To Life!
ON THE CO
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ti
3
R
Always
ON GUA
Life-threatening food
allergies require vigilance
and understanding.
Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Staff Writer
I
n his early elementary
school days, Emery Weiss
of West Bloomfield spent
many lunch periods eating alone
at a special table away from
classmates. His isolation was not
punishment, but part of a plan to
protect him from possible expo-
sure to peanuts and tree nuts
that could cause a deadly allergic
reaction.
"When you see your child
almost die from eating nuts, your
main concern is that he stays
away from them — even if it also
means he has to stay away from
the kids who are eating them:'
said mom Ellyn Weiss.
One of 12 million Americans
suffering from food allergies
-- and 3.3 million with peanut
or tree nut allergies — 10-year-
old Emery is beginning to realize
he's hardly alone.
"Thirty years ago, food aller-
gies were almost unheard of,
especially life-threatening ones:'
said Melinda Miller of Clawson,
vice president of the Circle of
Food Allergic Families group
based in Waterford. "Now, one in
25 Americans is affected by food
allergies!'
Emery, his parents and his
school are using that knowledge
and his rocky experience to make
others aware of the potentially
devastating effects of food aller-
gies.
As Emery's classmates learn
more about his food restrictions,
they're becoming understanding
as well as empathetic to his situa-
tion. His close friends, like David
Sable, 10, of West Bloomfield,
bring nut-free lunches to school.
"We eat together most of the
28
May 18 • 2006
time, and I just don't take any-
thing with peanuts in it," David
said. "If I was with Emery and
all there was to eat was peanuts,
I wouldn't eat them. I wouldn't
Want him to be alone."
According to Ellyn, Emery
hasn't eaten by himself this entire
school year. "One little girl has
ruled out peanut butter altogeth-
er to make sure there's no chance
she will get any near Emery;' she
said. "The kids have taught our
son a lot about friendship!'
•
What's A School To Do?
When Emery reached school
age, his parents had to decide
between options like home
schooling and a neighborhood
school where peanut-free class-
rooms were available.
"What we really wanted was
for him to go to Hillel (Day
School of Metropolitan Detroit),
where my husband, Mark, went:'
Ellyn said. "But at that time, no
other children there had nut
allergies." And that meant no
procedures were in place to help
keep him safe.
Because there is no cure —
and no treatment to prevent food
allergies — the only way to halt
allergic reactions is "complete
avoidance of the allergen:' said
Dr. Michael Facktor, a pediatric
allergist in West Bloomfield.
Not an easy task anywhere
but a significant challenge in an
elementary school.
Yet, after. Mark and Ellyn Weiss
met with Hillel's former presi-
dent Robert Orley, the school
began to educate staff, parents
and kids and to make sure the
classrooms and lunch tables used
by kids with allergies were made
nut-free.
"We decided not to become
eiss puts a donation in
AN collection box at Hillel.
a completely nut-free school
because we were not able to give
the security necessary to these
children when our kids bring
their own lunches:' said Robyn
Glickman, elementary school
principal.
Instead, she said the entire
Hillel staff, including substitute
teachers, were trained to use an
EpiPen, an auto-injector that
administers epinephrine, the
emergency treatment for a sud-
den, severe, potentially fatal aller-
gic reaction that can involve the
skin, respiratory tract, gastroin-
testinal tract and cardiovascular
system.
"Steve Freedman [Hillel's head
of school] speaks to the parents
each year at curriculum night
about taking extra steps like not
bringing certain foods into the
room and washing hands after
eating or touching some foods','
Ellyn Weiss said.
Dr. Facktor also suggests
"washing the lips and around the
mouth. The inside of the mouth
should be rinsed because small •
pieces of nuts can get stuck in
the teeth;' he said.
Even foods with the tiniest
traces of allergens can cause a
deadly reaction as can foods pro-
cessed in the same containers as
nut products. And, for some, just
the smell of the allergy-produc-
ing food can cause a reaction.
Those with nut allergies need
always to be on guard, watching
ingredients such as artificial nuts
that may actually be peanuts
de-flavored and re-flavored with
other nuts. African, Chinese,
Indonesian, Mexican, Thai and
Vietnamese dishes often contain
peanuts or are contaminated
with them during preparation.
Tree nuts may be used in foods
including barbecue sauce, cere-
als, crackers and ice cream. Even
toys, like hacky sacks or bean
bags, may be filled with crushed
nut shells.
Food Allergies Growing
Since Emery started kinder-
garten, he's become part of a
dozen or so children at Hillel
with allergies that range from
milk and latex to eggs, nuts and
fruit. While any food can cause
a food allergy, 90 percent of all
reactions in the United States
come from milk, eggs, peanuts,
tree nuts, soy, fish and shellfish.
According to the Food Allergy