When I was in college I had a severe allergic reaction to a hot dog bought from a street vendor. My throat closed up, my lungs lost their power and I began coughing incessantly. By the time I got myself to the ER, my hands, feet and face were swollen and the cough was worse. While waiting for the attending physician to see me, I caught a glimpse of my face in the mirror. It had swelled to nearly twice its size. My eyes were slits. I was unrecognizable. In addition to this disfigurement, every swollen location itched like crazy. They injected me with enough cc's of something to halt the symptoms and told me to visit my family doc at the next break. It took 3 days for the swelling to subside.
The diagnosis? A severe allergic reaction that was unexplainable at the time and determined to be freakish and unlikely to happen again.
Three years later it happened at a New Year's Eve party. A year after that it happened again with a pizza. That time the ER doc told me to visit an allergist where it was determined that I was seriously allergic to any man-made meat product coming from a pig. This includes ham, bacon, hot dogs, pepperoni, salami and pork. Something containing pork had been in each episode. Apparently while I had grown up eating all of the above, my system no longer tolerated this food and if I consumed it, I would go into anaphylaxis shock. I began to carry special pills and later an epi-pen in order to combat a reaction should I learn I had consumed pork.
Over the years I have been amazed at how many restaurants add bits of pork to their recipes. Thanks to being aware and asking questions at every pot luck and restaurant, it has been years since any episode. I have met others with severe food allergies to shellfish and peanuts, wheat and other foods and fully respect their needs for hand-washing and certain foods not to touch others.
Why can I be thankful that I can't eat that Easter ham or have bacon with my eggs anymore?
Because my kids have grown up knowing that something simple that doesn't affect them can make mom really, really sick.They live the reality that everyone's body reacts differently and have seen what it means to be cautious.
This has been the absolute best illustration when we talked about experimenting with sex and drugs. Reading about the nice boy on the basketball team who tried cocaine once and died of a heart attack at age 16 or the girl at the party who did something once and got an STD become more powerful because I can't eat a hotdog.
I have tried to teach my kids that in certain situations, due to the strength of the drugs and increased types of STDs, sometimes they don't even get one chance to mess up. That one time could be the time that takes their life, or sentences them to a lifetime of medical treatment and explanations to a future mate.
More than anything, I want them alive and healthy. Because I can't eat hotdogs, they have learned the level of their responsibility required to make that happen. What affects our bodies is very real and unpredictable so taking a chance is a risk not worth taking.
Man, am I glad I can't eat hotdogs.
Note: Don't wait til your child is an older teen to begin this conversation. Start with light comments at age 8 and be specific by age 12. Remember, they are growing older younger.
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