For our vacation, I spent a huge chunk of time just making sure that all of the prescriptions were refilled, E's and J's EpiPens were in date, the large array of allergy meds were refilled. It's never as simple as just calling in a refill; several of the meds require prior auths, some meds couldn't be refilled because it was too early, others were expired and needed a doctor's call... Once everything was in order, I had to pack all of them. We fill an entire carry-on with prescription meds!
Aside from the meds, meal planning is even more time consuming. I researched menus for all of the counter service restaurants at Disney, as well as the table service restaurants. I made extensive lists of which ones served meals that would be safe for E, and which ones (almost all of the counter service restaurants) served peanut butter, nuts, and other unsafe foods. I packed lots of wipes so that we could clean the area where E would eat, in case the person who ate there before him had eaten nuts. We called Disney and made sure that all of our dinner reservations noted all of E's allergies. Then Nick made up business cards with E's name on them, with a list of the foods that he cannot eat.
All of the preparation made for an easier trip, but the thing that made it the best was that Disney, as a whole, really knows had to deal with food allergies! On the blogs, I'd read that many families with children with multiple food allergies vacation at Disney exclusively because it's the only place where they can relax a little bit, and take a much-needed week off from vigilant food planning and prepping!
There are certain restaurants that we just plain avoid: those that serve Chinese and Thai foods because of peanuts, Moroccan and Indian restaurants because of tahini, and seafood restaurants, to name a few. The restaurants that we did choose were amazing. At each restaurant, we gave the server E's allergy card, which he or she passed on to the chef. One of the chefs would then come out to the table, confirm the allergies, and tell us what they could make that would be safe for E, whether it was on the menu or a custom meal. They all explained that the food would be prepared on a dedicated grill, away from all potential allergens. When the meal was served, they came out to check to make sure that we approved. After the meal, they discussed dessert options, which were usually something custom made, since most of the desserts have possible cross contamination with nuts.
I can't even explain how amazing it is to have food allergies treated as seriously as they are, and to have some peace of mind while traveling and eating out. While I don't consciously worry every time we eat out, there's always that underlying stress, wondering if the food is indeed safe for E to eat.
The food allergy world is reeling after two deaths of children with food allergies in the past weeks. One was 19-year-old Cameron Groezinger-Fitzpatrick in Massachusetts, who was home for spring break and died after eating half of a cookie. The other was 12-year-old Maia Santarelli-Gallo, who died after eating ice cream at a Toronto mall with her father and sister. This, of course, is the worst nightmare of every parent of a food allergic child.
I sometimes feel like people get tired of listening to me talk about food allergies, but if it can save my child's or someone else's child's life, I'm going to keep on talking. Awareness is key. Disney is definitely aware, and I commend them for that!
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