Talking Allergies

I'm in Ontario and b/c of the new Sabrina Law our school has decided that all students must carry their own Epi-pens. My DS is in Grade 1 and has never before had to wear his Epi-pen. They suggested keeping it in his backpack (but in an emergency, good luck finding the right backpack!) or in a bellypack. (BtW, the school also keeps Epis in the office too).

My concern is about other kids possibly taking his Epi-pen as well as keeping the Epi-pen away from cold and hot temperatures while he's outside at recess. I'm leaning towards getting him a bellypack. We do have an anatote but he rarely wears belts although I do have 2 carabiners attached so he could attach it to his belt loops of his jeans.

Does anyone know of any UV protected bellypacks? Are there many bellypacks that fit children that would fit 2 Epi-pens?

My son has been wearing his own epi-pen since jr. kindergarten. I purchased an e-belt from medic alert.

http://www.medicalert.ca/en/products/merchmedical.asp

This link is to the page that shows the actual belts. I purchased the single. He carries one epi-pen and there is an extra in the school office. I also carry my own epi-pen, which of course I would use for him if needed.

Although the new cases that the epi-pens come in are much better then the original, I still wouldn't want my son running around playing with his pen in just that. The e-belt can withstand up to 1000 lbs. of outside force, so I figure it's pretty safe for the playscape.

If you look at the picture, the white part with the medic-alert name and symbol is a big velcro strap. Easy to open in an emergency, but doesn't just pop open on it's own. He is now in grade 2 - and nobody has ever tried to get his epi-pen.

Initially, I thought the school was crazy for insisting he carry it himself at 4 years old. Now, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Our daughter has a fanny pack thaty goes in her backpack. It contains her EpiPen, asthma puffers and aerochamber.
2x the school has forgotten it on field trips. I want her to start wearing an EpiPen belt. What do I put the puffer and aerochamber in? A fannypack is quite bulky for a 4 yearod who is into climbing and playing dressup.
If I just send the puffer, will she know how to use it properly in an emergency? She's never used it without the aerochamber.
The Medicalert pouch dangles from the EpiPen belt and I don't know how safe that is.

What age do children use the chamber til? Does she use a puffer regualrly or only in emergency? Maybe you could start her using it without the chamber at home. Would she understand *practice* without actually pushing it down but just pretending to?

What about using a diskus?

In the last avon catalog, they had a small purse on a belt that you could wear around your waist. It looked like the perfect size for my daughter to have next year at kindergarten, or for me to use to take the girls to the park, it has a cell phone holder as well. It should fit an epipen in a protect a tube, and a bottle of benadryll and her instructions for how to help her. I'm hoping it will adjust small enough for a child. I should be getting it soon. I'll post a picture when I get it. They come in black or brown faux leather, and I planned on personalizing with some stitch on appliques (iron on might melt the faux leather), or some other cool finds at the fabric store. the purse was pretty cheap too...about $15.

My three year old has a tiny Dora the Explorer backpack that goes with her everywhere - at school, at home and when we're out and about. It contains two EpiPens, Benadryl, Ventolin, Flovent, an Aerochamber and her health card. The backpack is small enough that it isn't too heavy or get in the way, but big enough to carry all the emergency supplies. At school, it goes with her when they are outside, on walks or on a field trip, in addition to the extra EpiPen I leave in the classroom. At first her teacher was resistant to letting my daughter carry the backpack around, but I absolutely insisted. Now they are as adamant as I am about bringing the backpack everywhere.

When Ethan was prescribed an aerochamber we discovered that they also made them for all ages, adults included. Apparently the aerochamber is the preferred method of delivery of asthma medication for all ages due to the liklihood of individuals to spray the back of their throat instead of inhaling the medication into their lungs where it's needed. The aerochamber is supposed to prevent this. My thought is that if the typical adult is likely to ineffectively use their puffer (without the help of an aerochamber) - than a child would have an even harder time.

I've been looking into buying an e-belt for my DS Ethan to wear. Are they ever expensive! At least $60-$80 for a double belt from MedicAlert. I'm also going to look into him wearing a simple belly pack and see if that works well before I go out and spend $80 on something I'm not sure will fit his little body well.

Why do things that are so necessary have to cost so much? I think it's ridiculous that MedicAlert and E-belt.ca charge so much for those e-belts when all they are are a simple belt, buckle and 2 small chambers. *sigh* now I'll get off my soapbox

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SAHM of 3 children. Oldest DS (1999) is anaphylactic to peanuts.

canuckmommy,

I bought the double e-belt for my daughter..yes I paid that astronomical price. And it ended up being to heavy and bulky for my daughter. So, I bought the ana-tote and the protectube....it's a lot lighter for my daughter and on the pocketbook.

I'm glad I ordered the Ebelt. I went to the mall last week looking for a belly pack for my DS to wear at school and happened to go into the GAP to check it out. Luckily I mentioned why I was looking for a belly pack b/c the salesgirl said she had a brother with an Ebelt (for his nut allergy). She called her mom and let me talk to her. Her mom raved about the Ebelt so I decided to buy one for my DS. Talk about great customer service at that GAP! lol
I didn't go with the anatote b/c we already have a single anatote and it's huge. I talked to my pharmacist's assistant who has an allergic DS and she agreed that the double anatote is just too thick and bulky for a small child. I'm hoping the Ebelt will fit him much snugger to his body.

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SAHM of 3 children. Oldest DS (1999) is anaphylactic to peanuts.

Sigh, I guess I'll have our daughter wear her EpiPen belt for now and keep looking for something to put the aerochamber in.

Susan have you checked at any asthma boards? Three years ago when my grandson got sick the doctor said he had asthma. (Either he's outgrown it or it wasn't really asthma.) Anyway, because he was going to be spending a lot of time in my care I wanted to be prepared for everything and I went to an asthma board for a while. The people were extremely friendly and helpful. Since allergies and asthma often seem to go hand in hand, maybe someone there has a solution for you. Would you like me to try to find the board?

double post

Triple post. Kept getting error message that post wasn't going through.