Surrounded by Nuts

Surrounded by Nuts

I was about eight year’s old and attending Hyde Park Public School. I had been going to that school for a year or so but this day was different. For lunch instead of being in the lunchroom with everyone else I was sitting at the office alone. I hadn’t done anything wrong. Nothing had actually changed—nothing except that over the weekend it had been declared by a doctor that I was severely allergic to peanuts. Now due to that announcement I was forced to wear an unfashionable fanny pack from the eighties containing an Epipen (an auto injector used to administer epinephrine) and sit at the office alone so as not to come in contact with my new mortal enemy. I sat there in silence, alone, looking at a picture of myself on the wall. The picture was there to let everyone know that I had an allergy. A couple of other kids had pictures on the wall as well, but those with asthma and lactose intolerance were allowed to eat in the lunch room with all of their friends. But not me, I had to sit all alone because someone had decided that I officially had an allergy, something I had unofficially had all my life.

In North America approximately 3.8 million people are allergic to nuts, but only 11 people die annually. You are more likely to be killed by falling out of bed or crushed by a vending machine; with 540 and 13 deaths respectively. Not to undermine the severity of peanut allergies though. Having an allergy to peanuts can be quite dangerous.  Just coming into contact with residue can cause some people to swell up like a balloon and ingestion of even the smallest shred is deadly if epinephrine isn’t administered in time. But there is a reason the mortality rate is so low: People with allergies know how to handle themselves. Either they’ve had an allergy for a while and know what to avoid or their parents watch out for them. Not to mention people and manufacturers are becoming more aware of the growing population of consumers that are allergic to peanuts. With companies being more specific with labels and creating new products dubbed peanut free, as well as schools taking steps to create a peanut free environment, the average person with a peanut allergy doesn’t have it too bad. Thanks to all of these advancements it’s not the fear of an allergic reaction that plagues those of us with a peanut allergy, but the people. The worst part of having an allergy is not the allergy itself but people’s perception. 

I remember the first time I had an allergic reaction, although at the time I didn’t know it. I was maybe three or four and my Mum was quite fed up with me because I was refusing to eat a cookie solely because I thought it smelt weird. I knew there was something in the cookie I didn’t like but she thought I was simply being a bratty kid who was refusing to try something new for no real reason. Since I was able to voice my opinion there were certain things like some cookies and sandwiches I refused to eat because I found them absolutely appalling without ever trying them. But on this specific night my Mum wasn’t going to take it. She told me there was nothing wrong with it and that I had to take at least a little bite.  So I did, I barely got to swallow before I was sick all over the carpet. But even then peanut allergy wasn’t what came to mind. In 1998 peanut allergies were nowhere as common as they are now, so my life carried on. I was at a friend’s house when my second encounter with the deadly peanut occurred. I was seven years old and I had just been given a drumstick (the ice-cream cone made by Nestlé that is sprinkled with peanuts). I took a bite and, again, I vomited-- Only this time my friend’s grandmother, who was a nurse, was present. When she called my Mum to say what had happened she advised that I be tested for some common allergens. Within the month I was being tested for common allergies: dogs, dusts, peanuts, seafood etc. After being tested for about twenty different allergens, it was declared that I was severely allergic to peanuts.

So for me the allergy really wasn’t a big deal. I mean I never liked peanut products anyways. My life carried on. I ate the same foods, my parents were maybe more cautious with the things they bought and there was no longer peanut butter in my house. When going out for dinner I would go in anywhere and it was not a big deal, I’d just be sure not to get the peanut crumble cake for dessert and ask about anything if I wasn’t sure. I avoided Asian food places as the main oil they use is peanut but otherwise nothing changed. In that sense I wasn’t affected. I do know however that this is not always the case. Sometime the news is so horrific for parents that they train their peanut allergic children to avoid common Canadian favourites like Tim Horton’s, Coffee Culture and other bakery style restaurants where the elusive peanut may be hiding.

Now if you’ll notice that previously I said that I was only allergic to peanuts, but for some unknown reason people seem to think that I am allergic to everything. People seem to believe that one severe allergy directly connects to another. I’m not exactly sure why.  A bee enters the room and everyone goes into a panic “Dalton, get away! You’re allergic!”  I then have to go through a strenuous process of explaining the details of my allergy. After a few years people seemed to get the idea, though I was forced to start explaining again when I moved before my grade eight year. I had to re-explain that bees, dust and seafood can’t hurt me; for that matter, peanuts can’t either because I know what I can and can’t have. People feel the need to protect you: a nice sentiment, but altogether frustrating. Just because I am a peanut freak doesn’t mean I’m a wheat, seafood and bee freak as well. According to allergist, Vincent Firrincieli, MD, of Carolina Allergy and Asthma Consultants majority of food-allergic children are allergic to only one food. A very slim minority have two food allergies and having three or more food allergies is significantly less common than even two food allergies. But luckily now after living where I do now for four years most of friends and schoolmates have at least began to grasp the concept of me only being allergic to one thing. Now the workplace is completely different. I got my first real job a couple years ago and staff members have come and gone since then. But all in all there have maybe been 25 different staff members or so in my days at work. Over the couple years I have had to explain my allergy on 25 or so different occasions. With countless times where people have kindly come back from a Tim Hortons run with a hot chocolate for me but nearly ruin the sentiment when they spend fifteen minutes insisting that if I am allergic to one of the ingredients I shouldn’t take it. By the end of the conversation I am just convinced they wanted it for themselves. Other times, it is clear my colleagues really have wanted to share with me, but they are plagued by the worry that they will be responsible for my untimely demise. I remember one day at work, having given blood less than an hour or so before, I passed out due to the fact that I hadn’t kept my blood sugar up.  When I awoke again a colleague was there with a cream soda for me, but before she handed me the drink, she proceeded to ask “Can you have this? I know you have all those allergies and what not.” I simply chuckled and said yes. She gave me a weird look in return wondering why I was laughing. I just thought to myself the allergy stereotype strikes again.