Virginia

My son is almost 5 and will begin school next Fall. While he currently attends a peanut-free daycare, I have not worried (too) much because they have been attentive and responsible. However, my productivity and attitude in general at work has significantly taken a nosedive lately as I'm beginning to worry myself sick about Alan beginning school next year.

I'm extremely close to quitting my job and taking on the effort of fighting local school nutritionists and parents to keep peanuts out . I know the road will be a long one, and I desperately need other parents to talk to.

Some days I feel like it's almost hopeless - the battle can't even be fought before people are educated. Parents tend to worry only about their own children, and I've seen the argument recently that they can't be dictated to when it comes to the foods their children bring to school.

I am interested in starting a local chapter to fight this ignorance and self-centered attitude. If I must quit my job and drop out of the masters degree program I'm currently enrolled in, then I will. But, even so, I can't do this alone.

I live in Chesterfield County (Richmond). If you live near here, please please please let me know.

Thanks,
Colleen

We live in Charlottesville, VA and are looking for others who suffer from PA. We would like to start a support group. Anyone out there live near Charlottesville?

Let's get together!

Hello my four year old son is allergic to peanuts eggs and some other food allergys.Is there anyone in or near wytheville Va with this peanut allergy or has a child with this allergy? Thanks Joanne

We live in Fairfax County (Reston, specifically) & also are getting nervous about going into the public schools (1st grade) next year.

We would love to meet any of our 'neighbors' to make friends & maybe join forces!

Dear Colleen Marie,
We are moving to the Chesterfield County area in the summer of 2000. Out little boy, who is 3 years old, has a severe peanut allergy. Would love to talk to you more about school and day care safety in this area.
Thanks,
Cindy

Hi Cindy!

How ironic that I happened to log on today after several months! And how wonderful to see your message. I'm so excited and hope you'll be interested in meeting or at least talking on the phone. Is your child in daycare? By the way, I was unable to post with my old user name so I had to reregister as ColleenMarie. Still me with one less space (hee hee).

I live near Chesterfield Towne Center. How about you?

Hi Anne Parrish,
We live in DC and have a son attending full-time pre-K in the District. We went through mega-anxiety and stress last summer before he started school. It has worked amazingly well, with a few bumps along the way. We would be happy to talk to you about our experiences. We also have several friends with kids attending Fairfax Co Schools and can tell you how their schools handle PA children. You can e-mail us direct at:
[email]Samsdad@erols.com[/email] Can you tell who our lives revolve around? Ha Ha

Hi...new to this board and web site..what a gift! Our son is allergic to peanuts too. I have so many questions about when to test and all. We just moved to Chesapeake last winter....is there someone else in the area of Va. Beach or near abouts? Hoping, Nicholas' Mommy

Hi everyone. Do any of you know if there are any PA support groups in the Fairfax County, Virginia area? We live in Oakton Virginia which is sandwhiched between Vienna-Fairfax-and Reston.

My daughter, Nikki, is 5 1/2 and will start kindergarten next week at Flint Hill Public Elem. located in Vienna, Virginia.

This web site has been amazingly helpful in our PA preparations at the school. I thank all of you who participate on it.

If anyone in the Fairfax area would like to establish contact, please feel free to e-mail me at [email]LeeAnne@aol.com[/email]. I would love to hear from you.

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~ LeeAnne

Joanne S - I live in Bedford County not too far from Roanoke. My one year old son is peanut allergic. I don't know of anyone to talk to regarding this in this area.Would love to hear more from you.

Quote:Originally posted by LogansMom:
[b]Joanne S - I live in Bedford County not too far from Roanoke. My one year old son is peanut allergic. I don't know of anyone to talk to regarding this in this area.Would love to hear more from you.[/b]

Hi logansmom ,sorry to have taking so long to reply to you ,i havnt been to this site for a while , you can email me anytime , i dont see yours.I would love to hear from you too.

Hi! I have and allergic 7 year old and live in VA Beach. I am new to this website and really excited to have found it. My email address is janetmarino@home. Hope to hear from you!

Hi all! I just found this area of the board! I had not realized that there were quite a few people from Virginia. I live in Chesterfield County and my daughter is supposed to start school in the fall. I am terrified. I really am interested in knowing if there are any support groups currently in progress. If not is there anyone interested in starting one or even talking on the phone. My email is [email]shawnbeth@home.com[/email] if you would like to contact me. Thanks so much!!

Hi,
We're in Richmond. Is there a group? I have a fourth grader who is PA and I am PA, soy and other legumes. Please let me know.

I will be moving to Chesterfield County in
Richmond, VA. Are there any peanut free preschools in the Southside of town? We will be living in Woodlake Subdivision. My son will be 2 this week but would like to start him because he is so shy.

Do you know about this group?
[url="http://www.parentsofallergicchildren.org/"]http://www.parentsofallergicchildren.org/[/url]

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Jana

[url="http://www.seattlefoodallergy.org"]www.seattlefoodallergy.org[/url]

Jana - Looking at that group's website, it seems to be focused on what I would call food sensitivity or intollerence, rather than "true" (i.e., IgE mediated) allergies.

From their mission statement:

"The main focus of the support group is for children with learning and/or behavior problems due to allergies and nutrition."

I also didn't see anything on the website warning parents of the danger of anaphylaxis.

Not that I discount the possible serious impact of nutrition on behavior, but it bothers me when "allergy" is used to describe both the potentially fatal physical reaction and more chronic behavioral issues. It makes it harder to get others to understand about the dangers of anaphylaxis.

Hello All,

I am so glad to have found this board relatively early in my journey through this world with a PA DD. Her name is Chandler, age 4. We just starting finding that she was PA in Oct. 2005 (thought her first strong reaction was a fluke); but soon had confirmation when she had a full-blown anaphylaxis attack in November!

Chandler has two older brothers ages 20 and 9 that are asthmatics. Along with the anaphylaxis, Chandler was also diagnosed as a silent asthmatic; meaning she's had it all along but the allergies just brought it to light.

I am glad to be here with this awesome support and wealth of information that I have found while lurking around for the past few weeks. We are in Chesterfield. Already noted that I have a few "neighbors" on the board. I look forward to chatting with some of you real soon as I need guidance in how to handle the upcoming school issues and getting a 504!

God Bless,

Stephanie

PS-I also posted this on the introduce yourself page.

Thinking about moving to the Bedford/Roanoke area. How did ya'll get by with the PA?

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

ceelugar@gmail.com