My Seven Year Itch | Inspired Bites

Seven years ago, AllergyKids launched. It was Mother’s Day.

My life had changed forever over a plate of scrambled eggs just a few months before.
As my daughter’s face swelled shut, I didn’t want to witness what I saw that morning, to do the work that had to be done, to find the courage that would be needed.

In all candor, seven years ago, as all of this was hitting, there was a deep yearning to somehow go back to the simplicity that we had known before that breakfast.

But that would never happen.

I couldn’t unlearn what I went on to learn or forget what I had seen.
And as I watched her struggle to breathe that morning, my life forever changed.

What I unearthed that day – that the number of children with the peanut allergy had doubled from 1997-2002, that food allergies had become so pervasive in preschool children – was the beginning of a much greater story.

As I learned about food allergies, I learned more than I could have imagined.

In those early days, in a scramble to get information about this life-threatening condition, parents had to pay for access to learn about it. I struggled with that, as I knew other parents might not be in a position to do the same, so I started AllergyKids, a website for parents and caregivers that provided free information and community support to those dealing with this condition.

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My Seven Year Itch | Inspired Bites