This is Charlie.

When her big brother, who is seven years old and autistic, lost his first tooth, she asked us to write a letter to the tooth fairy because she knew her brother would love a toy more than money. She made sure to check his pillow the next morning and show him what had arrived.

She has taken on the role of a special sister the most beautiful way. I don’t know how a five-year-old can accept such big things? Like how sometimes her wants and needs just must come second. Or third.

She doesn’t know about all the things we’ve had to miss out on because we were not able to take her brother, so we all stayed home. But my heart says that she wouldn’t mind. She always wants him with her anyway.

This little light came into our lives when we needed her most. When her big brother needed her, too.

She quickly took on the role of looking out for her brother, telling people when he can’t do things or when sounds are hurting his ears. Or when he just needs a break to sing himself a song.

As you can imagine, being relied on through toddlerhood is a lot. It continues to be a lot, but she navigates everything that comes her way with more grace and patience than I have most days.

Her brother doesn’t like it when she eats cheerios because of the smell. He cannot tolerate some of her favorite shows or toys because of the sound.

She has learned to bring him his headphones when he is overwhelmed, and rush through her morning cup of cereal. These are things I wish she didn’t have to do.

The majority of her first few years were spent in the car, shuffling her brother around to different specialists on his long journey to an autism diagnosis.

Then it was her turn for the doctors, specialists, and more waiting rooms. Her severe allergic reactions, ambulance rides, Epinephrine pens, glasses, patching, asthma…she continues to adapt. Nothing slows her down.

She is happy, independent, curious, and I love watching her learn and grow more each day. She asks questions (so many questions!), watches, listens, and takes it all in.

She encourages her brother through difficult food therapy and haircutting programs. “It’s okay, Wilson.” She whispers in the sweetest voice on earth. She takes his hand to show him when he doesn’t seem to listen.

She tells others matter-of-factly that her brother has autism. She looks up to him, admires him, and is so proud of him.

When she empties her piggy bank to get a toy at the store, she asks to pick one for him, too. How is so much kindness and love packed into that sweet little body?

She is not an autism expert, none of us are. She is learning to be a thoughtful, kind human who knows differences are good, beautiful and something to be proud of.

We’re so proud of her and the amazing person she is becoming.

This post originally appeared on Wilsonsclimb.com.

Lauren is a proud mom of two adorable kids, her son Wilson and daughter Charlie. She is constantly learning from her children and loves to share their adventures from the world of autism on wilsonsclimb.com.  Lauren shares her son's journey as one small piece in helping to spread autism awareness around the world.  

Tis the season for Christmas trees, poinsettias, mistletoe and scented candles.  But if your nose looks like Rudolph’s, it’s a little hard to feel jolly. Although allergies typically peak in the spring and fall, the holidays may surprise sensitive sufferers with a gift of unexpected triggers. Here are five holiday allergens and allergy triggers, along with some advice to help you stay merry and healthy during the holiday season—not sneezing, coughing or scratching.

Holiday Allergy Trigger #1: Christmas Trees

Mold is the biggest problem with live Christmas trees. Often, they are cut in advance and kept in humid environments, promoting mold spore growth. Within just two weeks of bringing a tree into your home, indoor mold counts can increase significantly, according to one study.

The sap contains terpene and other substances that can irritate skin and mucous membranes; and pollen stuck to the tree may be released inside and lead to reactions, so you make think an artificial version is better, BUT they could harbor dust and mold from their time in storage, also triggering allergies.

Precautions: Slip on gloves and wear long sleeves when handling your fresh tree to avoid the sap coming into contact with your skin. Before schlepping your tree inside, give it a good shake (or a blast with a leaf blower) and spray it down with a garden hose (especially the trunk) to help remove some of the pollen and mold. Then sit the stump in a bucket of water and let the tree dry for few days on a covered porch or in a garage. For an artifical tree, give it a good wipe-down before decorating with lights and ornaments.  Follow directions carefully when spraying artificial snow or flocking. Inhaling these sprays can irritate your lungs and trigger asthma symptom s (better to avoid altogether in my opinion).

Holiday Allergy Trigger #2: Festive Foods

The most common food allergens are milk, eggs, soy, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, and wheat. Of those, peanuts and tree nuts will most often make it into holiday dishes without people knowing, and have the potential to cause severe reactions.

Precautions: : It’s a good idea to let your holiday host know about your food allergies; it’s important to ask about the ingredients in each dish; and it’s very nice to volunteer to bring something that’s safe for you, and shareable with others. But what’s crucial is to be prepared with an epinephrine auto-injector (Epi Pen), an emergency dose of antihistamine, and an inhaler if you have asthm. Learn which foods and recipes are unexpected sources of allergens at FoodAllergy.org and AAAAI.org.

Holiday Allergy Trigger #3: Cocktails 

You raise a glass to your loved ones, your boss and colleagues, friends and neighbors, and even the strangers sitting next to you at a bar. There’s lots of celebrating at this time of year, but be mindful of what you’re using to toast. Some people may experience mild wheezing or other symptoms from the sulfites in wine, for example, and certain alcoholic beverages contain major food allergens.

Precautions: There aren’t good tests for sulfite sensitivity, but your reaction to dried fruit—high in this sulfur-based preservative—could be an indicator. Pay attention if you have asthma, as sulfites can trigger symptoms. Maraschino cherries contain small amounts of sulfites, as well. Stick with organic wine for a sulfite-free sip. Other triggers to be aware of: Tree nuts may be found specialty beers, particularly seasonal ales; milk is in Irish crème and white chocolate liqueurs; and egg whites may be used to add froth to specialty drinks.

Holiday Allergy Trigger #4: Travel

Staying in a hotel for the holidays may be wonderful, but not if you have allergies.  Pillows and bedding can harbor a lot of dust mites.  You may have difficulties with some of the detergents they use as well.  If you will be staying with family, they’re pets may trigger your symptoms.

Precautions: Consider bringing her own pillow, or at least a dust mite cover for the pillow. Also make sure you get a nonsmoking room.  If you’re allergic to your family’s pet, taking medicines with you.  If possible, avoid petting the animal, and wash hands after direct contact.

Holiday Allergy Trigger #5: Stress

Be aware that stress can lead to asthma attacks. Chemicals released by the body during stressful times can cause the muscles around your airways to tighten, making it difficult to breathe.

Holiday Allergy Trigger, Bonus Round! Poinsettias

This festive plant is a member of the rubber tree family and contains compounds similar to those found in latex, so stay away if you have a latex allergy. Certain groups of people—such as healthcare workers and people with spina bifida who have had numerous surgeries—are more likely to be allergic to latex.  One study Showed that 40% of latex-allergic individuals were also allergic to poinsettias.

The key is to be prepared and plan ahead. Consult with your doctor in advance.

Dr. Patel is an allergist in Pasadena California. She is board-certified in Allergy-Clinical Immunology and Pediatrics. She is the co-author of The Mommy MD guides to Twins Triplets and More! She understands that parenting is the hardest and most fulfilling job you can have. You can find her @TMommyMD.

Harvard student Alexa Jordan could teach the class on world travel and food allergy advocacy. A mid-flight anaphylactic reaction spurred this inspirational political science and government major to resurrect legislation requiring epi-pens on airplanes. Not only has she gotten back on a plane—she’s studying abroad this summer while using her passion for the law to fight for human rights at 30,000 feet.

Tell us about your journey with food allergies. 

“I’m allergic to tree nuts and I have sensitivities to several fruits. I was allergic to peanuts and outgrew that recently. While I’ve always carried my epi-pen and checked for allergens in restaurants, in the absence of reactions, food allergies really faded to the background of my life. When I was in elementary school I was anxious and worried about what I called ‘nut germs.'”

A Turbulent Journey

“Everything changed after a recent flight home to Chicago after my freshman year at Harvard. I had a mid-flight anaphylactic reaction to a salad I had brought on the plane. I had purchased it in the airport, alerted them to my allergy, and confirmed that it didn’t contain nuts. The experience has brought food allergies to the forefront of my life.

Within the first bite or two after takeoff, my tongue was itching. Because it was a mild reaction, I wanted to take Benadryl but didn’t have any with me. I asked the flight attendant for it, and they said they didn’t have any on-board. Then my throat began to itch and tighten, so I decided to use my epi-pen in the bathroom because I wasn’t sure I could inject through my clothes.

It was bad enough that I was having a reaction mid-flight, but how the airline handled it was awful. I stayed in the bathroom alone for the remainder of the two-hour flight. The flight attendants only checked on me once and that was to ask me to lock the door so other passengers knew the bathroom was in use! They never made an announcement or asked if a medical professional was on the flight. As I exited, they mentioned they did have epinephrine, which had I known, I would have considered giving myself a second shot. I also later learned airplanes are required to carry Benadryl (or an equivalent), which means the flight attendants on my flight didn’t even know what was on their plane.”

As I sat alone on the bathroom floor of the plane, I thought, ‘This is never going to happen to anyone ever again. I don’t know how, but this can’t happen again.’ My interest in the law led me to research what medicines and training the FAA already requires. I discovered that there was an effort to require epi-pens on flights which sadly failed to pass. I was determined to start a petition to revive this act—S. 1972 Airline Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act of 2015.”

How did your petition take off?

“I shared my story on my Facebook and it immediately was shared. I was on news outlets including NBC Investigates, which helped spread the word. I started reaching out to legislators and it caught the attention of my senator, Tammy Duckworth. Virginia Hayes from her office has helped me be a part of the legislative process. Since my incident, in-flight allergic reactions like when Dr. Mike saved a passenger continue to happen. My story and others are helping to raise awareness and I’ve seen people coming together, with and without allergies, offering their help to get the bill passed.

My goal is to get 200,000 signatures and we need more. The response has been great, we have 177,000 so far. Anyone can sign it nationwide, food allergic or not! It’s imperative we share stories like mine to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Share this petition and call your senators, state representatives, and congresspeople to let them know this is an important issue. We are so much stronger together.”

What grade does Harvard get for food allergies?

“When I was looking for schools my focus was to find a college where I’d be academically challenged and around like-minded students. Luckily my two top choices, Harvard and Yale, are phenomenal about food allergies. I ate at both during the admitted students weekend, and you can meet with the chefs. My dining hall can make allergy plates separately in a designated area, wrap them up and put them in a special allergy fridge. I wish I had found the Spokin app before I was looking at colleges—it’s a perspective on the college hunt that just doesn’t exist anywhere else. The app lets you look up colleges and even contact other students with any questions you have. It’s really unique and helpful!”

This isn’t your first international trip, what’s your best advice?

“I had plans to study abroad in Spain this summer prior to the plane incident. While my doctor advised me not to go on this trip because of my anxiety, I felt prepared, safe, and in control. My program, The Summer Institute of Hispanic Studies, and the directors have been amazing. While I was on excursions, they’ve gone hours in advance to talk to chefs to ensure there would be no allergens in my food or risks of cross-contamination.”

I have translations of the names of different nuts and I made chef cards. Airbnb has been the hidden tool for traveling abroad—if I don’t feel safe, I can buy my own ingredients and cook my own food. It hasn’t been a burden, it’s actually been something I’ve enjoyed.”

A Community Safety Net

“I never felt connected to other people with allergies in a strong way. After my reaction in the air, I’ve been awakened to the food allergy community on a whole new level. I started to see all the advocacy of these people going through the same challenges.”

This post originally appeared on Spokin, Inc..

Spokin is a modern platform and app connecting people managing food allergies to resources including food, restaurants, hotels and more. Users have personalized experiences based on allergies & location. With 55,000+ reviews across 79 countries, Spokin helps the allergy community share and connect. The Spokin iOS app is free on iTunes.

Flying with a food allergy just got safer. Kaléo, the makers of Auvi-Q auto-injectors, recently reported that the company’s epinephrine pens are now included in American Airlines’ emergency medical kits.

The pen-filled kits, which are now on-board AA’s main fleet, are a step up from the syringe and vile versions the airline (and other airlines) previously stocked.

photo: Johannes Rapprich via Pexels

Kaléo’s general manager of allergy and pediatrics, Omar Khalil, told Allergic Living, “My understanding is when American Airlines was renewing its contract and emergency medical kit options, Auvi-Q was presented to them as a way to both enhance the components of their emergency medical kits and also as a means to be ready for an [anaphylaxis] situation that could take place in the air.”

The recent collab between Kaléo, AA and emergency medical kit distributors HealthFirst and MedAire means the airlines’ almost-900 planes will have Auvi-Q 0.3 mg and Auvi-Q 0.15 mg auto-injectors.

Along with AA, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines also carry Auvi-Q auto-injectors. If you’re wondering when other airlines will get on-board with this potentially life-saving change, Khalil added, “According to our distributors, they are also in dialogue with a number of other major airlines.”

—Erica Loop

 

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No one should have to suffer due to the high cost of life-saving medication. The state of Illinois just became the first to require that insurance companies cover the full cost of epinephrine injectors for kids.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker just signed a law requiring companies that provide health insurance within the state to pay for medically-necessary epinephrine injectors for cases of severe allergic reactions in children 18 and under. In the event of an anaphylactic reaction, an epinephrine injection can be a life-saving tool to open airways and minimize inflammation.

Governor Pritzker tweeted that the new law is “a big step forward in protecting our children and families.”

Parents are required to provide epinephrine injectors at schools and camps, but they expire within a short period and have to be replaced. That, added to an epinephrine shortage in the past, has added to rising costs for the medication across the country.

“With steady increases in food allergies and other serious allergic conditions, families are relying on EpiPens more than ever before,” Illinois State Senator Julie Morrison said in a statement. “We should be doing everything we can to expand access to affordable lifesaving drugs and medicines. No child with a serious allergy should be without an epinephrine injector because they cannot afford one.”

—Shahrzad Warkentin

Featured photo: Quote Catalogue via Flickr

 

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There Aren’t Enough EpiPens to Go Around & Some Kids Can’t Go to School

The FDA Has Approved Generic EpiPens & This Is Huge for Kids with Allergies

There’s a Major EpiPen Shortage Right Now—Here’s What Parents Can Do

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new drug that may help to reduce the quantity and severity of peanut allergy reactions. Even though the FDA approved the medication, Palforzia, in a seven to two vote, it won’t become publicly available until after the final approval—which will happen sometime by January.

So what exactly is Palforzia? The medication, which is made for children ages 4 through 17, uses peanut flour to lower the incidences of allergic reactions and potentially reduces the severity in the event of a reaction.

photo: Couleur via Pixabay

Dr. Ira Finegold, a professor of medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, told NPR of the FDA vote, “I voted ‘yes’ because I thought the data was quite clear, and I would actually compliment the sponsor on the extent and caliber of the studies.”

Even though this drug may help to reduce the likelihood of developing a severe reaction to peanuts it won’t take the place of injectable epinephrine, such as the EpiPen. While it did pass this round of FDA approvals, it still has a ways to go before your kiddo’s doctor can prescribe it.

—Erica Loop

 

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Allergic reactions are no joke, and it doesn’t help that Mylan’s EpiPen has spiked the price by 400 percent. Fortunately, privately held drugmaker Kaleo announced Wednesday plans for a U.S. relaunch of its epinephrine auto-injector in early 2017. EpiPen’s rival, Auvi-Q, will be reintroduced at a “very, very low” cost to patients, said Kaleo CEO Spencer Williamson.

Auvi-Q contains the same epinephrine as Mylan NV’s EpiPen, but was recalled from the market last year amid concerns about the accuracy of the dosage delivered. Kaleo says they have fixed this issue.

Are you thankful for this alternative? Let us know in the comments below!

 

For parents with kids who have severe allergies, the EpiPen is literally a life-saver. An EpiPen is a portable device that delivers epinephrine and can stop anaphylactic shock due to a life-threatening allergic reaction.

Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical company Mylan has increased the prices for an EpiPen by 400 percent since 2008. What was once $100 eight years ago, is a little more than $500 today. Why?

In a recent statement by Mylan, the company said that the prices have “changed over time to better reflect important product features and the value the product provides.” In other words, they have no competitors and they know folks around the world NEED this life-saving device.

The company offers coupons on its website that can help reduce costs, but many parents still see this as ethically irresponsible.

All Photos: EpiPen

Do you carry an EpiPen with you? Let us know in the comments below!

H/T: NBC News