This week on Exhale we talk with the hilarious Kym Whitley. We chat about how she got her start in comedy, her reality show and of course, her gorgeous son. Having adopted him without knowing his family medical history, she discovered that he has a lot of food allergies. And since babies can’t tell you what they can and can’t eat, she was nervous to leave him with sitters, daycare. So she came up with this t-shirt parents can put on their kids when they’re staying with new people just to remind them about food allergies. You write in your kid’s name with a Sharpie up top and then check the boxes of the things he/she is allergic to. And there are write-in boxes below for items not listed.
Isn’t that a FANTASTIC idea? As a person with severe allergies to a whole host of things, I can really appreciate this. She said that she’s even received messages from parents of autistic children who are unable to articulate their issues to caregivers saying “You’re saving my child’s life.” So powerful. You can order these shirts in English and Spanish at dontfeedme.org.
I had a severe allergy attack that landed me in the ER just yesterday. For the past month, I’ve been having these persitent reactions (hives, eye and lip swelling, throat swelling). Thought it was a new food allergy and have been journaling to try and narrow it down. But after yesterday I know for sure, my allergy is to aspirin.
I posted the status above on Facebook about a week ago. I was making a joke. Because I’m a comedian who currently has no medical insurance. But allergies are no joke. THANK GOD I had just gotten my epipen Rx filled. Without it, I’d never have made it to the hospital. Those two aspirin almost took me out, and I’m a grown woman. To think of what kids go through when they have severe allergy attacks — now more than ever I wanna buy these shirts for every parent I know just in case. Thanks so much Kym for what you’re doing!
Below is the trailer for this week’s show. We also talk with Keisha Knight Pulliam, Jeffrey Osborne, and Kevin Rodney Sullivan. SO much fun! I hope you’ll tune in. Wednesdays at 8pm. Only on ASPiRE.
