It’s been a long week of emotions regarding the peanut death of Natalie Giorgi and even some growing pains within my own household.   Natalie did all the right things, as did her family, yet her story ended in tragedy.  This has been incredibly hard to digest.   Although, one very strong point was brought up by EpiCenter™ Medical, Inc in a recent blog post, “Tragic loss of Sacramento Teen Reveals Flaws in Anaphylaxis Guidelines”, written by Dr. Mark Greenwald.  Dr. Greenwald challenges us to better understanding of when to administer epinephrine.   I’ve been told at known ingestion, without delay or symptoms present.  What have you been told?  Hum…I think maybe we need to step back and ask this question and find the lessons.  Needless to say, this week has brought pain, questions and frustrations to our entire food allergy community.  The one quote that just keeps rolling through my head is from Nancy Willard…
[quote]I haven’t a clue as to how my story will end. But that’s all right. When you set out on a journey and the night covers the road, that’s when you discover the stars.[/quote] I feel deep in my soul that Natalie’s death has much bigger lessons than we realize.  She has pushed us deeper into our journey of understanding and managing life threatening food allergies.  Back in 2005 my son attended The Food Allergy Research and Eduction (formerly FAAN) Kid’s Congress on Capital Hill.  We created individual scrap books for Nevada Senator Harry Reid, then Senator John Ensign and Congressman Jim Gibbons.  Each scrapbook featured photos and messages from Nevada children seeking their support for the management of life threatening food allergies and anaphylaxis.

The inside cover of each book featured this quote from Nancy Willard.  I choose this poem because it was a hopeful time-the very first Kid’s Congress all about food allergies!  Since then, we’ve developed a beautiful relationship with Senator Harry Reid’s office and they have been big supporters of food allergy and anaphylaxis management and our food allergy world has changed for the better.

It was incredibly healing and beautiful to discover  the photo copies I took from one of the scrapbooks.  So many of the children featured in the book have grown up into amazing teens who advocate for themselves and food allergies.  Times are changing.  There are so many more support groups, online data and states with epinephrine law in place for schools.  Hundreds of school districts have adopted food allergy policy and we have so many fashionable choices and ways to carry epinephrine.  Things are improving.  Sometimes not fast enough, but there is hope.

I think I this week simply calls out for hope.  Wishing you a beautiful day!