Ten years with allergies

I wasn’t diagnosed with my allergy to peanuts until I was four. Before then though, I refused to eat them. I would literally run down the hall if someone was eating a pb and j sandwich.  It seems ridiculous now, I know, but I guess I somehow predicted my nut allergy. However, sometime during 2005, I decided that I wanted a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. My parents, who had been trying to help me overcome my strange nut-phobia for a while, immediately prepared me a sandwich in an excited frenzy. I was finally going to learn that my fear of nuts really was crazy! Well, my face swelled up like a balloon after I barely took a bite and I began to sneeze–not one sneeze, dozens and dozens of sneezes in a matter of minutes. So that was a bust.

My parents immediately gave me Benadryl and took me to the ER, where I was diagnosed with an allergy to peanuts. I didn’t know what to think, when I was told that I had a deadly allergy to nuts. I remember being sad, but I also know I had no idea how much it would affect me and my life. From that day forward, my life changed. My parents immediately threw away every food they had that contained any nuts, and practically cleaned every square inch of the house trying to eliminate everything that might kill me. We researched a lot into nut allergies, learned how to read labels for allergens, found out just how many unexpected places hide nuts, all that jazz.

We continued to remain hopeful though, because the most common age for outgrowing allergies was five to six. Those years came and went and now I’m fourteen, so I guess that was a bust too. However, in the ten years that I have had this allergy, I realized that it could be a lot worse. I have an allergy to peanuts and nuts. However, I know people with an allergy list longer than I could ever imagine. I know people with diabetes, people who have to spend their entire lives in a wheelchair, people with diseases like cancer. In the long run, I feel blessed to only have to worry about a food allergy instead of having to worry about something much more serious.

Until next time!

Gary

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