In Reply to: Lots of questions posted by smurf on Monday, 3. January 2005 at 21:01 Bali Time:
with our 3 year old who suffers a severe contact allergy to peanuts. After seeking help from a specialist we took Claratyne (which we gave to her daily as a precaution) and 2 epi-pens. We also went armed (thanks to the great people here of the BTF) with the following sentence:
annaku tidak bisa makan kacang karena nanti masuk rumah sakit
which apparently means "my child will have to go to hospital if they eat any peanut product" (or similar). We took this written down (mainly because if I'd tried to pronounce it myself it probably would have come out somewhere along the lines of "there is an elephant on your shoulder and thank you for the use of your wife"!!!!). It seemed that everyone we gave it to understood (?). Anyway, we had no problems at all and ate at restaurants, warungs, take aways, everywhere. Apparently peanut oil is too expensive to use and as some other posters have mentioned, vegetable oil from other sources is the norm. We were concerned about spoons, dishes, etc being used for satay and then for other 'safe' foods but as I mentioned, we had no problem. We are heading back in June this year, without hesitation. We will go armed with the same medication & our trusty sentence, and just be sensible again. Everywhere you go fish & chips, boiled rice, toasted sandwiches and other plain & safe foods are readily available. Is your son a fussy eater? Hopefully not, but there will always be something on a menu for him, I'm sure. Very importantly, if you are travelling with epi-pens (also recommended for on planes due to some of them still serving peanuts with drinks), make sure that when you get the script for them that you ask your doctor for a letter stating that you MUST carry the epi-pens with you at all times. We have not, as yet, been stopped from takinh them on board the plane but you want to avoid the possibility of this happenning. Also, if you have a small insulated bag to carry the epi-pens in when your out, it's a good idea, as their effectiveness is reduced if they get too hot. Sorry if you know all this already, just thought I'd cover everything I could think of. Hope this is of some help. Cheers, Sue.