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Channel / Source:
TEDx Talks
Published: 2017-09-08
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eFHFpG3-EU
%HESITATION good evening I just came from the doctor's office and you know what the doctor told me I can die from kissing a guy he thought how could the V. Julia the menu kiss just ate peanuts and you're allergic to it you guys may never have known if I wasn't telling you now but I have a severe food allergies disorder this potentially deadly disease affects one
in every thirteen children in the U. S. as many as fifteen million people have food allergies and thirty point four percent of people have multiple food allergies myself I am allergic to peanuts milk eggs soy wheat fish you name it I have lived with these food allergies for actually most of my life age five first day of first grade I move to a new elementary school
and high don't remember my first day of school too clearly how my mom tells a story like it was yesterday what you wanted to the classroom she found kids decorating cookies with sprinkles chocolate chips and other toppings all the kids that is so for me I was sitting in the corner head down all my desk looking miserable the reason my school and an effort to protect
me from the exposure to the milk and peanuts from the cookies took an approach is becoming increasingly common this segregated meets my own peanut and milk free table and banned me from school events and activities involving food however there must be a limit to how a school goes to a comedy a student's allergies studies show that about sixteen to eighteen percent of people with food allergies
have had a reaction at school as a result every school district develop the safety plan to accommodate the students allergies the plan includes a creation of a safety she sanitation of the lunch table every day school staff trained on no at the Penn and classroom training on peanut allergies with all these precautions though soon seen as that kid who had friends slowly drifting away from her
because of their fear of her food allergies my experience at school was ruined and eventually my experience at home was to every year I had a birthday cake but no birthday cake just the number of candles relating to my age on that table and short of it Alcott's both in school and my home one of the most common questions I get is will you have these
allergies for the rest of your life well the answer is quite possibly now because of incredible research and ideas I am confident that there will be an active form a treatment for food allergies however according to food allergy research in education or fair there is no cure for food holler Jeez they said currently the only way to prevent a food allergic reaction still void the problem
food but developing a treatment for food allergies is not easy I know her immune system is stubborn when it decides it doesn't want to be a certain way it doesn't really want to change much on its own developing a treatment for food allergies is height convincing your three year old daughter the peas are better than ice cream it's tough but I know it can be done
when I was twelve experience my first time going out the country normally when my family decided to travel we always bring a huge cooler my ready made food it's like bringing a refrigerator everywhere we go we arrived in the Mexican Cancun Mexico's port of entry when they checked our bags this was the first time I saw my mom cry inspectors do my package food into the
trash can and told us that no outside food was allowed to enter may he go after seeing all my family's efforts thrown to waste my family and I walk onward wondering on how I would survive with empty bags into a few snacks not only did I not enjoy a vacation my family suffered as well for that week I ate watermelon potatoes carrots in a packet chicken
wings for breakfast lunch and dinner not being able to enjoy the family vacation of waited for made me realize how my allergies hindered my ability to experience new things there goes away our vacation my freshman year of high school was not so fun either one day I was tempted to hold my friend Starbucks coffee just out of curiosity but what I didn't realize was that the
Starbucks fingers dipping from the Cup onto my fingers after using my head see my lunch I was soon covered with red splotches and casting for breath I remember what my doctor told me when in doubt albeit out and call nine one one myself heavy bands have been in the news lately with patients protesting skyrocketing prices until recently each at the Penn could cost six hundred dollars
or more and that's every year if you can consider the cost of not having at the Penn you will realize that without a person can die from an allergic reaction I'm certain that I would have died if I didn't have my at the Penn within arms reach during the situation how what a great way to start my high school year what I call these bad experiences
yes it is a terrible experience for anyone to go through but I chose to focus on what I have learned despite all the negative experiences I have been through I have never looked at my disorder in a negative way I'm aware that eating healthier food digesting zero preservatives and coming a more creative cook instead of eating just anything I will think about and prepare my own
meals and care about what goes into my body my personality changes well when realizing that could be extremely happy over small things such as finding a new candy bar that is safe to eat I like to discipline myself as I live with food allergies I also find out the type of people very quickly who are genuine and real and the people who care about my health
never the less they will not define who I am by the health problems I have I educated myself by involving in teen summit and food allergy research in education annual conferences they unite thousands of Americans to search for a cure now I would like to educate others and raise awareness of food allergies by contributing my time talent and funds to make the world safer for people
