[Sca-cooks] allergies

Tue Aug 12 07:19:20 PDT 2008

Stefan:
Yes, a total ban on peanut butter would be an overreaction, IMO. See my 
reply to Niccolo for other thoughts on this; we managed at Margaret's school 
fine with them knowing about it. Everybody understood and was reasonable 
about making accomodations that did not deprive the other children. 
Personally, I miss peanut butter and crackers!!
We don't know where the peanut allergy came from, no one in either side of 
the family has it to our knowledge, but at the last visit to the pediatric 
allergist he seemed to think she would have to live with it the rest of her 
life, so, you live with it. YOu just get really good about reading the 
microprint on the back of food packages, and these days they're usually 
pretty good about labeling it separately for allergenic ingredients 
including peanuts.
We will hold a good thought for you on the diabetes issue, we have friends 
and family dealing with that one. Stay on top of it!! I had gestational 
diabetes with the second kid, so it is possibly on the horizon for me too.
About the sign issue, maybe a pocket telescope?? (;-)
I can't even read street signs without my glasses anymore...
Take care now.
Cheers,
Isabella

Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.
Frank Zappa

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like 
administering medicine to the dead.
Thomas Paine
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stefan li Rous" <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>
To: "SCA-Cooks maillist SCA-Cooks" <SCA-Cooks at Ansteorra.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 1:19 AM
Subject: [Sca-cooks] allergies

> Isabella, Seeking Enlightenment, asked:
>
> <<< But why would people be so hostile to a not terribly unreasonable 
> public
> health issue? Are they that selfish and unsympathetic? >>>
>
> I think that's a harsh judgement, both the hostile adjective and the 
> implication that people are being unsympathetic.
>
> I do sympathize with you. But I don't think these total bans are the  way 
> to go. And I suspect that many others feel the same way, rather  than 
> being hostile to finding a solution.
>
> A lot of the "hostility" may be towards changing the lifestyle/habits  of 
> all for the benefit of the few. Maybe that makes me selfish.
>
> You mention in a follow-on message "A tangential answer to this issue- I 
> never knew about so many different food
> allergies until I joined the SCA. Off the top of my head, just the  people 
> I
> know-dairy, strawberries, vodka, shellfish, mushrooms, wheat, pork,  I'm 
> sure
> there's more."
>
> Admittedly many of these are probably not as quickly life-threatening  as 
> a peanut allergy can be. But you can also add sugar to that list.  In my 
> case, a sugared Coke can cause a big problem as a type-I  diabetic. An 
> unlabeled or mistakenly provided Coke could put me in  the hospital or in 
> a coma. If I'm managing things correctly though, I  should see the signs 
> first and correct it with insulin, as an  allergic person can with the 
> epi-pen.
>
> But if we ban all these items that can cause an allergic reaction,  what 
> is left?
>
> We've had quite a number of discussions over the years on handling 
> allergies amid SCA feasts. There are folks that are offended that I  drink 
> beverages containing Nutra-sweet and say it gives them  headaches. So, 
> should both sugared colas and artificially sweetened  ones be prohibited? 
> It is probably easier to make a case for peanuts  and peanut butter being 
> good for kids than sugared drinks.
>
> <<< This is an honest
> question, I just don't get it. It's not about bad life choices that 
> children
> have made or about bad parenting, it's just something that happens,  and 
> last
> I heard they had no idea why peanut allergies have skyrocketed.>>>
>
> As has diabetes. Both type I and II. The "free enterprise" medical 
> insurance industry that our current administration promotes as a  solution 
> to our health care crisis, won't sell me insurance at any  price. And the 
> other day, a spokesman was saying insurance was only  needed for those who 
> made poor choices and that healthy people  shouldn't be subsidizing those 
> who made poor choices. Almost all the  current evidence is pointing to 
> type I diabetes having a strong  genetic component. But I guess we can 
> start requiring genetic testing  and regulate who can and can not get 
> married, err, have sex.
>
> <<< We are lucky
> that our girl's allergy is only moderate, there are much more severe  ones
> out there. Eating a peanut butter sandwich and breathing on someone can
> trigger it. >>>
>
> In your case hopefully she will grow out of this. I haven't got a  good 
> solution. As we start to understand the human immune system we  may 
> eventually be able to selectively prevent an individual's body  from 
> (over)reacting to non-serious "dangers" but it's hard to say how  long 
> that will take.
>
> Stefan
> (now about banning all those overhead menu signs in fast food places  that 
> I can't read and can't get close enough to read...)
> --------
> THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
>    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas 
> StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
> **** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sca-cooks mailing list
> Sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/sca-cooks-ansteorra.org 