My Food Allergy Book

This is my book. It has lots of information in it. I made it in 5th grade. Sorry about the spelling/grammar mistakes!

Where You Least Expect It

One day, my mom was looking at face washes in a store. She chose a face wash and started to read the ingredient label. She reads EVERY label. Some of you might think that it's not necessary to read labels on things like face washes, but it's a good thing my mom did read the ingredients! The second ingredient on the list were crushed walnut shells. Walnuts are a type of tree nut, and I'm severely allergic to tree nuts!

 I'm touch sensitive, which means when one of my allergens, such as milk, touches my skin, I have an allergic reaction. Usually I just get rashes and occasionally ecxema (an extra itchy rash with a bump in the middle), so I don't have to go to the hospital or even take my Epi-pen. If my mom hadn't read the ingredient label on that face wash, there wound've been some pretty gross consequences. My face probably wound've gone bright red, itchy, and splotchy, although the symptoms could be anything. Note to all people with food allergies: Read all ingredient labels!   

What's hardest

Many things are hard in a food allergy perspective. Here are some of them.

One of the challenges I face are parties. At sleepovers, kids eat and eat whenever. Those foods aren't safe, plus the cake and dinner. To keep me safe there, I make sure to bring a safe dinner and a cupcake for me to that person's house. I also remember to bring my medicines and keep then in a safe spot. My parents and I inform the friend's mom about my food allergies, and they make sure to stay alert.

Another hard situation I've been in is checking ingredient labels. If I'm at school, a friend's house, or another place, and I don't know if a food is safe, then I can't tell.Usually I would just ask my mom to check the ingredients for me. So, what I would do if I wasn't sure about a food, I would just skip it. It's no big deal, knowing that there are lots of other delicious foods that I can have.

The final challenge that I'm going to share is a when people pressure me to say "Yes, this food is safe.". In school, I have to make sure everyone's snack is safe. Sometimes, there is a snack that I'm not sure of, and the person wants me to say that the snack is safe. What I do is say ,"Better safe than sorry!" and move on. After all, it's just a snack, so it's not bad that I'm telling them that. They can eat it at lunch.

As you can see, I do have many challenges in my life, but I can get through them.

How To Get Through A Challenge

I outgrew my egg allergy when I was younger. I was very excited but scared. I didn't know exactly what to expect. I was in third grade, I had to miss some school, and I had to eat a lot of scrambled eggs, even though I didn't like them. Here's what happened.

I was in third grade, like I said above. I got out of school and went to the allergist with my mom. I got a skin test, and then the challenge began. I ate a tiny amount of scrambled eggs, barely a forkful, and swallowed. It tasted horrible! I went to wait in the waiting room to see what happened. Nothing happened, so we continued on. I was forced to eat eggs. The amount of eggs kept increasing and increasing until it got to a full bowl. I quickly swallowed that down, and outgrew my egg allergy! I was relieved that nothing had gone wrong. If you're getting a challenge like this, you should:

1. Stay cautious. You could still be allergic to the food that you're having a challenge on, and you may have an allergic reaction.

2. Take deep breaths if you're nervous. I was extremely nervous!

3. Tell your allergist the truth about your symptoms. They're there to help, and if you don't tell the truth and have an allergic reaction, they'll be less prepared.

You'll be fine. Good luck!

Questions, Questions

I know a lot of information about food allergies, enough to write a book, but I still have questions. Here are some of them.

1. When are scientists going to find a cure to all food allergies?
2. Why did I have to end end up with food allergies?
3. How many foods can you be allergic to?
4. How long does it take to outgrow a food allergy?
5. Who currently has the most food allergies?

...I could go on forever. But one of your questions may be:

WHAT goes on inside of the body when you have an allergic reaction??!!

You can watch an animated (not real) video to see! Go to the side bar "Food Allergy Links" on my blog and click on FAAN: The Food Allergy Website. Then, click on the "Food Allergy Basics" on the left at the top, and scroll down a little. Then you'll see: Check out our animation. You can watch it there!

Older = Action!

As I get older, I learn more about food allergies. I also act more about my allergies. When I have a chance, I teach my friends. Here's how I do it.

When I was in 5th grade, I made two writing pieces on food allergies. One was an essay, and one was a "published" book. I had a lot to say, and I wasn't afraid to hide it. Many people were amazed by my book, and my teacher said that she learned some things from it too!

Soon, I had a chance to take it a step further. When I went to a leadership summer camp, everyone got a chance to teach the group something. Lots of people taught how to make crafts and how to play an instrument. I taught them how to use a trainer Epi-pen. I had a lot of fun with it. You can check out my video on how to use a trainer Epi-pen to learn more.

When I first started sixth grade, nobody in my homeroom (including my teacher!) knew that much about food allergies. I decided to teach them about Epi-pen trainers and when and how to use one. It was kind of interesting to see them helping each other and using an Epi-pen trainer on themselves. I loved showing people how to use an Epi-pen because it helped them see what it is all about.

Now that I really know about my food allergies, I can act even more. Tip to people with food allergies: the more people that know about your food allergies, the safer and better off you are!

Warning: do not practice with a real Epi pen.  Use a trainer!

My Most Recent Allergic Reaction

 Last week, I had an allergic reaction at my older sister's birthday party. It was pretty scary because I hadn't had an allergic reaction in a long time. Here's what happened.

We don't normally eat french fries. We eat yam fries. But at my sister's party, we put out french fries. I tried a small amount of them. At first I felt fine, but after dinner,  I sensed that something was wrong. My lips were getting puffy and I got bumps that felt like (but definitely weren't!) canker sores in my mouth. My throat felt a little dry. I told my mom about my symptoms, and she gave me four Benadryls. I started crying, because I didn't know if I was going to need an Epi-pen or if I was going to have to go to the hospital.

My mom checked the bag of french fries one more time. There weren't any dairy, tree nuts, or sesame in it, so we didn't exactly know what the problem was. I never went to the hospital, and I never had to use my Epi-pen because the Benadryl worked, but that was a very scary experience. Warning to all people with food allergies: Even if the ingredient labels on new foods look okay, be careful.

Everything Changed: An Introduction

My parents first figured out that I had food allergies when I was just a baby. I had a reaction to some yogurt when I first tried it.  Later my mom took me to an allergist to see what was wrong.  That's when we found out that I was allergic to dairy and eggs. It didn't really matter to me because I was very little when it happened, but it was a lot of work for my mom. She had to figure to how to feed me and how to keep me safe.

But that's not the end of it all. When I was three, I had an anaphylactic allergic reaction to one pistachio. My dad had to Epi-pen me, and my parents took me to the hospital. I don't remember any of that because I was very little, but my parents told me all about it.

Now, I've outgrown my egg allergy, but at the allergist, my mom and I learned that I was allergic to sesame seeds. As I've aged, we've learned a lot about how to manage my food allergies. I'm here to tell you about the adventures I've come across in My Food Allergy Life.