I have been on bed rest and recuperation these last few days. First let me take you back to give you some context.

Since I finished my exams at university I have been cleaning up around the house, tidying the garden and getting rid of any unneeded things laying around the house. From there I have started taking day trips by bus around my city to see the many parks, flowers and water vistas available to public to behold. Once I have my sun cream, wide brimmed hat and walking shoes on, the world becomes mine to conquer for a few hours.

Last week I was very fortunate to be invited to accompany my cousin to visit our grandparents, that is a long and interesting story in itself for another day. So Kristen picked me up before lunch and we took a trip out into the hills for lunch. After a few beautiful rainy hours in Kalamunda we returned to pick up Kristen’s children from school. I took the youngest to a 4th birthday while the rest went to basketball practice. The wind was high on the foreshore for the party, but our little man still managed to collect the most treasures from the pinata and we avoided the rain.

I was dropped at home in time for my younger brother B-Dog to take me to visit our elder brother T-Dizzle before picking up a late dinner. I have such a strict preference for take away food that there are few places I will eat ready-made food from, so our usual choice, and the one this night, was an Asian wok-style restaurant. I had one of the more regular dishes (Curry Laksa Soup). It was a brief moment from when I ate my soup to when I realised my stomach wasn’t agreeing with me.

Ten minutes later I was sweating, swollen, bright red and staggering down the hall to my brother muttering about the emergency room at the hospital. I couldn’t see the way out of the house so B-Dog guided me most of the way, lifting me when I became too weak to walk out of the front door. There is a hospital next to my university, which is only 3 kilometres away from my house. This was the only hospital I would have made it to, so we went there, regardless of the fact it was private, not public. Still, I lost consciousness on the short drive there. B-Dog parked and tried to help me inside but I had nothing left. I told him to leave me and get a trolley and help. I lay on the tarmac near the cars as he ran on. In no time I was on a wheelchair being rolled in. Whilst I was pre-occupied B-Dog completed the admission as best he could without all my medical documents.

Thankfully I was admitted as soon as I was able to be moved. There was an excruciatingly large adrenalin injection shot in to my arm, followed by a smaller one. Followed by another shot of something else. Followed by 2200 mg of Prednisolone (aka Prednisone or steroids). A juicy bag of IV fluids chased all of this to replenish all that I had lost. When most of the symptoms had calmed down, and the swelling had mostly abated (see below) I was given oral antihistamines and a further 50mg Prednisolone (aka Prednisone or steroids).

By this time it was about 10:30 pm. B-Dog starts work early and so was already up two hours past his usual bedtime so was teasing me, friends and family with Snapchats and internet posts about my ‘selfishness’ (he was trying to alleviate the seriousness, as I always encourage when I have a ‘turn’).The best picture is at the top of the page and I had the best giggle when I saw this. The nurses confirmed I would be in overnight and agreed B-Dog could pick me up some things from home for my stay. He forgot shoes and my wallet, but remembered my phone charger, eye mask and a novel (my priorities!)

I didn’t sleep that much that night, hyped up as I was on adrenalin and steroids. Plus there was a big cannula in my left elbow and an automatic blood pressure bandage on my right upper arm and I was still in quite a high fever. All of this voided my exhaustion from the anaphylaxis. I was allowed to have a shower at 1am, then I was moved to a quieter part of the Emergency Department where I would stay for observation.

At 8 am in the morning I was looking much better, was strong enough to walk on my own and had gained control of all my functions. Not wanting to disrupt my cousin as I knew she would be getting the children to school and I could be home in ten minutes by bus so I let the hospital discharge me and walked barefoot in my pyjamas to the bus stop with my partially swollen lips. I sagged on to my bed and stystayedere until the afternoon when mum arrived up from her home in the country to take care of me.

And this is my second story of Anaphylaxis. The first being 2 months ago when I reacted mid-morning during a lecture and tutorial to some green beans I had been snacking on. I cannot, for the life of me (no pun intended!), think of why this happened, or what sudden allergy I have developed. I can only be pleased for the first time in my life that I am on this current dose of steroids which apparently have kept me alive through both severe allergic reactions.

Do you have any ideas as to what may have caused these episodes?

What are some allergies that emerge later in life?

Are there many allergies to the chemicals used to maintain groceries and fresh vegetables? If so what are these chemicals?