I am allergic to a lot of food, as well as several medications and things like mold, dust, trees, etc. I have been to the E/R several times for tree nuts, starting at the age of 10 months, when I ate my first chocolate chip cookie with walnuts. (I was the 4th child, so don't ask why someone gave a 10-month-old a cookie with nuts in it, plus, it was 1962!) I've also been to the E/R for sesame seeds, although not until I was in my late-40's. And I've taken bushels of Benadryl over the years for all the other, less-intense reactions. I am constantly developing new allergies to things I've eaten for years, so I never know what's going to be next.
I have life-threatening allergies to all tree nuts and to sesame seeds, oil and paste. I am also allergic to caraway seeds, coconut, eggplant, and crab and have adverse intestinal reactions to Splenda artificial sweetner and carob. I don't know if I'm allergic to poppy seeds yet, but assume they're on the coming attractions list, along with soy and peanuts, so I try to limit my exposure. I have a number of other medical issues that limit the amount of dairy, spinach, leafy greens, sweet potatoes, fruit and other foods I can eat, but at least these aren't allergies, not yet. Unfortunately, my allergy to tree nuts is so severe that cross-contamination is an issue - if you eat nuts and touch me or anything I touch or eat, I'll have a reaction. I don't know if that's true for sesame yet, but I operate under the assumption that it is.
Living with life-threatening allergies is hard. Let's get that right out on the table. You may have heard of something people with allergies carry, an Epi-pen, and you might think, what's so hard about it? If you have a reaction, use your Epi-pen. True, I have 2 Epi-pens on me at all times. ALL times. I can never go anywhere without a purse, because I have to have Benadryl and my Epi-Pens with me all the time, but I can deal with that. The problem is, if I'm having an anaphylactic reaction, where my throat and mouth are swelling and threatening to close my airways, an Epi-Pen will give me 15 minutes of relief, time to get to an emergency room or into an ambulance. I can use 2 Epi-pens, which is why I carry two, but still I have to be in an E/R within 30 minutes. Two's the limit, though. And once there, and saved from death, I have to be monitored for 48-hours or more, as the reaction can, and usually does, come back.
Traveling with life-threatening allergies is very hard, but I really enjoy travel, so I do it. I was very lucky to find Select Wisely, an online company that prints wallet-sized cards listing food allergies in more than 60 languages, which is extremely helpful for international travel. Airplane food is problematic, especially on a long flight, as airlines don't have a nut-free option for their special meals and there's always a chance someone sitting next to me will be eating something containing tree nuts. This could be a problem if they touch me, my chair, my arm rest or anything that I might touch with nut oils on their hands. I always carry wet wipes and bring my own food, but on a 12-hour flight, I have to eat the protein I bring with me early in the flight, since I don't have a cooler or ice-pack to keep it cold. But, I can make it work with some planning.Living abroad with allergies is frightening. When we lived in Germany, I learned the German words for tree nuts, eggplant, crab and coconut (I wasn't allergic to sesame or other seeds then). While I don't speak much German, I could read labels at the grocery store to see what contained nuts and I had my Select Wisely cards in restaurants, so I was less frightened. I bought allergy cards in French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Dutch, and every other language that I might encounter during our 2 years in Europe. And, I was confident that if I had a reaction, I could summon an ambulance (Select Wisely has cards for that too) and go to a reputable hospital.
Living in China, and traveling in Asia, with life-threatening food allergies is so frightening, it's almost paralyzing. This is what I haven't made clear to the people around me. I'm doing the best I can and trying to be adventurous, but mystery could mean death.
I can't learn the characters for tree nuts or read any labels. Even the western food sold in the Expat-oriented grocery stores has a Chinese label plastered over the English ingredient list, so if I'm not familiar with it and haven't used it before, I can't buy it.
The Chinese cook with some nuts, but usually not many, other than cashews, but they use sesame seeds and sesame oil ALL THE TIME! I have my allergy cards and the Chinese waiters and chefs have been very helpful in making sure I don't get any allergens in my food, but many times, I'm just not sure they understand, both the allergies and the severity of my reaction. Most people don't understand the severity of my reaction. In the U.S., I often "joke" with a waiter or waitress who says they don't know for sure whether something contains nuts that they might as well call 911 now, because I'll be dead if they don't. They usually get my point.
Recently, one American-style Chinese restaurant here in Shanghai told me that the other American-style Chinese restaurant was probably lying to me when they told me that their food didn't contain nuts and seeds. The conversation ended when I told them that if anyone lied to me about that, I'd know immediately and would probably be dead.
Beyond the worry of communicating my allergies is my real fear of living in China - there is no 911, or at least the emergency medical treatment is not something upon which I can reply. Of course, there is an emergency number I can call, but they won't speak English. If I can communicate my problem and get an ambulance, they are notoriously slow to arrive and there may not be any medical professional on the ambulance - it's a glorified taxi that you have to have cash to pay for up front. Once I get to the local hospital, assuming it's after hours or on the weekend and I can't go to an Expat Clinic, they probably won't speak much English either. I would have get in line behind the others who arrived ahead of me, armed with my allergy cards and several thousand RMB in cash, as they don't take insurance and demand payment before treatment. My 30 minutes of Epi-pen will be long gone by the time I actually finished getting there, paying, and communicating what the problem is, despite my allergy cards.
And that scenario is for Shanghai, where there are a quarter of a million Western expats and lots of English speakers and expat-oriented medical clinics. Traveling to smaller cities and towns, places where fewer expats live, is much more problematic.
I really enjoy meeting other expats and attending meetings, gatherings, day tours, trips, and luncheons for the American Club, the Shanghai Expat Association, and all of the other women's groups available to me here. However, most of these events involve food and so I always have check with the organizers ahead of time, be the "difficult" one, and often bring my own food. Do I ever get much of a discount off the fairly steep prices of things because I have to bring my own food - very rarely. While the food isn't the only thing to experience at these events, I'd just once like to be able to choose my food and get something I want to eat rather than take whatever different meal they come up with for me in substitution for the nut or sesame contaminated entree.
I'm always the high-maintenance person at the table. And I was not raised to be high-maintenance, so it just goes against my grain. I'm embarrassed, uncomfortable, unhappy and usually still hungry. I'm a diabetic, so I have to eat something at these luncheons or on day-long trips or tours, but I can't bring my own food to a fancy restaurant for a luncheon. And if I never went to any of these events, because I was scared of the food issues, I'd have no social life at all in Shanghai.
We're planning a trip with our daughters to Siem Reap, Cambodia over Christmas. I'm excited to see the temples and enjoy a family vacation, but worried about Cambodian food, which apparently contains a lot of coconut. We've hired an English-speaking guide and I already explained to him my allergies and concerns. This is the only way I can feel brave enough to travel n Asia. It's more expensive, but I feel more comfortable with someone who can interpret for me.
I just have to accept that I can't try street food, I can't eat "local," I can't order from a menu with no English or a waiter who doesn't understand what I need. Whether it's when friends and family visit from the U.S. or when I go out to eat with people I've met here in Shanghai, I have to stand up straight and say no, there's nothing I can eat at this restaurant, we have to go elsewhere. I can't even try a bite, and it's not because I'm stuffy or elitist or an "Ugly American" or unadventurous or dull. It's because I want to stay alive.
No comments:
Post a Comment