To eieiei,<BR><BR>Your apology is accepted. Please accept my cyber hand of friendship. <BR><BR>I tend to be fiercely protective where my children are concerned as they were extremely difficult to come by :)<BR><BR>Believe me, I wish the problem was as simple as letting the hotel staff know. The problem is so much more complicated. I can't begin to express the stress that comes from being responsible for a child with chronic medical problems.<BR><BR>Many thanks to all of the posters who have shared information. I have learned much from your posts. My family and I are grateful. <BR><BR>Donna Mitchell

Dear Bella Donna,<BR> With the right precauctions there is no reason not to enjoy your trip to Sicily and Roma! Caio!

Donna, You are so right about the educational gift, not to mention what you are teaching your child about not letting a condition hold them back, and how to move forward responsibly. My daughter and I both have asthma. We don't have direct experience to offer for this particular siuation. However, my experience is worth noting for preventive measures. With more problems as a child, I rarely have asthma as an adult - only seasonal allergies/asthma, or if I come near hay, horses,touch a cat, or exercise induced. However, I once spent the week-end at a lake house that had been closed up for 5 days. The prior week-end guests included a house cat. Within hours after entering, I had the worst asthma attack of my life. It was the only asthma episode that I ever had where I could feel my lungs filling up with fluid, constantly coughing, and soon couldn't even talk. I had not brought along any medication and it was nearly midnight. Away from a city convenient grocery, my husband drove around and found the nearest grocery in hopes of buying a Primatene Mist to try to stablize it. It was closed, but stockers were inside so he beat on the door until they opened it and let him have one. It did rescued me.(Not intended nor recommended for a reliable rescue in such a serious situation.)There was no phone at the house to call for help and it was before the cell phone era.We had no idea where the nearest emergency facility was since we were in an unfamiliar lakeside area. Now, I always go prepared. I'm not sure if it was the concentration of cat dander being closed up or could've been mold being near the lake.

My daughter also has myriad allergies, the worst by far being to peanuts. I know how you feel being aware that ordinary, everyday things are life threatening to your precious child. Take heart my daughter, who on many occasions required emergency adrenalin injections, is now 32 and just returned safely from a 10 week trip in Europe.<BR>All the info you have been given is good but be sure the airline are aware. My daughter flew Emirates who recommended that she bring her own food on board as they couldn't guarantee the airline food would be free of nuts. In Australia all packaged edibles must by law contain their ingredients, it is frightening how many state &quot;may contain traces of nuts&quot;.

Dried peaches specifically set off an incredible allergic reaction in me. As an adult, I ate some for the first time, and my throat literally started closing up! I quickly too 2 Benadryl tablets and I guess it stopped or slowed it. Scary. Nothing had ever done this to me before. I looked on the ingredients and I suspect it was the sulpha dioxide (a preservative?).I've heard of people being allergic to sulfer drugs, but don't know what medications are sulfer based. Maybe there's a connection.

Donna- Kudos to you for taking the time, effort, and patience to make sure that this trip is a great experience for your entire family. Too many &quot;parents&quot; today would rather she stay home to make it easier on them. My husband has a severe peanut allergy, and I have a bad shellfish allergy. In Italy it was very easy for me to pick out things that had shellfish in them. They were so proud of their seafood! Which my husband says was wonderful. We recently spent two weeks in Japan, where neither of us spoke the language. We used our allergy card at every meal and it worked like a charm. Please post and let us know how your trip was!

athmatic's message made me remeber one more suggestion I had forgotten. The number for health emergencies in Italy is 118. If your daughter has any sudden chrisis and starts feeling very sick fast, call 118 to have an ambulance come and take her to the nearest ER. Most operator can speak at least some English, but the words &quot;crisi asmatica&quot; (asthma crisis) and &quot;shock anafilattico&quot; (can't translate this in English, but it is a strong allergy chrsis) may be useful.

Thanks to all of you for sharing your suggestions and experiences with us. I have learned so much from your messages. I feel so much more prepared for this trip. I am especially grateful for all our your words of support and kindness. Many thanks to all of you.<BR><BR>I will make a trip report once we get back. Can't begin to tell you how excited I am about seeing Rome. Armed with all the great info I have learned from this Fodor's board, I think that I will be able to relax more and enjoy our trip.<BR><BR>Thanks again,<BR><BR>Donna Mitchell <BR><BR>

Am I the only one crazy or what?By the time my child was 9 years old Ipretty much knew how to handle most situations.With a child such as Donna's,I would NEVER resort to the advise of STRANGERS.Shouldn't she beconsulting with a doctor and getting information about good allergy doctors in Rome , checking on them calling them , alerting them that they are coming, learning their hours and where they are located and which hospital would be the one to go to in an emergency.I suspect a troll, just like the other child related posts!

Doubt you are the only crazy one, but I'd vote to put you right at the top of the list. How do you know she has not done all that and is just wanting some reassurance?

ohmy:<BR><BR>This stranger here is not a stranger to Italy. Beside the fact that I belice that Donna has already done all she knew she had to do in order to get ready for this trip, I assure you that the best specialists in Italy, in case of emergency, can be found trusting 118 operators. If Donna's child has a crisis all she has to do is call 118, in but a few moments an ambulance will be there and will take the child to the nearest hospital whose ER has services to meet her needs. Italy, according to Worls health organization, has a better health service than the Usa, which results in longer lives, less children who die before they are 5 and easier access to health services for everyone. I am not bragging, I am stating facts: check out the WHO figures if you want.

Dear Donna:<BR>If you do not have a very portable nebulizer,you should consider investing in one.The Omron Microair nebulizer uses ultrasound to nebulize the solutions. When put together it is about the size of an ear thermometer and runs on 4 AA batteries for multiple treatments.It comes in a case that is no bigger than a medium sized toiletry case and thus can be carried anywhere in a purse or backpack (along with your epipens).It is also quiet enough that you can give treatments in a church without people in adjoining rows taking notice as I have done for my son for the past 3 years,since he was 3.There are several sites that sell this with a prescription, one of them being www.allergysupply.com.If you do buy it make sure you also buy some extra mesh caps.They seem to be critical in the proper functioning of the nebulizer.This nebulizer has made my family's travels much more mobile and stress free.

Steve, Thanks for the suggestion about the nebulizer. I think I will check on that one.<BR><BR>To Oh My:<BR>Please tell me what you mean by suspecting a troll. <BR><BR>I have most certainly taken my child to her allergist,her Pediatrician and she will see her ENT Monday. I have been given prescriptions and instructions. There is never a month that goes by that my daughter does not see one of her doctors. <BR><BR>AGAIN, in my initial post, I asked for responses from &quot;experienced travelers with the same medical conditions&quot; Do you fit this description? Do you have a child that fits this description? <BR> <BR>I would NEVER call another parent who is trying to be responsible &quot;a troll&quot;. You pretty much called me a bad mother because I asked other experienced travelers for advice. You know, parents who have been there done that. Isn't that what the world wide webb is all about; having an endless source of information in one's home. <BR> <BR>I would NEVER pass judgement on someone else until I walked in that person's shoes. <BR>If you don't have any intelligent suggestions, if you don't like what is being written under the heading, then don't go there and MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. <BR><BR> Donna