Google Saved My Life

    When growing up, I wasn't aware that I had any allergies. I thought I was normal like everyone else and didn't have to suffer the burden of allergies. Though I knew about allergies, so I wasn't entirely in the dark. How I came upon this knowledge during elementary school. During that time students in the same class would sit on a table row that was around ~25ft in length. However, there would be students who would have to sit in an isolated area, away from their class, because they had food allergies and couldn't risk sitting near people with those foods. There was a moment when I said, "I would be cool to sit over at the food allergy-free table." Later in my life, I would regret that wish. 

    During my weekend in 4th grade, my family and I decided to go to Chuckey Cheese for us kids to have fun. However, before going to Chuckey Cheese, we had to run to multiple other stores. One of the stores we went to was Menards. Usually, Menards sells household appliances and supplies. However, they had a small section for frozen food, chips, and snacks. One of the snacks that my family bought was peanuts. When we got out of Menards and were about to reach Chuckey Cheese, I got so hungry that I was willing to eat anything. Due to my wines of hunger, my sister gave me some peanuts. I tried a peanut and disliked them instantly, but nothing happened immediately after.  Though, when we reached Chuckey Cheese and were about to settle down to get tokens and pizza, I had to throw up. I went to the restroom and had to throw up pretty violently. We did not stay long after that. 

    

    After a couple of months, I went and got tested to see what were my allergies. One of them was peanuts and tree nuts. After that moment I never ate peanuts or tree nuts. Until the day before winter break in my senior year of high school. I was studying late at night (~9:00pm) when my mom gave me some pistachios. I questioned her if it was nuts but she denied it. So, I ate the first one and thought it tasted good. I then ate two more pistachios and then my allergic reaction hit. It became extremely hard to breathe and I began to vomit and cough hard. I thought that I could just simply get some allergy medicine and that would be good. Though I still googled if pistachios were nuts. They were. I then googled "what to do when you have an allergic reaction" and found out I needed to rush to the emergency room. I shouted to my dad "Call the ambulance" and they were dispatched immediately. After receiving proper medical treatment at the hospital, I was better again. Needless to say, I didn't go to school the next day to take that test. 

    It wasn't until today (Nov 17, 2022) that I realized how lucky and grateful for google and my swift decision. I arrived at the parking lot at around 7:20 to not have to worry about parking and to study for a little bit. One of the things that my Biology teacher told us to do was watch a Discovery video on allergies to study. In that video, I found out that when someone has an allergic reaction, they only have around 5-10 minutes to get medical treatment, or else they will die. 

    I came to the realization that allergies are extremely dangerous. If you break out into an allergic reaction, action needs to occur immediately. When going to a restaurant, people need to be mindful of their own food allergies and communicate that to the restaurant. Today, I always keep an epi-pen in my bag and one a home. I am more than aware and mindful of the dangers of allergic reactions and they should never be taken lightly. No one should ever take allergies lightly because they could mean life or death for a person. 

Link to Chuck E. Cheese: https://www.chuckecheese.com/

Allergy Article: https://aacijournal.biomedcentral.com/articles