Many people have told me, when getting ready for vacation or an
afternoon out, to just throw everything in a bag or suitcase and go.
Believe me, nothing could be further from our reality.
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.
I read blogs written by other parents of kids with allergies, and
learned which restaurants and chefs were most accommodating, which had
more options than others, and which to avoid. Another good resource is
the
Allergy Free Mouse, which is definitely worth checking out.
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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