Arizona Teenager in Coma After Eating Cereal With Peanut

This is one of those heartbreaking stories. A 14 year old Arizona girl was hanging out with friends snacking on cereal when she went into anaphylactic shock and then cardiac arrest. She's been in a coma for several weeks now. You can read the story here and follow her progress on Facebook.

From all of us who have kids with food allergies, our thoughts are with Adrianna and her family and we wish her a speedy and full recovery.

Peanut Allergy Food Challenge Coming Up

We've got a peanut challenge in two weeks. My nearly 11-year-old has never eaten peanut. We've avoided it because of blood test results. We feell like it's time to find out the truth.

Our allergist suggested not using actual peanuts for the challenge as they can scratch the throat and cause confusion over possible allergic symptoms. I plan to bake something with peanut butter, however the allergist said it needs to be "a substantial amount". I'm thinking of putting peanut butter in my chocolate chocolate chip cookies. I also considered making peanut butter type candies.

I'd love to hear your suggestions!

Food Allergies in the News

I'd like to share an article I wrote for our local Patch about the situation in Florida involving a peanut allergic six-year-old.

I know this is the nightmare of every parent with a food allergic preschooler, but I can assure you that this situation does not appear to be typical in schools in our country. We have had a very positive experience with our public school system and I hear mostly the same from my fellow food allergy parents. The key is planning and open communication.

A support system via Facebook has been set up for the Florida family involved in this national news story. Feel free to lend your support and share your experiences.