Allergy Awareness

Since HB developed his corn allergy, my life has become about food and ingredients. We've got a list of things we know are "HB safe," but sometimes I forget to look, and will spend 30 minutes going back and putting things I'd picked up away. We've become those people that only shop at Whole Foods or other natural food stores, even though I was devoted to the commissary and Safeway.

Obviously, eating out is really difficult. But most of the time we know what to order and what to avoid. Really great servers will go and ask the chef. Shitty servers will not.

Sunday morning in DC, HB and I grabbed breakfast at the hotel. Their menu said that they were allergy friendly, and just to let the waiter know. HB decided to get french toast made with challah. Challah doesn't normally have corn on the bottom, and he let the waiter know, and asked him to check. Challah? HB safe. Egg mixture? HB safe. Maple syrup? HB safe.

Except it wasn't. HB was super sick afterwards, and still is at about 3%. When he has a reaction, it lasts for days, which is why we have to be so careful. I just wish people in restaurants are careful.

It takes seconds for a waiter to check with a chef, and seconds for a chef to check a label. Those seconds save other people from having serious allergic reactions that could mean days of being uncomfortable. I'm glad that people are becoming more aware of peanut allergies and gluten intolerance, but I wish that when anyone went into a restaurant and said the word "allergy" they could be gaurenteed a safe meal.