“My peanut allergy has always been something I hated, but as I grew older I realised it was something that made me who I am.”

When I was around 3 years old, I had eaten a peanut butter cookie and instantly felt sick and got hives around my mouth. This is how my family and I found out that I had a peanut allergy. Since then I have been told to stay away from peanuts and any other tree nuts. Having a peanut allergy has been something that has affected my life in many ways.

My allergy has taught me to be more aware about things. I have always had to look at the ingredients of foods, to check if there are any peanuts or I have to ask the person who made the food if there are any peanuts in anything that was made. I also have to make sure that the food I take hasn’t touched anything with peanut butter and if it has then I couldn’t take it, no matter how much I wanted it. There have been many times that I couldn’t eat certain snacks that kids in my class brought in in elementary school because they had peanut butter. So, I would have to go up to the teacher to get a different snack, which made me feel left out because I wasn’t having the same thing as everyone else. Birthday parties were another hard thing because oftentimes there were many things with peanut butter and I couldn’t eat them, while all my friends could. We had to make sure that the parents throwing the party knew about my peanut allergy, so there was something that I was able to eat which made me feel embarrassed because I was the only one who had to have something special. It also was a hassle for the parents because they had to have something else as well as what they originally had just for one kid who had a peanut allergy.

Many people think that an allergy only affects the person who has it, but my allergy didn’t just affect me, it affected everyone around me as well. People always had to be looking out making sure I wasn’t getting anything with peanut butter, so I wouldn’t have a reaction. They also had to know how to use my epi pen in case I needed it. My friends couldn’t order things with peanut butter around me, which was hard for them because they all enjoy peanut butter, but I couldn’t risk the cross contamination. Everyone around me had to be extra cautious and make sure to help look out for me and oftentimes make special food just for me.

My peanut allergy has always been something I hated, but as I grew older I realised it was something that made me who I am. It has and will always be something that is a part of my life that I cannot change, so I had to accept it and learn how to manage it.

-Alexis B.