“Therefore, my allergy helped form the man I am today.”
My peanut and tree nut allergy has stuck with me since the day it was discovered. The story of my first reaction is still imprinted in my head. I tried peanut butter for the first time, stopped breathing, and the neighborhood nurse swooped in to save the day. From then on, I started to understand how much of a threat an allergy can provide to anyone's life.
My allergy can be described as airborne and anaphylactic. Meaning, my love for baseball, and baseball's love for hard shell peanuts provided a serious threat. Inhaling the dust of a peanut shell can immediately engulf me into the scary world of an anaphylactic reaction. As hard as anyone can try, a threat could always be around the corner. Talk of a cure is always around, but these theories can be risky, painful, and dangerous. So, since my first reaction, being an allergy kid has become a norm for my family and I. Checking every label, asking restaurants what oil they cook in, and fleeing the scene of a stray peanut shell scattered on the ground is part of the forced lifestyle an allergy provides.
As time went by and I got into a good groove of avoiding all nuts, I was hit with a sneak attack in the summer of 2019. Coming home from work one day, I accidentally missed the last word on the ingredients label on an ice cream treat. One small mistake, one misread word, can send the entire world spiraling down on someone with severe allergies. Within minutes of taking my first bite, I started to itch. I knew that my life was now at risk and my reaction in the next few minutes was crucial. I quickly called my mom and dad for help. My mom was 45 minutes away at my sister's softball tournament, and my dad was 20 minutes away at work. Normally, 45 and 20-minute drives are nothing; however, for someone who has only minutes before their airways close in, time is extremely precious. With nobody within distance to help before my throat swelled shut, I knew I needed to act on my own. All my life, I hoped I would never confront this situation alone. In the midst of panicking through a life-threatening moment, I calmed down and took action. I found my Auvi-Q, sprinted to my neighbor's house, and called 911. My next-door neighbors had been passively educated on my allergy, in the hope this situation would never occur. They helped me administer my Auvi-Q, right as I stopped breathing. Shortly after, the ambulance arrived and took me away.
The life of someone with allergies is always at risk. That day I woke up, having no clue I would be confronted with a fight or flight, life-threatening situation. The attention to detail my allergy has provided me with caused me to grow up fast and be meticulous with the choices I make. Therefore, my allergy helped form the man I am today.
-Avery P.