Home

Hayden — Like so many children, Hayden's Makenzie Fry loves sweets. How was she or anyone else supposed to know something as seemingly harmless as a no-bake cookie would trigger a life-altering allergic reaction?

In mid-December, while sitting in the Hayden Valley Elementary School cafeteria, Makenzie, 8, bit into a no-bake cookie during lunch. Soon after, she went into anaphylactic shock.

"I got all itchy and coughed and wheezed, and my throat started to close," Makenzie said. "I almost died."

An EpiPen injection administered by school nurse Stacy Magee saved her life.

Shortly after the winter break in January, Makenzie ate a peanut butter sandwich during lunch, prompting another anaphylactic shock response, another EpiPen shot and an ambulance ride. Epinephrine, administered with an EpiPen shot in the thigh, is considered the best treatment for a severe allergic reaction.

One week later, allergist Roswitha Moehring tested Makenzie for an allergy to wheat and peanuts.

"Makenzie had a huge reaction to peanuts - a huge welt," said Tina Fry, Makenzie's mother. "She has eaten peanuts and peanut butter her whole life."

Allergy cases

Makenzie is one of about 50 students in Routt County public schools who have a food allergy, with the most common allergy being to peanuts, particularly at the elementary school level, according to estimates from the schools.

The severity of allergic reactions in Routt County students with food allergies ranges from severe to mild, in which Benadryl helps symptoms subside. Anaphylactic shock is the most serious form of allergic reaction and can lead to death.

Makenzie also is one of an estimated 2.2 million school-aged children nationwide with a food allergy, according to The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. The same network also reported that the number of young children who developed peanut allergies doubled between 1997 and 2002.

"The number of children developing food allergies is increasing for unknown reasons. That's for the entire Western world, not just the United States," said Moehring, a Denver allergist who has served Routt County for more than 20 years through the Visiting Nurse Association. "This is the most complicated issue in food allergies."

A parent's plea

On March 21, Tina came before the Hayden School Board and asked the board to consider becoming a peanut-free district. Doing so means the district could no longer serve products containing peanuts or peanut oil, or any products processed where peanuts were processed.

The School Board stopped short of going peanut-free, but did direct Hayden Valley Elementary School Principal Rhonda Sweetser to do what was necessary to help Makenzie.

"Makenzie's important and we care very much about her," Sweetser said. "I've been there for every (attack), and it's scary. It's worth doing all that we can."

Sweetser created a peanut-free table in the cafeteria where Makenzie's lunch and the lunch of everyone who eats with her could be monitored, and the table sanitized.

Serious situation

Tina said the most recent allergic reaction, which occurred the day after the School Board meeting, signaled to cafeteria workers, teachers, administrators and elementary students that Makenzie's allergy is serious.

On March 22, with the peanut-free table in place, an elementary child approached Makenzie holding a peanut butter sandwich, prompting a mild reaction - not anaphylactic shock - but a reaction nonetheless.

"They realized we aren't kidding," Tina said. "This is just if someone is next to her."

Sweetser said the elementary school has stopped serving peanut butter at lunch, and the cafeteria workers are going through their inventory to throw out what peanut products remain.

"The (peanut-free) table used to be in the back, but now it's all the way in the front so they can watch it," Makenzie said.

She added that she feels safer at school, and March will be the first month since her diagnosis in December that Makenzie has not gone into anaphylactic shock at school.

Tough task

Reading labels has become as routine as combing their hair and brushing their teeth, said Makenzie and Tina.

"You read everything," Tina said.

A 2006 federal law ordered manufacturers to label products that could be dangerous to those allergic to such things as peanuts, wheat and soy.

Dairy, shellfish, eggs and melon are just a sampling of other allergens school administrators, nurses and cafeteria workers must battle, and it is a difficult task, said Teresa Wise, director of nutritional services for the Steamboat Springs School District.

"You have to trust the vendor that what they say they are sending you is what they are sending you," Wise said. "I've seen anaphylactic shock. I cannot fathom what a small child goes through. Really, honestly, if a parent calls and asks what's in something, I will grab a label and read it immediately."

Limited days

Steamboat and South Routt are not peanut-free districts, but Steamboat only serves peanut products on Fridays, and every time a food containing an allergen is served, signs are posted to warn children.

At Soda Creek Elementary School, a sign greets visitors at the front door reminding them that children in the school are allergic to peanuts and to be mindful of what they are eating, what they have on their hands or on their clothes.

Steamboat's peanut policy has been in place for more than two years. Neither South Routt nor Steamboat are discussing becoming peanut free, but peanuts are not a major portion of either schools lunch menu anyway, Wise and Johnson both said.

Neither district has had a reaction such as Makenzie's when it comes to food allergies in recent years.

Peanut-free example

At the Hayden School Board meeting March 21, Tina handed out a copy of an article about peanut-free measures in Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan. Liz Margolis, director of communications for Ann Arbor Public Schools, which has 30 schools and 17,000 students, said peanut-free measures are in place at schools when there are several children at the school with severe allergies.

Measures have been in place for 10 years, Margolis said, but more rampant measures have been implemented within the past two years as the number of children with a peanut allergy has increased for unknown reasons.

"It varies from school to school," Margolis said. "Some schools are peanut-free schools and some have peanut-free rooms. We work closely to take all the precautions necessary."

Peanuts from home

Many students bring a sack lunch from home. Often, those lunches have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But the response to peanut-free measure generally has been good.

"Really, in the long run, it's been fine," Margolis said. "Sometimes we will face parents who will say peanut butter is all their child will eat. If we have those severe cases, the principal will hold a meeting and send information home to explain what the allergy is and what the severity is."

Makenzie's third-grade classroom with Debbie Schumacher is a peanut-free room, so no outside peanut products can come into the classroom, and the students wash their hands thoroughly after lunch.

Tina said Makenzie's classmates and their parents have been very accommodating. She understands that, for some, it might be an inconvenience, but her priority is her daughter, she said.

Education best remedy

Makenzie can't eat granola bars. She can't eat those little vanilla cream cookies, either. She can't even eat Ramen Noodles, which are processed in a plant where peanuts are used. Don't offer Makenzie anything to eat unless you have the label or the ingredients memorized.

Her realization of her condition is typical of children with food allergies, said Dot Haberlan, the district nurse for Steamboat and the RN who oversees South Routt and Hayden.

"Kids are very, very aware of what their allergies are, what their triggers are, and, even at an early age, parents have done a good job educating their children about what causes their reaction and to recognize one," Haberlan said. "If they are old enough to remember a severe allergic reaction, it sticks with them for a really long time, so they are pretty vigilant and pretty good advocates for themselves at a young age."

The schools are responsible for the safety of students during school hours, but children and parents also play a critical role in ensuring the safety of a child with a food allergy.

Each district has at least one nurse. Steamboat has at least one nurse in each building, with Haberlan as the point person for the district.

Getting information

In South Routt, plans are in place to help children with food allergies, but there are no students in the district with a severe food allergy, said Renee Johnson, the nurse at the three public schools.

In Hayden, Stacy Magee serves the three public schools, so she has been there for each of Makenzie's allergic reactions, including the three times Makenzie has gone into anaphylactic shock.

The most recent anaphylactic attack was in early February, after Makenzie ate sunflower seeds she did not know were processed in peanut oil. Magee quickly shot Makenzie with an EpiPen before the ambulance crew arrived to administer a steroid intravenously.

"I'm so thankful for Stacy," Tina said. "I thank God every day that she knew."

Haberlan said it is imperative parents with a child who has a food allergy entrust the district with that information. All districts have EpiPens and trained professionals prepared to administer a shot if necessary.

"What I would like to see happen and what is really critical for those who work in the school, particularly nurses and health room staff, is information," she said. "We don't always know students have severe allergic reactions because we don't receive that information from families. It's critical for us to troubleshoot and be proactive."

- To reach Melinda Mawdsley, call 871-4208 or e-mail mmawdsley@steamboatpilot.com