Father’s Day Tribute with Thomas Silvera of the Elijah-Alavi Foundation

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker (00:01):
Welcome to the Don't Feed the Fear podcast, where we
dive into the complex world offood allergy anxiety.
I'm your host, Dr.
Amanda Whitehouse, food allergyanxiety psychologist and food
allergy mom.
Whether you're dealing withallergies yourself or supporting
someone who is, join us for anempathetic and informative
journey toward food allergy calmand confidence..
Thank you for joining me forthis special Father's Day

(00:28):
episode of Don't Feed the Fear.
Today.
I'm so happy to introduce youto or reintroduce you to Thomas
Silvera, the co-founder of theElijah-Alavi Foundation.
Most of you probably alreadyknow who Thomas is because he's
been doing so much work inadvocacy and awareness.
After his 3-year-old son,Elijah tragically lost his life

(00:49):
after being served his allergen,a grilled cheese sandwich at
daycare.
The Elijah Avi Foundation doesvital work in food allergy
awareness and policy change,Thomas and I planned to talk
today about the foundation andabout Elijah's legacy as well as
the experience of being a foodallergy father in honor of.
Father's Day, but we alsotouched on so many other topics,

(01:12):
including the intersection offood allergies with social
anxiety and trauma, the harmfulstereotypes and jokes that
continue in mainstream media.
Racial and socioeconomicinequities in the food allergy
and asthma world, and how to getinvolved and what we can do
about it.

Amanda Whitehouse, PhD (01:28):
thank you so much Thomas Silvera, it's
great to meet you and to haveyou here on the show.
You're doing amazing work.
Your story is just touching forso many reasons and in so many
ways, and I'm honored to meetyou and have you here on the
show.

Thomas Silvera, MSHS-PH, (01:39):
Thank you so much for having me.
Um, it's one thing I, I love todo is to talk about, not just
my story, but highlight the, thework of so many others and you
allowing us to have thisplatform to speak, you know,
from our heart and not, youknow, why we started our
organization, but for the causeof why we started it.

Yeah.
Well, both the why is veryimportant too.
And, and many of us in thiscommunity have our why, but it's
the story of your why and thefoundations like yours that, are
the ways that we get people to,realize this is serious and
it's real, real people thatwe're talking about, which lends
me into what you and I werejust talking about before we
started recording, why the worldstill thinks it's okay to make

(02:22):
fun of it and why people makelight of it.
Still.

Thomas Silvera, MSHS-PH, CST (02:26):
I, you know, it was so unfortunate
and unfortunate, like themedia, you got movies, even
people in general and not all,but.
It's one of the things that,you know, I, I love that what we
do within the food allergycommunity, but the flood of like
insensitive and cruel, likecomments only highlights the

(02:48):
deep rooted ignorance that stillexist.
And that's one of the thingsthat's like, it's so baffling,
especially when it comes aroundfood allergies.
Like this is, this is, this isisn't a joke.
It's not something to jokeabout.
It's about real life and harmthat follows when society
minimizes like a lifethreatening condition.

(03:08):
And, you know, on what happenedon the rose, the recent skit
you know, not only did they playinto the ignorance of food
allergies, but it also playedinto using absurdities in their,
in their, I understand it's,it's comedy.
Comedy's supposed to make youlaugh, but when you start
targeting people, like, likewhy, why should we do that?

(03:30):
You know, I don't.
Go ahead.
No, it's just insensitive ingeneral.
And then we get a lot of trollsthat want to attack that.
But again, it just highlightsexactly the ignorance of the
message we're trying to say.
No one understands that.
And two, the funny stops whenit happens to them, happens to a

(03:50):
loved one or anyone close tothem.
And then they're like, oh myGod, this is real.
And, and, and that's the thingthat baffles me.

Right?
And, I think that's understoodfor a lot of other things..
We don't get on TV and make funof kids dying from cancer.
We don't get on television andmake fun of other medical
conditions.
And so that's the part of itthat I get stuck with too and
baffled.
Why is this one okay orconsidered fair game when
nothing else is?

Thomas Silvera, MSHS-PH, CS (04:17):
It, it's weird because no one sees
it as a real threat in a sense.
You know what?
Even I go back to when my sonhad passed away, Elijah, when he
passed away looking at thosecomments, I had to kind of like
pull myself away from it becauseit was like jaw dropping and
like, oh my God.
And then even the racialresponses on that, like, I won't

(04:39):
even tell you what some ofthose responses were, but they
were absurd.
And, and I was like, it, it wasnauseating in a sense.
So when you see comments likethat, I literally, I shut the
comments off on one of my postsbecause the continuation of the
ignorance that kept flowing,it's, it's like we can't stop

(05:00):
it, but we can still dosomething about it.
And again, it's like comingtogether on that platform and
keep pushing the narrative onthe severity of food allergies.
And we know that, you know,there is no cure, but we have to
find a way to mitigate andprotect.
Everyone who has these foodallergic conditions and, you
know, and not just thisconditions, and I love other

(05:21):
platforms that do the same andfight for causes that, that are
passionate and, and, and prettymuch just embedded within their
hearts.

Right, I appreciate, you sharing
Elijah's story, because that'swhat makes it real.
I think that's when, when wecan get people who maybe haven't
experienced a loved one who'shad a scary event to, to show
them these beautiful childrenand make them realize that this
is real and these are actualpeople that you're hurting.
I'm so sorry, obviously for allyour losses and then the
horrible treatment that itsounds like you got afterward.

Yeah.
All I have to do is shake myhead and that's where we, why
we're at the position where weare today with our organization
and everyone who does the same.
You know, it's like, itshouldn't take tragedy to create
change, but if it must, this iswhat we need to do in terms of
the progression and push itforward.
Push forward the agenda,creating change, whether it's in
policy education or workingwith outside that niche of food

(06:15):
allergies or food sensitivitiesor whatsoever to bring that
information to those, um, um,pretty much uncharted areas.

Yeah.
And just in case we do get somepeople outside of that little
circle of food allergy, uh, mostof us know who you are.
We know your story and we're soappreciative.
But let's back up and let'stalk about your wonderful child,
Elijah, and tell us about howyou came to be doing what you're
doing now.

Yeah, so just a little bit about me,
like my name is Thomas, whereI'm a father, a public health
advocate, a researcher andco-founder of the Elijah Lee
Elijah Lavie Foundation.
But before any of those titleskind of like came to me, I am
more importantly Elijah, my son,Elijah Elvie, who had passed
away November 3rd, 2017, due toa food allergic reaction that

(07:03):
happened at his childcarecenter.
Where an educator had fed myson a food that he was severely
allergic to, even though theyknew the food he was allergic
to.
And he had a special twospecial meal plan designed for
him.
They didn't give it to him,which they gave him the other
meal, called him to go intoanaphylactic shock.
The part about that is they didnot understand the signs and

(07:26):
symptoms, even though theyassured us as myself, myself,
and Elijah's mother, that theydid, knew how to understand the
signs and symptoms and how toadminister epinephrine.
They failed.
They dropped the ball.
Why he went into anaphylaxis,because they didn't know how to
identify.
When a childcare center assuresyou that they are educated and

(07:46):
understand those things and theymiss that mark it, it just
creates such a catalyst fortragedy and that's what
happened.
I wouldn't be here talking toyou about this if that didn't
happen to him, but I'm heresitting with you having this
conversation.
From that moment it justshattered me and, and my wife at

(08:08):
the time, his brother familiesand people everywhere to hear
such story, it took my breathand my direction to a whole
different, uh, a whole differentdirection.

Right.
And there are, unfortunately,there are many foundations,
right.
Multiple organizations fightingthe same fight for the same
reason.
But I love that you really aretargeting with Elijah's law and
the work you're doingspecifically the holes and the
cracks in daycares, because likeyou said, we're dropping our
babies off at these facilities,trusting them to keep them safe
and it's not a perfect systemyet.

Thomas Silvera, MSHS-PH, C (08:42):
It's it's not.
And it's unfortunate that thatwas one of the things we learned
when we were actually, youknow, Elijah's mother at the
time, even in her grief, likeshe was like, it was.
Hard to see her go through thatprocess.
You know, everyone holds griefdifferently, but at the same
time, watching her in her, hergrief, just look to find like

(09:03):
what is the missing piece Whenit came to childcare centers,
not just the educational aspectsand understanding, there was no
legislation that actually putpolicy in place to mandate it,
especially in New York.
And when we noticed that shewent in, did the research, we
worked with her, we then wemoved forward to work with local
legislators to pass thatmandate in 2019 September.

(09:26):
And that changed how we lookedat things on a grander scale
state by state.
So we is like, okay, what to donext.
You know, we know that whatwe're doing with Elijah's name
is gonna live in these laws.
You know, us as we pass thelaws in New York, Illinois,
California, Maryland, Arkansas,Kansas City, we have components

(09:49):
in, uh, law in Connecticut.
Those things will shape how welook at childcare going forward.
And then we worked with, um,AFA in literally creating a
toolkit that we both did theresearch on and found the gaps
in 50 states all across theUnited States.
So what we do with Elijah'sLaw, we go in, we work with

(10:12):
legislators to close those gaps.
'cause some states we have ninecomponents.
Some states have none.
Some states have four, somehave seven.
But we go in with Elijah's Lawto close the gap to make sure we
can keep children safe and giveparents peace of mind.
You know, parents, when theydrop off their kid, they want to
fill that sense of securitybecause we are expecting these
educators to give them the samecare as we would as parents.

(10:34):
Whether you have foodallergies, asthma, or any
disability, we are dropping offour kids to put them In a safe
place.
But sometimes things fall tothe crack where I.
The communication is not missedbetween the parent and the
educators or the centers.
The centers are notunderstanding what they need to
do, even though they are surethe parents, they're well

(10:55):
equipped to do whatever it is tokeep their child safe.

Right.
And you can't know what youdon't know.
Right.
I'm sure, like you said, youhad a plan in place at Elijah's
school.
He had a special meal.
To not know and recognize thesigns of anaphylaxis was one of
those cracks in the system.
It sounds like, even though youthought and they thought that
all bases were covered.

It it's, it's one of those things,
it's like you get that signsealed deliver type thing.
A parent, you know, cross theirT's and dot their i's and leave
their kid off and they go towork and they expecting
everything is good and then theyreceive that phone call.
That phone call is almost likethat scene in a scary movie.
When you hear that phone ring,I.
It's, it's like that other end,you don't want to hear,

(11:39):
especially if it's coming fromyour child's school and you
know, your child has a severeallergy or deals with asthma on
a day-to-day basis.
And Elijah had both, he hadfood allergies and he had asthma
and eczema, uh, on top of that.
But with food allergies andasthma, it's, it's, it's a tick
time bomb.
So it's, it's hard to hearthese stories.

(11:59):
And I say, and I emphasize onthat scary movie call because
we've seen scary movies wherethat phone rings and it's like
that person on the other line.
And it's the fear, anxiety,that mental health that comes
all, like encompass all itstogether and then it leaves you
in shock, especially if you knowthat your child has been
affected by something.
At that center.

Yeah.
There's more I wanna talkabout, about Elijah's law, but
you are talking a lot about yourexperience as a parent.
And I know your other sonyou've mentioned has food
allergies as well.
Yeah.
You are doing this episode kindof around Father's Day to, to
lend some voice to the fathersbecause I don't think we hear as
much from you, so I appreciateyou.
So yeah, tell me more aboutthat experience.
You know, you mentioned justhow it, it holds your heart,

(12:44):
right?

Yeah.
The daily reality of foodallergy, especially as a parent
and a dad.
Um, living with children whohave food allergy means like
living in a constant state ofvigilance.
Like from every snack, everybirthday party, every holiday,
every school lunch, everyrestaurant menu, like every hand
a child shakes or surface.
Like it holds a risk.

(13:06):
And I think, you know, that'sthe missing piece of people
don't understand.
So like after Elijah's death,like the weight just kind of
like grew heavier.
As I continued to raise myother son, Sebastian, you know,
he lives with multiple foodallergies and he's also on the
autism spectrum as well.
Um, he, he's so incredible andbrilliant.
Um, like this kid is amazing,but his journey comes with

(13:28):
complexity because he mustmanage his food allergies
restriction, his socialanxieties and his sensory
overload all at once.
So we wanna make sure likethese, you know, wherever he
goes, every step he takes, thathe understands about advocacy
and being able to breathe andunderstand the complexity that
comes with what his conditionholds.

(13:49):
So like watching, like my,watching him, you know, the same
thing with Elijah when he wasaround.
Like, it's like, is this safefor, for him?
And he has to be like, is thissafe for me?
So before.
Him eating anything or meseeing him eating anything is,
is a painful reminder of howmuch our children are forced to

(14:11):
grow up so quickly and he has toadvocate for himself in school,
even when he goes to the doctorin public spaces.
Like have to show him howdeeply, you know, certain things
can be misunderstood and mis,you know, overlooked if he
doesn't advocate for himself.
Especially when it comes tofood allergies.

(14:31):
You know, kids, especially kidsof color, and I, and I'll
emphasize with that, um, andespecially kids with
disabilities, it's like, um,like food allergy parenting is
not being overprotective.
And that's one thing I thinkpeople think, oh no, you're
doing too much.
It's not, it's aboutlifesaving, it's advocacy from

(14:54):
the moment they wake up in themo in the morning to the moment
they fall asleep and in all theemotional exhaustion because of.
A possibility of one mistakecan happen, a mislabel, a
misinformed adult or child orrestaurant or school change can
change everything.

Yeah.
The stakes are too high forone.
One mistake.
Yeah.
In the way.

Speaker 3 (15:16):
Yeah.

with Sebastian, how do you balance
that?
Obviously wanting him to have agreat life, recognizing for him
his individual needs and thechallenges that are on his
plate, his protection and, andliving life to the fullest.
At the same time,

it's everyday conversations with
him.
It's about making sure he'sadvocating for himself, and I'm
always having that reassuringconversation with him daily.
Every time I'm with him or Italk to him on the phone and
he's going to school, I waslike, do you have your EpiPen?
Yes, dad.
What do you have for lunchtoday?
Good.
Don't share your food withanyone.
Don't get, make sure no oneoffers you anything.
If they do, what do you say?

(15:50):
Do you know where your EpiPenis?
You, do you understand how touse it?
Are you okay with using yourpen and EpiPen?
So it's, it's constantconversation for him to be
strong at advocating forhimself.
Even when we go out to groceryshopping, he loves reading
labels and I'm, I love that healways looks for his, what he

(16:10):
may, if his allergens are inthose labels.
And if it hasn't madecontained, he knows not, we're
not getting that.
So, and that's what said, madein, made in facility or may
contain.
He knows not to get thatbecause those labels, they right
there, that implies risk and hedoesn't want to take that risk
of that chance.

(16:31):
And, um, he had, he had anincident like a couple years ago
when something had stated thatit was okay, we come to find out
there was actually dairy inthat product.
That we had to reach out to thecompany and tell 'em, Hey, they
found out there was dairy inthat product.
And that was, we are not thefirst parent parent that has
happened to, and it was crazy,but we're not the only ones

(16:51):
affected by that.
But being vigilant withSebastian, Sebastian being
vigilant and advocating forhimself and keeping him strong,
and for him to move forward,he's going into, um, high school
soon.
He's in middle school, so thatholds a lot of risk, but I'm so
grateful that he knows how toadvocate and mitigate his risk.

And that's from all of that work
that you have done teaching andrepetition and practice and
modeling.
I am curious about yourperspective because from the
people that I work with andpeople that I talk to a lot,
often one of the things thatcomes up in households is a
difference between moms and dadsof how to handle this and how
careful to be.
I think there's a lot of momswho are gonna be listening to

(17:33):
this episode and sharing withtheir spouses or their
co-parents, and I'm curious whatyou would say to them,
obviously, having lived throughthe worst case scenario as a
father, what would you tellthem?

You know, it's like, as a father,
there was one thing, um, Elijahand Sebastian's mom that we
communicated with each other.
We went to the doctor'sappointment, we went to the
allergist, we made sure we readevery label.
And this is before we knew thatthere were any organization
that existed.
Like, you know, we post oversocial media.

(18:04):
We never highlighted ourchildren's allergy via social
media.
These were things that werepersonal to us, but the
communication has to be met.
The doctor appointments bothhave to be there present so you
can understand the severity offood allergic conditions, um,
and have those conversations.
That's like, I, I can't givelike the perspective of one

(18:27):
parent to another because I'veheard from both.
Like, I heard a father say thatthe mom doesn't understand.
I've heard, uh, a mom say thatthe father, you know, the father
doesn't understand.
It's like, you know, back andforth, but it's all about
communicating and understandingthat your child's life could be
at risk.
It's just if your child isallergic to peanuts, I be like,

(18:47):
ah, you know.
He's not that allergic.
You can keep the penis there,but the severity of that is like
you uphold the risk if youallow that.
And then if you keep allowingit to happen, then there's the
complacency that happens whereyou're just gonna allow it
anywhere you go.
And then when tragedy strikes,then you have to sit up and be
like, oh my God, the last thingyou wanna do is take the blame

(19:10):
for something happening.
Especially as a parent thatholds heavy and it lasts and it
affects you mentally.
So communication with bothparents have to be strongly met
and understanding that child'scondition and the severity of
keeping their child safe, youknow, I wish we can go deep into
that, but me, on a academialevel, that's not my space of

(19:34):
expertise, that's where they,they have to build up the
understanding with their primarycare physician, their allergist
or their counselors, um, tounderstand how to be vigilant
and manage their child's, um,health throughout their life.
Yeah.

You're right, either parent, any parent
who's feeling like this isn'tequally balanced, or we're not
seeing this from the sameperspective.

Yeah.
It's, and that's the thing, theequal perspective you want, you
know, like I've had family inmy life that with within, um,
that some of them did notunderstand.
Like they thought that removingthe cheese from a pizza, it's
fine that it will remove therisk of the dairy allergy, but

(20:16):
people don't understand likethings are baked in and that
causes an allergic reaction,

Speaker 3 (20:21):
right?
So

it's like the constant education and
education and education whereit took that incident that, and
it's a true incident that I.
My son had allergic reaction.
'cause that that family memberthought by removing the cheese
will be fine going to theemergency room.
And now they're like, they'restuck with that guilt for the
rest of their life.
And that's what I don't want tohappen with a couple.

(20:42):
Mm-hmm.
That, that miscommunication andsomeone being too complacent
and thinking that it's not evenin the cultural aspects of that,
sometimes culture plays a bigpart of that.
Food is culture, food is love,food is warmth, food is home.
But when you understand thatthere's a child or a person or
individual that has a foodallergy, they have to take that

(21:02):
seriously and not let culture orcommunity or whatever try to
negate that.

I think that touches on what we were
talking about at the beginningin terms of people who aren't
the parents managing and livingit, accepting these
misconceptions that are prettycommon in society of the
severity or how easy it is toavoid or Right.
Like the people are beingoverly dramatic.
And I think then the people inour real lives, that's an
example of how they exhibit thatin their interactions with us.
And it's misinformation,unfortunately.

Yeah.
It, it is misinformation.
Unfortunate.

So let's go back to another thing you
touched on that I know we reallywanted to talk to about today,
which is multiple ways, inmultiple, facets, racial,
differences in diagnosis,frequency of diagnosis, access
to medications, access totreatments.
There's a lot of problems interms of, inequities within the
food allergy world.

Oh my God.
It's, it's huge.
I, I remember like I'm about tobe 50 years old.
I remember growing up in thelate seventies and eighties
being an asthmatic and how theracial inequities were there for
me being an asthmatic before Iwas you known to have food
allergies.
Mm-hmm.
And the access of care.
So we're we talking aboutracial in inequities and asthma

(22:16):
and allergy care, especially inpublic healthcare, there's a
failure there.
Unfortunately, you know, wecannot talk about like food
allergies and asthma withoutconfronting those disparities.
Like black children, Hispanicsare more likely to suffer from
asthma and food allergies.
They're more likely to behospitalized with these severe
reaction.
They're less likely to bediagnosed early or given any

(22:38):
access to epinephrine or anyresource or information to
manage that, and more likely tobe misjudged or dismissed in
emergency.
If there are reports from, ifyou look at reports from back
when there were so manychildren.
In these, um, underservedcommunities, especially black
Hispanic communities that hadissues that they are just mostly

(23:00):
diagnosed as gastrointestinalissues, food poison, and some
people have passed.
But I, it's one of those thingsthat it's mind boggling for me.
It's like, could that have beenan underlying issue at that
time with an allergic reaction?
But that information is notprivy to the community.
It's easy to just bemisdiagnosed or dismissed in
those communities.
So these are not just likeisolated information I'm trying

(23:25):
to convey.
And, and I know there's datathat puts that out there, but
they are systemic failures thatare rooted in decades of medical
biases on representations andresearch, unequal healthcare
access and cultural gaps thatkind of like it, it's cultural
gaps in provider training.
So, and then I think we'restrongly working on those

(23:46):
narratives right now, especiallyDr.
Gupta and other people areworking strongly to, to present
that.
In their research.
But I think the research has tobe in the grass rooted efforts.
You know, I love data in, itsin its entirety.
It's, it's amazing, but it hasto be delve right into the
community.
And there's more we need tobring to these underserved

(24:07):
communities where not justthrowing money to research, but,
or just throwing money, moneyinto a community and say, Hey, I
did my part.
The grassroots effort needs tobe solely embedded, literally
boots to the ground in thecommunity in order to change
that narrative.
When it comes to the systemicfailures and those, um, racial
biases, we need to kind of likego against that and push through

(24:32):
it so we can actually see itand see it for what it is
opposed.
'cause we can go through dataand data and data, data and
point out all the racialdiscrepancies, the systemic
failures and everyth the dataproves that all to us.
It's historically there, but weneed to be more boost to the
ground with that.
So.
When we look at theunrepresented in research and

(24:53):
the, on the, when it comes tothe healthcare as well, it's
like we're still missing themark.
You know, it's like, I knowwe've worked with families like,
who couldn't afford an EpiPen,or families who concern or, or
downplay or their, theirinformation, their, their health
issues are downplayed in theer.
It's like, it's like, whyshould that happen?

(25:16):
Like children who are treatedas burdens in classroom because
of their conditions is baffling.
You know, rather thanprotecting them, they're more
dismissive and not reallyunderstanding that, and that's
why so many children fallthrough the crack in these, in
these unrepresented areas.
And that's why with, when itcomes to e largest law, it

(25:37):
matters.
It mandates algae preparednessand childcare centers and early
education and so forth.
But like we have to go furtherto address food insecurity, to
improve medical training, toincrease research participation
among the bipoc community, andalso invest in community level
health education.
We say that, we say it in itsentirety to be blue in the face,
but allergy care is not aprivilege.

(25:59):
It's it's, it is a right and,and no child or any individual
should suffer more because thezip code they live in or in, or
the color of their skin matters.
It should just be a right to behealthy and a right to survive.

Amanda Whitehouse, (26:13):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And it's, I, you know, there's,I, I can feel my stomach clench
when you say that about, youknow, kids not having access to
epinephrine.
It's just the worst thing thatyou can think of.
It's such a inexpensive, basic,been around forever medication
to, to think of people nothaving access and having it in
their hands is just a tragedy.
It's awful.

I, it is awful.
I've done community eventswhere parents were like, yeah, I
have three kids with foodallergies, and this was lower
east side of Manhattan.
A mom came up to me and waslike, I have three kids with
food allergies.
I could only afford one set ofEpiPens.
One is in the school and oneshe carries.
But the ethical dilemma is whatif three, two of two outta your

(26:52):
three children have an allergicreaction when you're with them?
You have one EpiPen.

Speaker 3 (26:57):
Mm-hmm.
That

is the ethical dilemma.
What do you do?

Speaker 3 (27:00):
Mm-hmm.
What

do you do?
Because both are equallysuffering, both from
anaphylaxis.
Do you save one and wait for 91 1 to save the other?
That's, that's the worry thatconcerns me every day.
And that's why it's like, it's,it's crazy because we need
these gaps in epinephrine clauseor have them where it could be

(27:22):
purchased over the counter or soforth.
There needs to be betterhealthcare access when it comes
to pharmaceutical access forepinephrine and affordable
affordability.
When it comes to that.
I know we, we have price gapsthat's been gapping Epic pen to
a hundred, a hundred dollars orso forth, but we need to do
better in that space and that'swhy policy, great policy when it
comes to health saves lives.

Yeah.
And that, it speaks to, theidea of having stock epi, right?
Having stock epinephrine inschools, in venues, in public
places as well.
Mm-hmm.
In case of emergencies, in casesomeone doesn't have their own
And of course people who areundiagnosed because food
allergies can be diagnosed atany time.
But that seems like such a bigpiece of the puzzle too.

Yeah.
It's one of the big pieces ofthe puzzle, especially right
now.
There's so many adults whenthey go out to eat, having these
undiagnosed, uh, food allergicreactions.
And it was like, so you cancome to restaurant space if you
go, you, you go to a place thatdine safely and then all of a
sudden you have a allergicreaction.
That's something you just ate aweek ago and the restaurant is
not stocked with all designatedstock epinephrine.
Now you gotta wait for 9 1 1and even with young children.

(28:27):
You have from zero to four ofthe most vulnerable and they
have their first reactions inchildcare centers unbeknownst to
the parent and the educators.
So having those un-designatedstock app efforts accessible,
saves lives.

Absolutely.
Are there other organizations,in addition to Elijah-Alavi
Foundation, other groups thatyou want us to know about who
are doing this work specificallyto address these inequities
that we can support?

So I know afa, AFA is really good
about doing that.
Um, AF a kids with foodallergies, asthma Allergy
Network.
Um, we AIR is anotherorganization that's doing the
work.
Um, Farrah has been doing thework, uh, my organization, let's
see, um, the Allison RoseFoundation, the Natalie Georgie

(29:15):
Foundation.
I can go on.
And, and that's, that's one ofthe important things that's
like, and it's good.
It's like, I think one thingwhen it comes to legislation, we
miss the mark and I, hopefullynot everybody does, but I think
when we pass a list legislation,it's a big win for everybody.
But what we don't, what we needto pay more focus to is like
when the law gets enacted andhow everything starts to

(29:39):
transpire from that.
So once the public healthdepartments or any entity
involved in creating thosepolicies, we have to constantly
continue following through.
Then make sure that they'reliterally in line of making sure
they're pushing the agenda ofthat law.
And we are, we, within ourorganization, we do that.
I am tirelessly every daycalling states, calling

(30:01):
departments, making sure thatthey're in compliance with
Elijah's law because we don'twant another tragedy, like what
happens to our family, happensto another family or any
individual in general.
So making sure that thesestates are in compliance with
these laws holds truth, and itsets precedence of how they do
things.
That's what, that's what weneed to look at when it comes to

(30:22):
passing the legislation.
It's great to see, it's a bigwin for the Food Edge community,
but we have to stay on top ofthe states to make sure they're
in compliance.

That's a good point.
Thank you.
I obviously you have so muchmore insight into how this works
than we do.
If we can pass a law, but ifit's not enforced, if it's not
followed through on and peoplearen't held accountable,
sometimes things can slipthrough the cracks, right?

Speaker 3 (30:42):
Mm-hmm.

So let's talk about,.
How many states has Elijah'slaw been passed in so far?

Oh, um, um, as you can see behind
me, I have like seven.

Speaker 3 (30:54):
I see all your posters.
Yeah.
So

Thomas Silvera, MSHS- (30:56):
currently we have official six laws
passed in, um, for Elijah Law,which is New York, Illinois,
Virginia.
Maryland, California, Arkansaswas just the most, uh, recent
one that was signed into law inApril.
And, um, we also have, uh,Kansas City Ordinance in

(31:16):
Missouri specifically forElijah's Law.
On that level, you know, We hada bill in Missouri, and it was,
Elijah's law was part of a bigrobust bill, a health bill, but
the Elijah Law was a strong partof that bill.
But other components that had,there was like a bunch of bills
all together that they weretrying to pass at once.
The bill, it passed a house inthe Senate, but there was a lot

(31:39):
of back and forth with the Houseand Senate on agreement of not
Elijah's Law, but other bills.
So it created a standstill andthen it, it, it wasn't able to
go to the governor's desk, butwe're reintroducing that in
December and we're veryoptimistic of that moving
forward.
There's a, in North Carolinathere's a bill there that is
specifically for childcarebecause the representative there

(32:01):
had, she had reached out to meto move the bill.
She moved the bill before Iknew about it.
But we've been in talks aboutworking on fixing the bill and
moving it.
I don't think it's gonna passthis session, but more likely
we'll have North Carolina, sowe're talking about maybe five,
six bills in 2026.
We're in talks with Florida,Texas for 2026.
We currently have Pennsylvania.

(32:22):
We've had our, uh, meeting withAAFA.
Amazing, amazing organizationdoing such amazing things.
And their support for whatwe've been doing has been
tremendous.
And we, we had our children, Ithink our youth and health
committee meeting on the 7th ofMay, which was very heartfelt.
And, and they really took tothe personal connection and the

(32:44):
personal story of what I sharedand what AAFA has shared, you
know, and I think that's, that'swhat it is, is that we have to
give them that human connectionof why such legislations like
Elijah's Law need to exist instates.
And under Elijah law, New YorkState has saved four lives, and
maybe even more so, it savedthree kids and also an educator

(33:06):
that didn't know they had a foodallergy.
Because the access to theundesignated stock epinephrine.
So that's, I say, good policiescan save lives, especially when
it comes to health.

Absolutely.
That's amazing.
And I've heard your voicelended to many other causes and
laws that are in the works orbeing discussed.
You've been vocal about Addie'sLaw in California.
Do you wanna talk about thatone at all

Yeah, so Addie's Law, it's, it's, I
think it's one thing that we alllooked at as a bill that,
again, it's a bill that can savelives that can actually give
people peace of mind when theydine out safely.
We look at SB 68 as a bill to,to kind of like push the agenda
and the narrative of what weneed to do in restaurant when it
comes to menu labeling.
You know, that Bill wants thosetop nine labels to be in there

(33:51):
to give people peace of mindwhen they go in and they look
for what they want to eat andnotice, okay, this has this type
of allergen, this has this typeof like, I think it's a great
bill pushing, you know, to moveforward and they're doing a t
amazing work in getting so manysupporters on top of this bill.
And you know, I'm veryoptimistic of the outcome of it.
And, and I would love to seethat a bill like this in every

(34:13):
state, you know, and having, youknow, California as one of the
big states to see that, youknow, if that bill can pass,
then that shapes how everythingcan be done in every other state
going forward.
I know Pennsylvania has asimilar law.
New York state has a similarlaw that they're moving through
their pipeline as well.
Other states are doing the samething.
I'm gonna push, you know,Addie's bill because I believe

(34:33):
in that bill.

Speaker 3 (34:34):
Yeah.

And California is a very hard state
to pass a bill 'cause.
Second time around withElijah's law, you know, and it
wasn't because the bill was bad,is that when you have these
entities and unions notagreeing, and even if it passes
the House and Senate and there'sstill no agreement, the
governor can quickly veto thebill until there's an actual
understanding where you can movethe bill the second time around

(34:55):
with no, um, opposition.
Right.
I pray that this bill movesforward and it's, again, it will
show like, okay, we can startdoing other things like this in
other states.
The Adina Act, which is also,um, labeling for
pharmaceuticals.
So, because.
And Seth, who's been workingthat with his daughter, Adina
It's a federal legislation, it'snot a state legislation, so

(35:18):
you're dealing with a lot ofcongressional leaders to see if
they can get a lot of support tomove that bill.
And I'm optimistic thathopefully that the bill will
move forward and eventuallywe'll go through as a federal
piece of legislation.
Um, but again, it's a foodlabeling bill.
So you have a community that'slike, wait, what happened?
You don't want this, but youwant that.
So you have the, the back andforth.

(35:39):
And again, it's like, you know,we as society, this is how
things happen.
Mm-hmm.
You know, you um, it's like,what is that?
It's like you take the good,you take the bad, take the bad,
and you take 'em both.
And that you have, it's likethe facts of life.
Absolutely.
That whole

Speaker 3 (35:53):
thing.

And it's like, and that's how I see
it, you know, I was like, it'sthe facts of life, but we have
to understand the politicalaspects and all that, that is
kind of like troubled in thatand try to dissect it to make
sense.
And, and I love to sit in thatneutral part because I use my
mind so much on a day-to-daybasis.
Especially I'm in school doingmy doctorates and I do a lot of

(36:15):
research, so I'm constantly likereading and dissecting things,
so, yeah.

You have, I think, in a very
positive and productive way,talked about your own mental
health and the impact of goingway back, your lifetime of
chronic illness and how that hasimpacted you along with your
parenting experiences.
Are you comfortable talkingabout that a little bit?

Oh yeah.
I'm absolutely, um, as youknow, beyond my road as a father
and advocate, like I'm also apatient, you know, I, I live
with severe food allergy as mychronic spontaneous urticaria.
I don't know if anyone knowthat I have that.
And also what people may notknow, I also suffer from a

(36:57):
traumatic brain injury a coupleyears ago, which was, uh,
created, uh, what they callshearing or accidental trauma.
Um, I live with theseconditions, but it doesn't
define me, but they do shape myeveryday life, you know, so.
Especially when it comes to CSUchronic spontaneous uticaria
which is triggered by my stressand everyday environment change.

(37:19):
It can flare up with me withoutwarning.
And, but I do try to battlethat with my antihistamines,
whatever I have.
My asthma was complicated alot, you know, trying to have a
control of that.
And then finally I got amedication, um, that actually
started to control that.
And I don't use my rescueinhaler as much, thank goodness.

(37:39):
Um, which is, is greater andlike, and further when it comes
to the brain injury.
I still suffered the concussionback in 2022, which delayed a
lot of my work, a lot of myschool schooling, and I'm, I
love the school that I'm at, theunderstanding of my condition
and allow me to pace myselfthroughout.
I would've been done probablyin like early 20, 24, but still

(38:03):
I have, you know, I'm hoping tobe done by the end of this year.
So it has impacted my, youknow, my academic path.
It also, you know, messed withmy mental health and also
clarity.
But again, despite thechallenges, I show up because I
know what, what's at stake.
And living with these chronicillness has taught me like, not

(38:24):
just like what happened to myson, but how broken the system
can be because I've experiencedbeing overlooked because of some
of my conditions growing up andeven to this day.
And that's why I continue thatI have to advocate for myself in
exam rooms.
So let them know like, Hey,these, like, you don't see it,
but I'm dealing with it.
And I think that's thatdisconnect as well.

(38:46):
And I've seen how, especiallywhen it comes to voices of men,
especially black men are toooften dismissed when we express
pain or vulner vulnerability oremotion.
And that's one of the thingsthat kind of like matter when I
tell my story, I do this on aday-to-day basis, but I know
the, that's a bigger mission,that's bigger than me that I
need, I need to push forward.
So like.
You know, when it comes tomyself, I know my health

(39:08):
matters.
Our health matters and wedeserve a system to listen and
treat us and uplift us, ratherthan pathologize.

Mm-hmm.

Or ignore us.

Right.
One extreme or the other,rather than Correct.
Somewhere in the middle, whichis, yeah.
Accurate.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, and for a lot of reasonsyou are such a powerful example
because, it starts with what yousaid, lessons that are learned
and internalized about.
I, I don't speak up about this.
I'm not supposed to bevulnerable.
I'm not supposed to talk aboutthese things, or, or that
they're a weakness, thesenegative perceptions, and it's,

(39:44):
it's just not true.
It's, it's a strength to beable to express it and
acknowledge it and seek supportand help or take care of
yourself as needed.
You spoke about taking a breakfrom your doctoral program.
I saw somewhere that you postedthat and I was thinking what a
great example of acknowledgingwhat state you're in, what your
limits are, what your needs are,and taking steps to care for

(40:06):
yourself.

Yeah, and that's one of the points
that I, I, I wanna highlightbecause I even reach out to
people on social media because Iknow a lot of people, we show
up and we wanna show that, youknow, that fun side of us, the
excitement of life.
But, and then there are a lotof us that deal with the pain.
And I was talking to someone, Iwas like.
We're so much outside of thesetornadoes and hurricanes, right?

(40:28):
And we are looking at all thetrouble that can bring from
looking at those, those thickthunderous storms or, you know,
weather conditions.
But we have to look past it andpast the tornado.
And past the hurricane are theeyes of the storms, the eye of a
tornado.
Once you stand in, you get tosee everything clearly.
And then if we look ateverything that's there that's
creating that tornado, thatstorm, we can probably dissect

(40:52):
it by working with supportsystems to kind of like get us
out from that eye of the stormto kind of like remove it where,
you know, there's sunny skiesand there's ways that we can
move in life forward, feeling alittle bit better about what's
going on and, and that's kind oflike how I see things.
It's like I've been in thestorm many of times and then
like now I finally found my pathwhere I can actually see a

(41:15):
little bit clearly.
And that's why I keep pushingeven in certain mindsets or
conditions since I've been in.
Because again, this path Ididn't choose it, it chose me.
Like I never foresaw myselfeven thinking about receiving it
or obtaining a doctor's degreein this point in my life, that
wasn't the outlook, but therewas a shift when my son had

(41:35):
passed that changed the wholeperspective of what I wanted to
do in life.

Yeah, I imagine that would change
everything, an experience like

that.

Um, I wanna ask you a little bit more
about your goals with your,future career and, and your
training once you finish.
But I wanna pause on, anotherreally powerful piece I'm
looking at you on the screennow.
You look like such a strong,healthy, well person.
Back to the community, notunderstanding the general
community beyond food allergies,not seeing it, you being
invisible in terms of your needsand your, your health.

(42:07):
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.
It's, you know, I get it allthe time, and it was like, but
you look fine.
I look fine.
But internally, it's, it's,it's, I'm working with a system,
with an internal system that Idon't want to fail me.
Mm-hmm.
So I have to keep working onthat to keeping myself healthy,
both physically, spiritually,and mentally.
And, and that's where I want toportray out when I do my talk.

(42:30):
So anyone that I meet is toembody the positivity and give
them that same strength that Iexude out as well.
Because it's like, I don't let,what bothers me to define my
next steps.
Because if I allow that, thenI'll be stagnant and then I
won't move the agenda or what Ineed to do, especially when it
comes to, like me finishing mydegree or whatever it is I need

(42:51):
to do.
I, I don't wanna miss a stepand I want to keep pushing
forward.

Can you talk a little bit for the
listeners, what it actuallylooks like day to day for you
managing your mental health and,and achieving wellness or
getting back to it after a toughstretch?

Oh man.
It was like, you know, it'smore importantly, it's
definitely seeking out, uh,someone to talk to you.
You gotta have a strong supportgroup, whether it's your, your
wife, your brother, your sister,a therapist, um, a support
group that you can go to,whether it's online or in
person.
Um, and waking up every day toprove yourself, um, to prove

(43:31):
that you can take that firststep forward every day.
Because it was hard in the verybeginning after I lost my son
is like, trying to get up andit's like, do I wanna put my
foot down on the floor to movethe day?
There's some days I didn'twanna move the day, I just
wanted to just stay in bed and,and just kind of like grovel and
watch TV and just stay there.
But I knew, like even withSebastian and Eli's Elijah's,

(43:52):
uh, mom at the time, I had tomove because she wasn't moving.
So I had to do it for both ofus.

Speaker 3 (43:59):
Mm-hmm.

You know, until she got better to
start moving for herself aswell.
You know, and although we'renot together anymore, we work
strongly together.
We are great friends and greatco-parents, and we run this
foundation the same way.
We run it from the verybeginning with love.
We're passion and heart.
And that takes a lot,especially going through the
mental health aspects of life.
You know, I have to deal withthat on a day-to-day basis.

(44:21):
So it's like me taking, youknow, doing my, um, doing my
meditations, making sure that II I time manage everything that
nothing gets kind of likebombarded and confusing where it
creates a stressor for me.
Try and I try to eliminate asmuch stress for my life that it
doesn't cause me to be in a rut.
And, um, it's, it's a bigmental hub going for a walk

(44:43):
every day.
I try to do at least about 30minutes to an hour walk.
Enough where I can clear my,clear my mind and I love baking.
Baking has been one of thebiggest thing that helps me with
my mental health 'cause it's,it's literally, it's like it
takes you away from focusing oneverything and it focuses you
just on the signs of baking andI love that.
So there's a lot to go intomental health, but using some of
those tools can help.
And more importantly, it'shaving an amazing support system

(45:06):
that understands you and itallows you to have that space
when you need it, but also youallow them to reach out when
it's time.
And that's what I, I, I kind oflike deal with on a day to day.

Yeah.
Thank you for sharing that.
There's one thing I've heardyou mention before that I got
really excited about when I waslistening to you 'cause it's my
big thing.
Um, nervous system health andvagus nerve regulation.
I heard you talk about usinglike binaural beats and stuff.
Is that something you work inregularly too?

So I do, I use binaural beats, I
use binaural beats.
I use, uh, different hertz as.
Um, as a calming mechanism formy anxiety, my stressors.
And, and here's a funny thing.
So what people probably don'tknow, I'm a big fan of Seinfeld
and I was a big fan, and my son,when my son passed away,

(45:55):
Seinfeld was like my outlet tokind of like just take away my
day-to-day, uh, of just thinkingabout what's going on.
And I use that on a day-to-day.
And then I realized I've beenusing Seinfeld and everything I
do that create, that may createa stressor to kind of like drown
out my, that background noiseand Seinfeld, because of the,

(46:15):
the comedy that it has.
It's, it's funny, it's comedic.
Not a lot of people understandit, but it's, it's almost like
a, it's a good piece for me.
So on top of like using thebinaural, the, the binaural
beats and everything, thosecreate such an amazing
environment for my house.
There's times that I have itwhere it starts to play in the
morning when I wake up.

(46:36):
And I have like the, um, thesinging bowls that also play.
So the Tibetan Bowl sounds andeverything, all these things
creates that environment to kindof like clear your energy in
the space.
What allows you to walk likefreely in a sense.
And then you have that sense ofpeace and um, you know, and I
allow outlets like that to be mypiece, but definitely the

(46:57):
binaural beats and everythingand listening to the different
bol sounds, the megahertz.
There is a song, and I can'tremember the name of it, I think
it's called Weightless.
Within that song, it actually,the beats in that song lines up
with your heart rhythm.
And then it allows you, ifyou're having anxiety, you can

(47:19):
use that to kind of like helpcombat the anxiety where
everything kind of like getsregulated almost like what
biofeedback, if you're familiarwith biofeedback, is, you know,
using that mind, um, mindtherapy trick and everything to
kind of like regulate your bodysystem.
Yeah.
And that kind of like, Ibelieve help regulates your
vagus system, you know, helpsyou with that to feel more at

(47:40):
ease.
And I try to look at more vagustherapies to help me with that.

I, I do lots of different, um,
biofeedback techniques with myclients, but there's one program
that I'm obsessed with, it'scalled the Safe and Sound
Protocol.
Hmm.
And it's a, it's a vagus nervestimulating program that's a
music program and Oh wow.
It's a vagus nerve regulationbased on beats and rhythms
because we, we grow in the womb,right?
Correct.
The first sound of safety wehave is the heartbeat.

(48:06):
So that's going back to thatsong you talked about, it's so
powerful.
There's so much to it.
It

is, it is.
There were a time I was inCostco and, and anxiety can
strike anytime.

Speaker 3 (48:17):
Mm-hmm.

And I was walking, literally just
shopping for the holidays.
And then I started feelinganxiety just build and
immediately I can feel my heartrace feeling the, the, the
anxiety peak and a panic aboutto set in.
And I literally went to thatsong and I sat down in the
pharmacy area and I went to thepharmacist, do you mind if I sit
here?
I just need to relax a littlebit.
I put that in and I just closedmy eyes and just breathe, did

(48:41):
my breathing exercise andeverything.
And like within like a coupleminutes I was feeling so much
better.
I feel my heart, you know, backto normal.
Everything was like regulatedand I was like, whew.
You know, it's, it's thosethings that you want to
understand and learn what youcan do to help you in times of
needs like that.

Yeah.
Thank you for sharing all that.
I think it's really powerfulfor people to hear and it's a
great example of, like I said,you knowing when you need it and
then taking the time to dothat.
It wasn't a huge inconvenienceor or weird thing that you did
just to sit somewhere in thestore quietly for a minute and
do what you needed to do to takecare of yourself.
Yeah,

Thomas Silvera, MSHS (49:16):
absolutely man.
No, absolutely.

So moving forward, you know, you're
working on your degree,obviously you have big plans
with the foundation.
Tell us what your goals are andwhat, what's next for you and
for Elijah-Alavi Foundation.

So, I know like, you know, with,
with the Elijah-AlaviFoundation, you know, it's like,
it's a, it's a call to actionfrom loss.
Uh, and what we are trying toaspire is to grow the foundation
and the bigger platform, youknow, where we can be able to
move.
We consider ourself a small butmighty national organization.
'cause we've done a lot and wealways grateful and supportive

(49:52):
of the, the community, both foodallergy and, and not, and those
who don't have food allergies,you know, from our friends and
family across the globe has beenso supportive.
You know, Eli, we know thatElijah's life was cut short, but
his impact is eternal and, youknow, he didn't get to grow up.
You know, he would've been 11,uh, as we speak.

(50:16):
But through his story and, andcountless children they have the
chance to do just that is tolive.
I wanted to walk a path that hecould have been walking in had,
he would still be around.
So, and that's why I am whereI'm at today, is because I
wanted to provide that path thatwas taken from him and receive
that document and also show myother son Sebastian, hey, even

(50:40):
throughout struggles, we stillcan forge through that and be
impactful and, and make that wayeven in our struggles, we can
still be, be able to accomplishthe things we are set out to do.
our mission is not just aboutfood allergies, it's about
having health justice.
It's about health equity, it'sabout honoring.

(51:00):
The pains of those who havebeen lost through the system due
to food allergies.
You know, that's why we'redoing what we're doing is
transforming pain into purposewe don't receive funding like
all these other organizations.
We don't, you know, we, some,we run off the, the bootstraps,
you know, you know, it was like,it's like two matches together.

(51:21):
Okay, we can, we can do this,but we, we, we utilize our
platform and our, and our voicesto create a bigger impact.
And, and we want to grow thisto a level where we can have
more people join, where we candive into the perspective of a
patient perspective from thepatient's voice when it comes
to, um, going into research.
You know, working on morepolicies and building into a

(51:42):
federal leg legislation, workingon a national spot where we can
bring childcare education,which we've been working on with
a multitude of organizationsfrom kaleo, AAFA, um, FAACT,
kids with food allergies, RuchiGupta's CFAAR, like, there's so
many of us that are on familymembers of this collaborative,

(52:03):
and we are building that.
So slowly we see theorganization growing, but we
want to build it on a biggerplatform where we can be able to
raise enough funding, where wecan actually bring more people
in to do the work, to make abigger impact.
W e would love to build on whatwe're doing on a stronger
foundation.

Thank you.
I know everyone listening willbe just like me.
I'm tearing up as I'm sittinghere listening to you talk about
walking that path for your sonthat was taken away from him.
And we want to support you andhelp you.
I'm sure we can donate to thefoundation and, and get involved
in other ways.
So please let everybody knowhow to do that.

So, you know, as we move forward,
I, I say, I ask if you're ahealthcare provider, listen more
deeply if you're a policymaker, right?
And pass legislation thatprotect the most vulnerable
community.
If you're a parent andcaregiver, never stop
advocating.
And if you're someone who'snever been affected, learn and
stand with us, because at theend, this isn't just about

(53:02):
Elijah, it's about every child,every family, every voice that
deserves to be heard.
Respected and protected.
And if they want to supportwhat we do, they can go to our
website, um, Elijah-Alavifoundation.org to support and or
just, you know, get informationabout us and, and advocate for

(53:24):
us as well.
And just thank you for allowingme to speak on this platform to
share my story both aboutElijah and my personal story as
well.

Thank you for sharing it with us, and
thank you for all of the workthat you are doing that's
protecting my son and all of theother kids and the grownups out
there making it safer foreverybody who's living with
allergies and asthma.
We appreciate what you do.

I appreciate all the accolades,
but I'm very grateful for thefood allergy community.
Like 1000000%.
They've been the most amazingsupporters, like for what we've
been doing since day one.
No, thank you.
I appreciate you.

Speaker (53:59):
let this Father's Day be more than a celebration.
Let's honor Elijah-Alavi bymaking our community safer,
kinder, and more allergy awarein the ways that we can.
So as always, here are yourthree action steps that you can
take Number one, support theElijah-Alavi Foundation in any
way that you're able to shareElijah's story.
Donate to them if you're ableto, and help them continue to

(54:22):
ensure that early childhoodcenters are adequately trained
to keep children safe.
Number two, speak up about howpeople discuss and represent the
food allergy community.
Whether this is in the media orin everyday conversations.
We've all heard it happen andsometimes it is difficult to go
against the flow or try to beserious when everyone else is

(54:43):
being funny, but it's importantfor us to call out the
insensitive jokes and tropesthat continue and ask people to
stop mocking food allergiesNumber three.
If there are any kids in yourlife with food allergies, please
buy them a copy of Thomas'sbook, the Anaphylaxis Strike.
It's a colorful, fun graphicnovel, we have it in our house.
It's great.

(55:03):
I'm going to be doing agiveaway of a copy of his book
to make up for the fact that Ididn't even save time in the
interview to ask him about it.
So.
To enter the giveaway, you canfind me on the contact page of
my website, the food allergy andlet me know that you'd like to
be entered or follow me onInstagram at the food allergy
psychologist.com and send me amessage there.

(55:25):
the content of this podcast isfor informational and
educational purposes only, andis not a substitute for
professional medical or mentalhealth advice, diagnosis, or
treatment.
If you have any questions aboutyour own medical experience or
mental health needs, pleaseconsult a professional.
I'm Dr.
Amanda White house.
Thanks for joining me.
And until we chat again,remember don't feed the fear.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Father’s Day Tribute with Thomas Silvera of the Elijah-Alavi Foundation

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Father’s Day Tribute with Thomas Silvera of the Elijah-Alavi Foundation

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