I hate food allergies...

This is not a fun, light hearted post. Feel free to hop on over to the next fun and light hearted blog which you enjoy reading. And, let me just say, that I know that Luke's allergies are part of God's plan. I'm not questioning that. And I would not trade Luke for anything in the whole world! He is crazy insane rowdy, but he's also the most loving child you are likely to ever meet. My prayer for Luke (especially as I start thinking about school for him) continues to be that his awesome personality will always outweigh the extra work that allergies can cause. But today, I'm feeling the need to vent!

Seth's birthday was a couple of weeks ago. I got a fantastic cookbook full of cake pops. Cake pops are little balls of baked cake, combined with icing, on a lollipop stick, and coated with chocolate. This is where the issue arises!

This is as far as I got:

The next step was the issue. Chocolate. Well, there were multiple issues. One issue is that I wanted to shape them like cupcakes and had the supplies to do so but it just wasn't working out. But the bigger issue was that I could NOT find chocolate to use that wasn't cross-contaminated. And yes, these were for Seth who can eat anything. But, really, would you like to come over and explain to Luke why he can't have one of Seth's birthday treats? Didn't think so.

I had a little bit of candy coating bark in my pantry, leftover from Christmas baking, that did not contain any kind of "may contain" [peanuts, tree nuts, etc.] warnings and I was comfortable using this. However, it wasn't nearly enough. Okay, that's easy then - go back to where I bought it and buy some more. I wasn't sure where I bought it but I knew there were only about three stores where I shopped for Christmas baking supplies so I was set to just re-trace my Christmas steps. Dave did some grocery shopping and checked Meijer for me. Not safe for Luke. I checked Target and Kroger one day. Not safe either.

I went home and checked the package of the leftover bark that I had and checked it out online. The information wasn't very detailed online. So, I got up on Tuesday morning and determined we were heading out to buy candy coating/chocolate. Seth did not have school this day so my entire mini-entourage got to make the tour with me. First, we went to Wal-mart. Not safe. Then we went to another Target, because you just never know. Then we went to "the pretty people Marsh." It's not as pretty as it used to be but I always think I'll find that one obscure item there. I did find milk chocolate that I could use - and it was the kind that you melt in its own bowl so that seemed easier for dipping. It was $4 so I only got two. But I really needed white so I could tint it myself. [I also bought cheese crackers and pretended they were a real lunch and fed those to the boys in the car.] Next we went to JoAnn's to see if they had any candy melts that were okay. Nope. Then we went to the Christmas Tree Shoppe, hoping they had something odd and leftover (it's a fun store but often seems to specialize in odd and leftover). They had more milk chocolate and it wasn't labelled as contaminated and I think it was a brand I had read about on some allergy blogs as being 'safe.' But, still no white.

By now, we were running out of time. Certainly for that day we were done. Max fell asleep in the car and the other two needed some rest and I was exhausted from hauling everyone in and out of the car on what felt like a cross country road trip.

So, Wednesday morning I got up, feeling defeated still, and made the cakes anyway, hoping to stretch the white chocolate I had in the pantry as far as possible. Well, once I figured out that the balls wouldn't magically shape themselves like cupcakes and I HAD to have a treat for Seth for Friday morning and, because I can't shop at a bakery for party cupcakes, we still had to make those AND ice cream, I gave up on the cupcake pops. However, I decided that I would e-mail the company that made the candy coating bark that was in my pantry. I also started investigating whether they make the little bowls of chocolate in a white chocolate. OH, and I found more of the milk chocolate bowls at Meijer for $2.50. So, I TOTALLY got ripped off at the pretty people store. Ugh.

I promise, this story ends soon... [as if anyone is still reading]

Finally, Friday afternoon I got an e-mail back. The employee stated that there were no nuts in the product and even told me where to buy it (Wal-mart, where I had already been). So, I rushed out (well, you know, 5 days later because now I already had other treats) and checked it out. I bought it, but I also came home and took a picture of the warning label on the back re: peanuts and tree nuts and e-mailed it to the employee with whom I had been corresponding. I got an e-mail back that says that it's made in a nut-free facility but then transferred to another location where there are nuts, although the products are kept completely separate. I'm very thankful for this information and very excited to attempt some more cake pops for Easter and, especially, for Max's birthday.

But NOW I'm wondering how many other things that are labelled "may contain" and that I put back on the shelf when I'm shopping really don't contain. ARGH. It's so hard to know. Reactions can occur with as little as 1/20th of a peanut. That's clearly a very tiny amount when you think of splitting a peanut into 20 pieces - small enough that you wouldn't notice if it was there. Then there are the varying answers regarding subsequent reactions. One doctor will tell you that the next reaction is likely to be similar to the first reaction - hives in our case. Then there are the doctors who will tell you that subsequent reactions are likely to be more serious than the last.

Everyone has their own comfort level. I'm sure many people think I go overboard. But, when caring for your three year old includes training on how to use an epipen, is it really overboard?

I hate that I even have to know how to use that epipen, let alone make sure it's not expired and make sure there's always a couple in my bag. I hate that I have to tell Luke he can't eat certain things. I hate that I hide food that I like that he can't have. I hate that Seth thinks it's funny to call him "peanut head." I hate that I don't trust very many people to watch him. I hate the special sticker he has to have on his nametag at church. I hate that planning a holiday dinner has to include a discussion of what's safe and what's not. I hate that I don't always get excited about going to other people's houses because it means keeping a constant eye on him and being sure he's not eating anything when I'm not looking.

But, I love my Luke.