Tree Nuts

My name is Cameron Benze. I am an 18 year old senior at Quince Orchard High School. I was born with tree nut allergies and this has affected my life wherever I have been in my life. I didn't have my first allergic reaction until I was about one and a half years old. I was in Ohio and had some trail mix. This caused me to throw up, and have bloodshot, itchy eyes. This raised concerns for my parents because I hadn't reacted to something before. It turns out I was allergic to the pistachios in the trail mix. The allergist never clarified anything other than pistachios so my parents assumed it was just pistachios that I was allergic to so not much changed from that point on in terms of what I ate. When I was three I had my second allergic reaction, this time to cashews. I can actually remember this slightly, my dad was watching the football game on October 10th, 2010 was and was eating cashews. I asked if I could have some and my mom said, "It's not a pistachio so it's probably fine". This could not have been further from the truth because just after had a bite I went into anaphylactic shock. I was rushed to the hospital and I still kind of remember the ride in the ambulance also. I survived which was good and since then my parents have been really strict on what I'm allowed to eat because they're still traumatized from what happened to me. I don't really eat anything if there's even a tiny risk of me having a reaction. Although this may be strict, it has protected me well since I haven't had a reaction directly from a tree nut since that day, though I have had multiple unexplained allergic reactions that required an EpiPen over the years. When I was about ten years old, I was fishing in Florida and baited my line with a shrimp. Unfortunately, I had an allergic reaction that day with my eye swelling up. After an unplanned follow-up visit to the allergist, I found out I was also allergic to shellfish. I don't really like to eat shellfish so that doesn't impact me too much, but I won't be baiting my own fishing line anytime soon.

As a teenager this has been embarrassing at times when I am somewhere with friends and I say I'm allergic to something, even though I would probably be fine eating it. This has been the price I have to pay for being as safe as possible because I would rather be safe than be able to eat something that could be bad. I will also go to different fast food restaurants than them to make sure there's something I can eat safely there. Recently I have started a treatment, Xolair, which is a shot that is supposed to suppress or maybe even stop a reaction from happening if I accidentally eat something with my allergen in it. This has been going alright, but I haven't really expanded what i eat because I am not sure if I trust it 100% yet. My allergist suggested doing a food challenge in her office, but I have no interest in testing if I will react or not. I hope I continue to expand what I eat one day. By now, I kind of forget about my allergies because I have become so used to what I can and can't eat so even though my allergies might hold me back on paper, as a person I am the same with and without allergies in my mind. I don't think much would change in my life without them, other than maybe the space in my left pocket from carrying my EpiPens everywhere.