Our son was diagnosed with severe food allergies to eggs, nuts, and milk when he was just three months old. As he started growing up and the baby bag was no longer needed, the challenge of securing that he had the Epipen® next to learned:
- Medicine Pouch for the purse or a backpack: Carrying the Epipen® in a purse or backpack works as long as
you keep it on your shoulder at all times. But as we all know, the minute you walk into a party or go visit a friend you end up putting the bag down on a corner chair or a table. In an emergency can you be 100% sure that you can find the bag with the medicines in less than a minute? What if someone moved it and placed it somewhere else as it often happens?
- Fanny Packs: No matter how many I buy and how many styles I try, wearing a fanny pack is a great idea but for
me it only works when I go to the park or to a place like Disney World. They work if you are wearing super casual clothing like shorts. My husband and kid don't like to wear them, no matter how sporty looking they are because they don't like tucking in their t-shirts, and if you don't they could be quite bulky.
- Carrying case/pouch with clip-on hooks: These work as long as you hook them to your belt, but having it
hanging off your waist makes it a constant conversation piece. Every time I hook one to the outside of a bag or on my waist it's like becoming a walking advertisement billboard which is OK, but sometimes you just don't want all conversations to be about allergies.
- Men with Bags: No matter how much they try, men are not wired to carry a bag, and if they do, they usually
don't remember where they put the Epipen in the bag or even worse yet, where they left the bag.
The turning point when I realized I "really" had to develop a medicine carrier that could be worn discreetly and comfortably for long hours was the day our son had his first school dance. He wanted to dress semi-formal and didn't want to wear cargo pants with big pockets. He put on a nice pair of pants but the Epipen didn't fit in his pockets. He decided to take a bag with him for the Epipen. The minute he got off the car he put the bag in the first open locker he found..He did what most teen and young adults do, so finding a solution became a necessity.
One day while preparing to go out biking, I saw my husband struggling to find a place to put the Epipen®. He was trying to put it inside his socks but they kept falling off. This is how the idea of designing medicine pouches that could be carry on the legs, arms, ankles, and/or wrist was born. After two years of testing different designs and materials on kids and adults, and my son's full approval :), the LegBuddy and WaistPal™ became "a solution to a need come true".
God Bless,
Marlena
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