I’ll never forget the day I had my first allergic reaction. It was a sunny summer day in Northern Michigan in July. I was nine years old, about seven years ago, and was happy as could be. School was out, and I was at one of my favorite places in the world. This day was especially exciting because my grandparents were driving their boat up to meet us. As I saw the white outline of their boat approaching, I began to run to the dock.

By the time I reached the end of it, they had already pulled up and docked. I jumped onto the boat to meet my grandparents, and we exchanged hugs and questions. After we had settled down, I noticed my grandmother had prepared my favorite snack, apples and peanut butter. Little did I know there was a special ingredient in this patch that was about to change my life. It took me less than two minutes to finish all the slices, and then I sat down on the couch, content. After a few minutes, my tongue began to tingle, and my throat started to itch.

I had never felt anything like it, so I immediately alerted my parents. They immediately became concerned and rushed to check what was in the peanut butter. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was actually cashew butter. My grandmother had accidentally bought the wrong one. My mom was highly educated on food allergies, and immediately made the connection. She scooped me up and rushed me to the car. The itching sensations kept getting stronger, and I began to feel an unpleasant stirring in my stomach.

Right as we pulled up to the hospital, it all came rushing out, and I vomited all over the car. I had one foot out of the car, inches away from saving my parents from a disgusting clean. I actually felt much better after vomiting, but my parents still rushed me into the hospital. After taking some Benadryl, the doctors ran some tests and confirmed the suspicions. I was allergic to cashews, but not just that; I was also allergic to pistachios.

The three of us left the hospital, stunned at what we had just heard. We all knew there were going to be some major changes.

Fast forward six years, and I had not had an allergic reaction since that very first time.

We had been very cautious, scanning each menu item for the forbidden nuts. But after six years, my parents had begun to tire of having to constantly help me watch what I eat. That’s when my mom discovered OIT.

She explained to me that I would eat larger and larger doses of nuts and eventually build up a resistance. This sounded great to me, so I decided to give it a shot. It was scary entering the clinic for the first time, but after a couple more times, the visits became routine and not something I worried about. Unfortunately, due to my schedule and how far away the clinic was, we had to pause OIT during the school year. My mother suggested a different type of treatment called Xolair, which is a monthly injection to also help build up your resistance. These treatments have helped to decrease my allergies and given me a safety net in case I do have an allergic reaction. I would highly suggest either of these, as they can relieve a large burden placed on you by your allergies.