50 Mgms

B has successfully completed her two weeks on 25mgs of peanut flour, and is now taking a daily dose of 50mgs. We had a little bit of a scare while B was on her 25 mgms dose.  On a Sunday morning, 4 days after starting her 25mgs dose, we were busy in the kitchen whipping up some chocolate chip pancakes.  B was at my side doing what she loves most... throwing the chocolate chips into the pancake batter.  It seems inevitable that a few of those chocolate chips almost always miss, and somehow land in her mouth.  We were using Hershey's chocolate chips.  The same brand of chocolate chips that we always use.  Normally we use the semi sweet variety, but this time I had purchased the milk chocolate.  I always buy Hershey's because there is no mention of any type of nuts in the ingredients list, and there is no mention of using shared equipment.  I've always felt safe using them.  This morning, however, I wondered about those chocolate chips... as my daughter ran to the bathroom and began throwing up.

She hadn't eaten or drank anything that morning except for about 5 of those chocolate chips, so I was sure that they were the cause of her vomiting.  It was very scary for both of us, as I remembered the recent story of 13 year old Natalie Giorgi 's death after biting into a peanut laced desert.  After she bit the treat, which contained her poison, she spit it out.  She felt fine for about 20 minutes, and the she began to vomit.  She had no other signs or symptoms that anything was wrong... until it was too late to save her.

The freshness of Natalie's tragedy was definitely on my mind, as I held my precious daughter's hair away from her mouth and rubbed her back while she threw up the 5 chocolate chips.  I told my husband to have the epi pen ready, and wondered if we should give it to her.  It is such a hard call to make, when you aren't sure that an allergen has been ingested, and you're wondering what is making her vomit.

It was a stark reminder that even though B is consuming a daily dose of carefully measured peanut powder,  that her little body cannot handle even an inkling more than her dose.  We still have to be extremely careful.  After the fact, I no longer think that the chocolate chips contained any nuts.  I called Hershey's bright and early the next morning, and grilled the customer service rep about the possibility of cross contamination.  She assured me that there are no products made with nuts in the facility where the chocolate chips are made. We monitored B for the rest of the day and she was fine.  At first, I wondered if she had caught an illness, but she never developed a fever or any other symptoms.  After vomiting, she was fine and has been fine ever since.  I still don't know what made her throw up.  I guess it was just some weird fluke... or maybe that her nervousness had finally hit bottom.  Maybe it was that she had too much sugar in her empty belly?  I may never know.  I'm just extremely thankful that nothing ever came of it.

B is now 2 days into her 50 mgs dose and she is doing great.  I continue to be amazed that she is actually eating and tolerating this tiny amount of peanut.  I am humbled that there are doctors out there who believe in this therapy enough to offer it in their private practices.  There are only about 15 of these doctors scattered across the United States, and I consider all of them to be heroes.  I am grateful that we are able to provide this therapy for our sweet girl.  At a cost of 1000.00 a month (500 for Dr fees and 500 for travel), I don't know how we are doing it, but somehow we are.  If you would like to help, we have a fundraiser set up in her name here:  B's fundraiser We thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide.

I'd also like to share the link to Natalie Giorgi's Sunshine Foundation . Her family is dedicated to preserving Natalie's memory by increasing public awareness and education of life threatening food allergies, which will better protect and prevent unnecessary harm for all.

25 mgms

I felt like the luckiest girl in the world the day that Airtran came out with a 56.00 one way sale.  It meant that B and I could fly round-trip to Raleigh for the exact same price as driving round-trip would cost!  So, for this updose appointment we flew to Raleigh and back again on the same day.  I cannot describe in words, how much less stressful it was to fly.  The 6 hour drive to Raleigh (which usually ends up being 7, or 8, or even 9 hours when traffic gets bad) was only a little more than 1 hour in a plane!  It was awesome.

Brooke's up-dose appt to 25mgs went very smoothly.  I talked to the doctor about her recent feelings of needing to throw up.  We both agreed those sensations are probably due to nerves.  Things have been really hectic lately...so I can't blame her for being in a state of upset. Especially when she knows she is eating her allergen on a daily basis.  We are home now, doing the daily dose of 25mgs and getting ready to start our home-school year.  Things are going really good!

12 mgs

Brooke's up dose to 12 mgs of peanut flour went much smoother than her initial escalation day. She had no tummy pain, no throat pain, no problems whatsoever.  Dosing at home is going great too!  I am slowly adjusting her dosing time to the afternoon, because her next appointment will be later in the day, and dosing is supposed to be done around the same time every day.

We have more big news to share! We have finally made our decision and I am going to home school Brooke this year.  I have withdrawn both children from the public school, and I have sent in the letter of intent to the board of education.  It was a really hard decision, but in the end, we just couldn't ignore all the reasons in favor of home schooling.  I'm ready for an adventure!