Developments in peanut allergy treatments

I saw this article in USA Today last week and thought it was interesting. The online version doesn't have the same pictures as the newspaper (I spilled coffee all over my copy). It may just be me - but do these articles still have a bit of sensationalism to them?

Reaching out to new families

To all EoE 'veterans' -

Anyone interested in reaching out to other families struggling with a NEW diagnosis of EoE? As I interact with newly diagnosed patients and families, I often see the same basic concerns played out: how are we going to deal with this? what am I going to feed him/her? how will I ever learn all of the words that can mean 'milk' or 'soy' is an ingredient?

I'd like to put together a compilation of "Eos stories" to hand out to newly diangosed patients and families. Each story would be like a short family biography, as it relates to the family's experience with EoE. Those of you who are interested in participating can write your own (perhaps just a short paragraph?) - you can make it as personal/general as you like... include names and contact info or not.

My hope is that sharing these stories will help newly diagnosed families feel more connected and less alone - let them know that there are REAL families living in the same area who have been through (and are still going through!) this experience.

What do you guys think?

- Katy

Maybe we should all move to Utah

My best friend in Utah thought of me as she read this article in her local paper. It's nice to know insurance somewhere is covering our needed, and costly, formula.
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/301689/79/
Check it out...maybe we could start something like that here.
Renee

Fun, allergy-friendly Valentine's Day!

Stressed about yet another food-centered holiday coming up? I found some fun Valentine's Day acitivities as well as recipes for some "safe" Valentine's Day treats at the Kids With food allergies website... Check them out at:
http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/KFA-Celebrates-Valentines-Day.pdf

Meeting date correction!

Please note that the next meeting is NEXT Thursday, January 15th at 6:30pm. It was listed incorrectly in the "Upcoming Events" section of the blog (now corrected there too).

Don't miss out on our very first guest speaker! The talk will be informal followed by a roundtable question and answer session: "Meeting Nutritional Needs on a Restricted Diet", guest Kristen Middleton, RD.

See you there!

support groups/hospital calendars

I looked on MCG Health's Community Calendar and saw a number to call for more information about support groups:  706-721-CARE (2273).

University has a listing of support groups with good information about each (location, cost, goal, etc.), however, each support group looks like it has a tie back to University.  There is a general "contact us" form so I'm going to go ahead and ask about if they would advertise for us. 

Doctor's Hospital has a short list of support groups and easily accessible pages for health conditions.  The pages for specific conditions have links to resources and other organizations.  Oddly enough, nothing for EGID...8).  For contact it looks like the general form is the only way through the website.  

Trinity's website isn't working right now.....

Maybe the thing to do would be to use the 'contact us' forms to get the mailing address for their community event organizers and ask if they would advertise the support group.  I'm thinking that MCG is the best place to advertise, but want to cover all the bases.

Speaker topics - input?

As we discussed briefly at the last CSRA Eos meeting, we can invite "expert" speakers to talk to our group (and other EoE families). The topics covered can vary, depending on what you are interested in hearing. So far, the following have been suggested/mentioned as potential topics:

Dietary issues - more info regarding food elimination, etc. from our Pediatric dietician

Alternate flours - how to use them successfully in recipes

I am happy to seek out speakers, but I want to cover topics that are interesting/helpful to you. For example, what specific questions would you have for our dietician speaker? (ways to inrease calories in a restricted diet? new ideas for 'fun' food substitutions?) Or, would you rather hear more about medications? how they work or why certain meds are chosen? Just think about what issues/concerns your family faces and let me know!

What topics are you interested in?