And I thought I was so safe.
I have never known why I have my allergies. No one else in my family does. I was born with it. God gave it to me, I guess. I spent most of my childhood mad about that. And most of my adult life, really. But, within the confines and safety of my life I really kind of forgot about it.
Little Miss and her brother are both teenagers now. Mr. Man and I dream of days where we have a clean house, time to ourselves, and we don't have to drive the kids everywhere, and feed them three times the amount we eat, and so on. The Big P (as in, peanut) occasionally showed up in menu planning for camping, going for ice cream, or trying to find a certain almond butter. Mr. and the kids would go out of town and come back all washed and changed, "We had peanut butter last night, Mom! But we didn't like it - not one bit," they'd lie.
But really, I have a safe life - my home is safe and this is where I spend my time. The majority of my friends have known me for years and know the drill. No peanuts. No exceptions. Easy peasy.
Well, then I made new friends. Wonderful new friends who had children who needed friends. And the Big P reared its ugly head. Everywhere. Off a kitchen table, off a person's clothes, off a piece of paper, in a neighbour's lunch (in a small room), and in a dorm 1000s of kms from home. With no car. And no Mr. Man.
So really, I shouldn't make new friends. That's the lesson.
Well, no, but there are two things I want to say to those of you who know someone who has a serious allergy, or has one:
1. A reaction to something as oily as the Big P can happen ANYWHERE. Even if you think you've cleaned your house, she may still find that one little spot under the counter and rub it in her eyes. Guess what? It's not your fault!! Insurance brokers or lawyers may say otherwise (dirty rats) but a reasonable allergic person knows there is an extremely high probability of coming in contact with the Big P as soon as she steps out of her house. I've got it off a steering wheel of a friend's car or off of the cleanest leather couch. Some of us refuse to hold door knobs or handrails because they know the stakes. And it's always going to be like this.
Please don't feel guilty when you've done your best. And please have us over again. Please?
2. Secondly, when there is a serious reaction going on - and I mean serious - the allergic person may not be in their right mind. This is very hard for me to say (and very easy for my mother to say). Someone needs to take charge, and the patient may quite possibly want to run and hide. Call it shock, call it fight or flight, that person may make every excuse in the book not to jab that epipen in their leg and call 911. Please, please, do everyone a favour and as Nike said, "Just Do It!"
Save their life and apologize for it later. I know this idiot would forgive you.
For those of you who are interested in how to use an epipen, check out this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXlqSuzzrws
Erin
