“As I grew up with this allergy, I quickly became very independent and learned how to advocate for myself and my safety.”
When I was 3 years old, I found out that I have a severe tree nut allergy. My grandparents were babysitting my sister and I when I asked for one of my grandpa’s cashews, and he let me try a few. Soon after, I started to not feel good, and went to tell my grandma. Things started to get scary fast, as I broke out in hives and was nauseous, and my grandparents truly thought the cause was that I had too many sweets. My family had no idea about allergies or anaphylaxis, since no one in my family has ever had such a reaction. My parents knew so little about it that they didn’t call the doctor until the next day. The doctor was quite shocked that I was okay, and told my parents that I should have been in the emergency room that night due to an anaphylactic reaction.
After learning this, my parents took me to get tested to see what the root cause of my reaction was, and we found out I was allergic to many different kinds of nuts, but worst of all, cashews. Adjusting to this news was a big learning curve for both me and my family. What was once a free-for-all at the grocery store turned to checking every box and ingredient list for a potential threat. Halloween became half the fun as I couldn’t eat half of the candy, restaurants became a hassle in being sure that I could eat what I wanted to order, and some of the foods in my friend’s pantries were unknown to me, therefore I would wait to eat until I got back home. My parents were so involved, they even advocated for a “nut-free” classroom and lunch table for me at school. The discovery of my nut allergy went from a cool new thing about myself to tell my friends, to a very lonely experience because I couldn’t do some of the things that I had never had to think about before.
As my family and I adjusted, so did my friends, and people came to sit with me at my new “nut-free” table. Something that felt like the end of the world became a lot more bearable now that my friends understood and wanted to help keep me safe. Some of my best friends became very protective of me in making sure that I was safe, and others helped on the tougher days by making me smile with nicknames like “Nut-Meg”. As I grew up with this allergy, I quickly became very independent and learned how to advocate for myself and my safety. As an adult now, I can say that having an allergy has changed my life in some of the best ways. I am stronger, more resilient when things get hard, and adaptable to change and new things. I would never change my nut allergy for anything, even on the days where I want a slice of cake I can’t eat. My allergy is a part of me, and it makes me who I am.
-Megan