One-Sixteenth

Oh no! What allergy?

Oh ((((Steph)))). Oh, I'm SO sorry.

Do you have a Whole Foods around there? My mom and dad, who suffer from allergies in Austin, SWEAR by Netti pots, which are nasal irrigation type thingees where you mix warm water with sea salt and basically rinse out your nose. They say it works really well.

So sorry you're going through this. Maybe your family is allergic to Texas? And I'm not kidding. There's a whole lot of tree like allergens out there.

yikes, I was beginning to worry because it had been so long since i'd seen you. Now I know it was wellfounded. Fill us in on the details when you are feeling better!

Laura - it was a cashew. I ate a cashew and my face exploded. So, I'm supposed to assume I'm allergic to all tree nuts. And I'm supposed to be very careful with peanuts, as the allergies often cross over.

It's hard to wrap my brain around. I don't like looking at food and thinking that if I eat it, it could maybe kill me.

Intellectually I KNOW that it's not that bad ... so far there's no sign that I'm so sensitive that I have to go to extremes. But when you read up on this stuff ... it's scary. Very, very scary. I wish someone could *tell* me things definitively. Things like, if I only seem to react when I eat a raw nut, will I react to the cooked ones in time? Is that a given? Will I start to react to peanut dust and not be able to fly? Will I have to ban peanut butter? Will I have to hide while they eat their Halloween candy?

You know, Jo, I think we *are* allergic to Texas. The Neti pot never seems to do me much good. Do your parents use it every day? More importantly, do you ever visit them in Austin?

Oh, Steph...I am so sorry. Just...sorry. Being sick *sucks*. I'll pray for you, and your kidlets. :o(

Yikers Steph! Nut allergies. Kind of puts a damper on all kinds of foods doesn't it? All the snacks, candies and cookies made with peanut oil, pesto with pine nuts, Chinese food...

I hope you are each feeling better soon!

Hm. I can't eat cashews because they give me severe migranes. They also don't...settle properly. So, I avoid them. Other nuts are fine, though not nearly as satisfying. I don't think cashews are technically a nut. They're seeds (I think to some sort of apple).

ROTFL Steph!!!

I don't know about how often they use the Neti pots, but I'm reasonably certain that it's occasional and not every day.

As far as my visiting them, no I do not. :( Sorry! We're lucky we're on speaking terms because for years we haven't been. But YOU, dear friend, DO sometimes come to Florida for I have seen a picture of you in a parrot hat! So when are you moving here? No income taxes, good homeschooling laws, and you're probably not allergic to Florida!! :)

Any chance at all that there might be something IN your home? Like *sick building syndrome*? How old is your heat pump or air filter? When was the last time your ducts were prof. cleaned? Any chance of molds in carpets or other hidden places??? Have you ever had your water professionally tested? Sometimes if you tell a water treatment company that you are thinking of getting a whole house system, the first thing they do is test your water for just about EVERYTHING and they do it for free...then again, if you pay for the test you can be sure the company isn't looking for money from you in the end.

Being sick sucks! Dealing with food allergies suck even worse. Do you have a homeopath you can get to? They can do kinetic testing for allergies and can offer remedies - worked awesomly with Rachel and some pollen allergies. Zachary was too sensitive for the dairy remedy. My stepfather is deciding to get tested to get some kind of test done to find out which legume or tree nut he's reacting to. I say, be proactive! Find out all the answers you can and work with that.

And keep an epi pen at your side at all times!

Diane, I can easily believe that it's either my home or Texas, or my home AND Texas. If I could move right now I would ... the place is too small for us anyway. But it's not an option just yet.

We had the ducts professionally cleaned in May. We're going to rip the rest of the carpeting out, but we don't have a great deal of funds to re-floor.

It's been awhile since we had our water tested, but we have had it done. Water is decent, though a teensy bit high in chlorine. We do drink a lot of bottled water as well.

Where else does one look for mold?

Do you think a homeopath can help an allergy like this? Do you carry an epi pen for Z or anyone? How is your stepfather reacting?

Like I said, I just wish I knew how sensitive I am, or how this all works. If I reacted to a tree nut, do I have to be scrupulous about not eating foods manufactured in plants where they also manufacture peanuts? Am I going to become allergic to everything else now?

Sigh.