Mom Spreads the word

VERNON-According to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network approximately 11 million Americans suffer from food allergies, with over 3 million allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. This is a statistic that Vernon resident Kathleen Dodson has learned the hard way after one of her children went into anaphylactic shock after tasting a small piece of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "Just about two years ago I was giving my two children lunch, my older child Emma was three at the time and she loved peanut butter and jelly sandwiches," Dodson said. "So as my younger child Nicole was just about to turn one, I thought that she was old enough to have one too." That's when Dodson's crash course in food allergies began. And, with National Allergy Awareness Month on hand, she is telling what she learned to spread awareness of the condition and the dangers it presents to its victims. For Nicole, all it took was a taste. "When I gave it to her, she took a little bite and didn't appear to like it," Dodson recalled. "But I said to her that it was good and she should try it again. She took another bite, made a face and pushed it away. I guess she knew that she shouldn't have it," she added. After lunch, Dodson put her daughter down for a nap and thought nothing of the incident until she heard Nicole screaming a short time later. "I went into the room, and she was screaming and wheezing, she was throwing up and her eyes were so swollen she didn't look like my child," Dodson said. After a trip to the emergency room and a subsequent visit to an allergist, Dodson found out that Nicole was deathly allergic to peanuts. "I already had an older child, and I wasn't aware just how serious this can be," the mother said. "I had to clean out my cabinets and make sure that there was nothing peanut-related in the house." Little Nicole now wears a bracelet which will alert others of her condition, and Dodson is never without an EpiPen, which can instantly administer a life-saving shot of epinephrine (adrenaline) to her daughter should she inadvertently be exposed to peanuts. And Dodson worries that even that might not be enough. "We had a further incident recently when a mom who actually knew that Nicole was allergic to peanuts just had a momentary lapse," Dodson said. "While handing out Ritz Bitz to a group of kids, she gave one to Nicole too." The snack contained peanuts. Luckily, the mother, "instantly realized what she had done and came to me and told me." Dodson quickly injected her daughter with the EpiPen, and, she said, "Nicole didn't have a full reaction." Dodson, who has since had a third child, Jake, uses books and video tapes to help her children understand the rare but deadly allergy Nicole has. "Because May is National Allergy Awareness Month, I thought it would be timely to share my story with others in the hope that more people will become aware of just how serious this issue is," she said. It is estimated that between 150 and 200 people die annually from food-related anaphylaxis. Most victims had eaten a food they thought was safe. While many children outgrow food allergies, there is no cure and strict avoidance of the allergy-causing food is the only way to prevent a reaction. For more information, visit foodallergy.org.