 |
IFAST
Inland
Food Allergy Support Team
6828
N Fox Point Dr.
Spokane,
WA 99208
ifast@comcast.net
509-313-6623
|
Meeting
Archive
May
2003
We
had a fun time at the Spokane Spaghetti Factory Restaurant and
Art by Yourself.
March
2003
For
our March 14th meeting we'll all be collecting recipes, restaurant
recommendations, lunch ideas for school and daycares. Please come
with ideas to share!!! We're all ready for some new ones, no matter
how many we already have!
Hope
to see you there, cookbooks, are cards in your arms!!!
January
2003
Our
January 10th meeting will be focused on advocacy for our food
allergic children. We'll have a short presentation and then a
discussion as to ways our group could make this huge task easier.
We're bringing a lot of info from FAAN, Allergy and Asthma Network,
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, Medic Alert,
and Peanut Allergy.com. All of these organizations have excellent
web sites that are updated often with new info and helpful hints.
November
2002
EpiPen
Training Seminar
Our Medical
Advisor Dr. Michael Kramer of the Spokane Allergy and Asthma Clinic
talked with us about current research on epinephrine, the best
medicine for the relief of the symptoms of anaphylaxis. Including:
- When
to use the EpiPen.
- Doses
to use for small and large children.
- How
long do EpiPens last?
- EpiPen
Storage-We later found out that EpiPens Freeze! Be careful of
storing your EpiPen in the car in winter!
We were
also provided with a stock of expired EpiPens and one small unfortunate
orange. Each participant was able to use an EpiPen to deliver
a dose of Epinephrine to the orange.
Friday,
October 11th
Mental
Health and Food Allergies
In past
meetings there have been a lot of shared thoughts and concerns
about how food allergies effect the lives of the allergic, their
parents, siblings, and the family as a whole. This has been a
topic that has been ignored for a long time. But recently it has
received some attention in both the popular press and in the medical
literature. See "The Allergy Prison" by Susan Dominus
in the New York Times Magazine, June 2001. or "Families Coping
with a Diagnosis of Anaphylaxis in a Child" by Mandell, Curtis,
Gold & Hardie in Allergy and Clinical Immunology International
Vol 14, 2002. Both of these articles argue that individuals must
strike a balance between defending themselves (or their children)
from potential dangers and living in a prison of anxiety.
Ginger
Metcalf, local counselor, and Sue Betts, District 81 counselor
and mother of a teen with many food allergies, will help us address
the psychological issues relating to severe food allergies. Please
come with your questions, thoughts, concerns. We look forward
to seeing you.
August
11th
Hello
All!
After thinking it over and looking at past meeting attendance
we decided to take the month of August off. Therefore we have
cancelled the August 9 IFAST meeting. There is the possibility
of an Indian's baseball game, though!
Bill &
Ann-Scott
June
14th, 2002
During
the June 14th, meeting Dr. Michael Kramer of the Spokane
Allergy and Asthma Clinic talked about current food allergy physiology,
treatment, and research. Rick Walters lead a discussion of the
Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504, which prohibits
discrimination on the basis of disability in employment and education
in agencies, programs and services that receive federal funding
(i.e. schools!). For more info on Section 504,
Click Here.
See Also: The Civil Rights of Students with Hidden
Disabilities
Our
first support group meeting on May 10, 2002 focused on:
The Recommendations of the Spokane School District Food Allergy
Task Force
AND
SHB 2834, Public Schools--children with life-threatening conditions."An
Act Relating to requiring a medication or treatment order as a
condition for children with life-threatening conditions to attend
public school. This law goes INTO EFFECT before the beginning
of the next school year."
AND
Because
the health and well-being of food-allergic consumers depends upon
the accuracy and clarity of food labels, Senator Edward Kennedy
(D-MA) and Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) authored The Food
Allergen Consumer Protection Act, which would make food ingredient
statements clear, accurate, and reliable. This bill would require
that manufacturers label the main eight food allergens in common
language; close the food additive loophole; and require better
measures to prevent cross-contamination among other measures.