McDonald's Chicken Nuggets and Fries?!?!?!

Someone gave Owen McDonald's chicken nuggets (and removed the breading) and fries. The chicken nuggets have wheat, and the fries have milk and wheat. And Praise God, he had no reaction!!! Not even a hive!!! I can hardly believe it!!!!!

I emailed the doctor to ask him if we can try the McDonald's food again (this is very risky, and I would not have agreed to this). What a blessing it would be to be able to eat at McDonald's. I would not have to pack a lunch every time we are on the road. I am truly beyond excited!

And in other news, our bottle of Benadryl expires this month. I've had epi pens expire, but never a bottle of Benadryl. We went through large Costco sized bottles of Benadryl in the past. I can't believe we didn't finish a normal sized bottle. Owen has improved so much this past 6 months, and I am so excited to see him get better.

What a day!!!!!!!!

PF Chang's- My FAVORITE Restaurant

The thought of bringing Owen to a restaurant was completely off my radar. I would never trust some random chef to prepare my son a meal.

Tonight I went to PF Chang's with a girlfriend. The waitress' first question was if either of us had food allergies. I immediately thanked her, since I appreciate their attentiveness to this issue. The waitress proceeded to tell me about the special services they offer. I gave her a list of all of Owen's allergies, and she told me that she would print me out an Owen friendly menu. I was so excited to find out the results!

A few minutes later, the manager came to my table. Apologetically, he gave me the menu, and said that all he could offer was rice and steamed vegetables. I asked him about their preparation methods, to see if the staff truly understood the attentiveness it takes to make Owen a meal (you need to use a clean/uncontaminated surface, grill, utensils, etc.) I was very impressed. PF Chang's totally gets it!

I profusely thanked the manager. Even though the manager doesn't think steamed vegetables and rice was that great, it is tremendous that Owen could go to a restaurant, order from the menu (even if it is only one option) and know that he can get a safe meal. I'm so excited to bring Owen to this restaurant. I wish more places understood food allergies, like PF Chang's.

Ice Cream Cone! Bad Chinese Food

Owen had his first ice cream cone tonight!!! I am so grateful for Whole Foods for selling dairy-free ice cream, and gluten-free cones. So they lie about their organic foods. They gave my son the gift of enjoying ice cream the way it was meant to be enjoyed.

Owen refilled his cone 5 times, and then he was disappointed when the cone... broke. I explained to him that he is suppose to eat the cone. I love these basic life lessons.

I also love friends who make their birthday party Owen friendly. The kids table was filled with only Owen friendly food. I'm so blessed to have supportive friends.

We haven't ordered Chinese food in a long time. We ordered Kung Pao Chicken, and it was filled with nuts. I was so upset that I let nuts into my house. I could feel my stress level go from completely calm, to very stressed. I washed down the counters, chairs, and table. I washed my hands and mouth. We immediately threw away the packaging and took the garbage out of the house. Live and learn. In the end, things went perfectly fine.

Owen played with play doh this morning for 45 minutes, and he didn't have any reaction. Praise God!

"I don't really like Ice cream."

Today Owen and I were food shopping. I found some chocolate soy ice cream, and he was excited. A little bit later, we walked by chocolate soy milk. He begged to buy some. I told him he had to choose between the chocolate soy milk or the ice cream. Owen said "I want chocolate soy milk. I don't really like cream." The comment made me sad. Who doesn't love ice cream? I'm sad that soy ice cream is not as good as the real thing.

In the end, he has the healthiest diet in the world! I refer to his diet as the Daniel diet (from the book of Daniel in the Bible). I am so glad that Owen doesn't complain. I can't wait until he is older, and he can express his thoughts and feelings more. I wonder what is going inside his cute, little head.

Join Us For The Food Allergy Walk on October 2nd!

Please join us again as we walk for a food allergy cure. Please support Team Cress as we complete a 2 mile walk. There is no cost of join the team. Even if you can't make the walk, you can show your support by being a virtual walker (also free!)

Date: Saturday, October 2, 2010
Time: Check-in begins at 9:00 a.m.; Walk begins at 10:00 a.m.
Location: Meadowbrook Park, 5001 Meadowbrook Lane, Ellicott City, MD 21043
Distance: 2 miles

There is a great, big park and a moon bounce. And after the walk, join us at our house for chili bread bowls!

Join us by registering here:
http://www.foodallergywalk.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Home

1. Click "Sign Me Up."
2. Click "Maryland-Baltimore"
3. Click "Join A Team"
4. For Team Name, type in "Team Cress" and click "Search for a Team".
5. Click on "Team Cress"
6. Scroll down, and in the box that lists the team members names, click "Join Team".










More than 12 million Americans have a food allergy. That’s one in 25, or 4% of the population. Between 1997 and 2007, the prevalence of food allergies among children increased 18%, to reach 3 million U.S. children. Food allergies result in more than 300,000 ambulatory- care visits among children in the U.S. annually. Eight foods account for 90% of all food- allergic reactions in the U.S.: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (e.g., walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, pecans), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish. Owen is allergic to all of these items, except for fish and shell fish.
There is no cure for food allergy; strict avoidance of the food allergen is the only way to prevent a reaction.

Allergic Reaction- Good Reminder

I dropped Owen and Caroline at the neighbor's house, while I ran an errand. Owen and Caroline had a great time playing with the kids. When I picked Owen up, he was itching his face. When I got him in the car, I realized he had some hives on his face, and he was sneezing large amounts of snot. It was clear he was having an allergic reaction. Since it was the morning, I didn't want to give him Benadryl. I decided to give him Claritin instead, and he eventually improved. He didn't eat anything, so I don't know if it was an accidental food exposure or if it was an environmental allergy.

This reaction is a timely reminder to me of what a new environment can do to Owen. I am blessed to have a daily, steady routine.

Play Doh Experiment

Owen played with play doh when he was 2 years old, and broke out in hives. In the past year, Owen did a pasta craft and held a piece of bread while feeding a duck. With these 2 successes, I wanted to try play doh again.

On Thursday, Owen played with play doh for 1 hour without any problems. I was so excited. On Friday, Owen played with play doh for about 45 minutes without any problem. On Saturday, Owen played with play doh for 2 hours. Most of the time was unsupervised because we had a guy giving us a window replacement estimate. After 2 hours, his eyes started getting itchy, red, and swollen. I washed him up, and avoided giving him Benadryl, just to see if he can improve without intervention. But about 1 hour later, it was nap time, and he had hives on his arms and legs, and was uncomfortable, so I gave him Benadryl.

It was very frustrating to see him have a reaction. After Thursday's success, I thought we a breakthrough. I guess it is good news that it took 2 hours to have a reaction. Ugh.