My last post published on February 23 – Food Allergy Chronicles: Don’t Be a Negative Nut – seems to have ruffled some feathers. I should start by giving some facts. 15 million people have food allergies, 20 died last year. That’s roughly a .0001% death rate. Is it 20 too many people? Yes. But, Pediatric Cancer has a 60% death rate.
The .0001% is a number that is controlled solely by the management of allergens by the allergy sufferer. It isn’t controlled when diagnosed, or by what doctors you go to, or whether or not a drug works. It is controlled by you, the allergy sufferer. The point I have been trying to make is that our lives could be much worse. I am more likely to be killed in my car than I am by my allergies, and I’m allergic to everything.
We are so busy feeling sorry for ourselves or our children that we fail to realize that everything is going to be just fine. I’m not going to stop living because of my allergies. Just like I will continue to drive my car.
I Made Some People Made:
A nonprofit allergy group used my last post to try and make a point by sharing a dramatic edited video that would make you believe that people die of anaphylaxis everyday. That’s not something I believe in or will ever get behind. Would you show a parent of a diabetic child a video of children who have lost their leg? Would you show a parent of a cancer patient all the kids who have died? Would you show someone with ALS what their future wheelchair may look like? No, the answer to all of those questions is no. You do see videos of people in those situations thriving though. Maybe those are the videos we need to be sharing about allergies instead of continuing the negative conversation. If negativity worked, the death rate would be 0%.
Janis
Tuesday 1st of March 2016
Kudos to you Caitlin. So tired of people who refuse to take personal responsibility for themselves.