Adventures of an Allergist Mommy

You're Invited to an Open House! I am thrilled to celebrate the opening of Kaneland Allergy & Asthma Center with an Open House event for my colleagues, patients and community members. We'll be giving tours of our kid-friendly new office, talking about the latest developments in allergy and immunology, sampling yummy allergy-friendly treats, accepting donations for a local Food Pantry and giving away prizes! (iPad, anyone?) If you have a friend or family member who could use a good allergist, this is a great time to "Meet the Doc" and get a feel for the practice before scheduling an appointment, so bring a buddy! Where: 66 Miller Drive North Aurora, IL 60542 When: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 6:00pm-8:00pm I'm lucky to share my office building with great neighbors, who will also be opening their offices to the public during this time with similar events. Here's your opportunity to meet all of the professionals at 66 Miller Drive in one evening: Ligh...

In a rush to get the kids' clothes clean yesterday, I dumped the laundry basket contents into the washer without taking the time to sort... HUMONGOUS mistake. After returning home late from a business trip, DH walked into the bedroom asking me about the "crystals" in the laundry. "Crystals?!?! What the heck is my crazy husband talking about?" I wondered to myself upon being woken from my slumber... Well, this morning, it became "crystal" clear exactly what had transpired. Son #2, upon being instructed to "Throw all those dirty clothes down the laundry chute", decided to include his Pull-Up in the mix. My washer and all the clothing therein was covered in pieces of super-absorbent polyacrylate gel. Most excellent. Thankfully, it turns out the AllergistMommy is not the only ridiculous parent to have committed this laundry crime. Laura, the Mellodramamma, has walked this road before me:  http://www.melodramamma.com/?p=60 Read her pos...

 Ah, back to school... kids get back into a routine, and mom gets her life back, right?  WRONG! For most moms, back to school is anything but relaxing. However, for some of us "chosen ones", it's even more tiring: Is this the time of year when you struggle to drag yourself out of bed, despite hitting the sack as soon as you put the kids down for the night? Is your focus during the day so scattered that it takes you 3 times longer than usual to accomplish even relatively simple tasks? And when it's finally time for bed again, are you shocked to see a face 10 years your senior staring back at you in the mirror, with dark circles and puffiness? Many tired moms attribute these seasonal symptoms to the stresses associated with "Back to School".  However, if you're an allergy-mom like me, remember: your kids got those allergy genes somewhere, and you probably had a little something to do with it! As parents of kids with allergies and asthma, we are often...