grown out of the allergy. My mom called Nestle the next day and was told about cross contamination. So we decided, no more Sno-Caps.

The next thing I lost were Kit Kats. My food world got progressively smaller, and smaller, and smaller the more companies started to label.

In high school, I'd get a blue bunny ice cream bar out of the vending machine at lunch every day. I'd sit practically touching shoulders with my best friend who ate a PB&J and a nutty brownie every day. I didn't know airborne reactions were a thing people dealt with until college. I'd touch doors and books and stuff all day and sit down to eat without washing my hands.

In college, because I was young, stupid, illogical, and very lucky, I'd sometimes go to the cafeteria to eat and leave my epi-pen in my room. But by then I was aware of people touching things and then me touching things and my propensity to have my hands on my face, so when my roommate would leave for class I'd wet wipe everything in sight.

I found out that certain brands have gross levels of cross-contamination and don't label for it when I stumbled across the-site-we-shall-not-name when I was in college I think. I still eat some of them, others I don't. Depends on the situation and my past history. Those blue bunny ice cream bars from high school are a definite no. I go online and someone in one of the 3 forums I'm a part of has usually called on most brands so I don't have to myself.

I honestly think that not knowing about cross-contamination is why I have such a high threshold. My childhood was like uncontrolled oral immunotherapy. Small doses boosting my tolerance. And I think that may be why so many children are so acutely sensitive to traces now. Total avoidance = total reactivity.

Now? Now that it's an 'epidemic' and I'm not the only one anymore? Now is a DREAM. Just today, I found Treasure Mills bakery stuff in my grocery store for the first time. They also switched brands of soft sugar cookies to ones marked as peanut free facility. From age 11 to my mid-to-late 20's, I was losing foods left and right and now I'm starting to get foods BACK. So many foods are popping up with the 'no peanuts' sign on them now. I can tell a waiter I have a peanut allergy and not have to explain they have to wash everything they use on my food before they use it, they already know! 

Then along comes Dunkin Donuts. They have warnings up all over that everything could be cross-contaminated with everything (I highly doubt their coffee beans are contaminated with shellfish), so I'd have a donut on a way-too-frequent basis because there wasn't anything peanut in the building. This month they just introduced a Reese's donut. Good bye Dunkin.

So it's not perfect. But it's sure as heck getting there. I feel bad for all the kids developing it, but it's been a boon to my life. 

I do have to say, despite what anyone will ever tell you on message boards about teaching your kids to 'take responsibility for themselves' and 'not take risks' and 'they have to get used to it', you NEVER get used to being excluded. Sitting in a restaurant with your friends drinking a soda while everyone else eats a big meal because it's not safe is always hard. Being the only one on your team at work not able to eat what looks like a delicious treat your boss brings in to celebrate a job well done always stings.

But I've got cupcakes in my refrigerator that taste like sunshine and Christmas. And some chocolate chip cookies from a not as well known free-from brand that taste like cardboard with a rosemary chicken aftertaste (stick with Enjoy Life, y'all). 

It is what it is and it sucks. But it's getting better. And fatter. Definitely getting fatter. Oops.