I am a member of multiple food allergy groups on Facebook. Today, this was posted in one of the groups. (Don't blame me for the grammatical issues or misspellings as it has been copied and pasted directly.)
"In sitting here in the icu after being inhubated due my food allergies. I am in icu for at least 24 hours more and I've lost an entire day due to being inhubated.i am not reckless like some of you eating things I am semi allergic to."

The post was wedged between articles about Simon Katz, one of the most recent teens to loose their life too soon because of food allergies. Every time there is a food allergy death, it seems like the message is clear--teenagers are reckless and they don't do a good enough job avoiding their allergens. 

I want to set the record straight, anaphylactic reactions are no one's fault. The fact of the matter is, people with food allergies have wacky immune systems. Most people's bodies don't go into shock from a peanut or a drop of butter. People don't have reactions because they are careless or stupid or reckless--they have allergic reactions because their bodies make antibodies to food proteins. Unfortunately, there is no real way to change that.

So until we have found a cure, we need to stop reaction shaming. Personally, I always get that feeling of guilt when I have an anaphylactic reaction as if it was my fault. I worry about what my parents will say and if I am keeping my friends from having a good time. I know for me, when I start to feel guilty about my reaction, I start to ignore it and pretend like it isn't there. I try and push through so that I don't ruin anyone else's fun. After talking to lots of teens about this very topic, I know that I am not the only one who feels this way. So here is my proposal. Let's end reaction shaming.

From now on, whether you are a parent, or a friend or a person with food allergies, I want you to remember, food allergies AREN'T a choice. No one made you or your child or your friend's body react the way it does when it gets exposed to food. If we look at food allergies in this perspective, it helps remove blame and feelings of failure from the individual and places them on the real root of the problem--the food allergies.

It is human nature to avoid failure. If an allergic reaction represents failure and epinephrine represents the acknowledgement of the failure, then chances are we are going to take longer to administer the epinephrine. If instead though, a reaction solely represents a biological phenomenon, we are much more likely to use epinephrine fast because it's sole job is to reverse the biological phenomena, not fix our failure.

  

I am so honored to accept the Liebster Award from Paulina at Hype Foodie. When I created this guide with the help of my mom, my one wish for it was that it would be able to help kids like me, going into college, an idea of what to do and how to get there. My senior year of high school, I was fortunate enough to have the wonderful support of my Mom and Dad (who never gave up in the pursuit of helping me follow my dreams) as well as a wonderful school community and college guidance counselor (shout out to Abington Friends School and my awesome counselor Ryan!).

In accepting this award, I have been asked to answer a few questions, so here it goes.

1. How did you decide on the title of your blog? I decided on the title of my blog, Food Allergy Survival Guide: High School and College Edition because I wanted people to know that they could thrive and survive high school and college and chase their dreams even with food allergies. For a long time, my mom had the quote, "If it is important you will find a way, if not, you will find an excuse." in our kitchen. Personally, I never want food allergies to be my excuse and I hope that my readers will feel they don't need to use their food allergies as an excuse either because they CAN survive!
2. What is your favorite meal? My favorite meal is my “famous” chicken salad made of griddle cooked chicken tenderloins (not chicken fingers but the cut of meat that goes inside of them), safe pickles, sweet onion, green grapes and earth balance egg free mayonnaise on a paleo wrap (which is just flattened coconut) plus a honey crisp apple and carrot sticks. 
3. What did you want to be when you were a child? Since I was a little kid, I have wanted to be a doctor (see photo proof below). I’m still chasing my dreams in college and hope to become a pediatric emergency physician one day. 
4. In your opinion, what is the best blog post you’ve written so far? (Include the link) I am an EMT and I wrote a post entitled Why Being In The Back of The Ambulance Brings Me Comfort for The Mighty. It ended up being shared by EMS Today and was shared from there over 300 times and liked over 5,000. 
5. What are your 3 must have kitchen appliances? I love my Vitamix, 5-in-1 Cuisinart Griddler and my coffee maker. My friends jokingly make fun of me for all my fancy kitchen appliances but I figure, if I can’t go out to eat, I should at least have fun cooking at home. 
6. What is your favorite season? Summer for sure!
7. If you were the main character in a movie about your life, which actor would you want to play your role? I had no idea how to answer this question, so I turned to Buzzfeed and this is what I was told. I honestly don't know who Julianne Moore is, so I guess that's a start. "Breaking News: Julianne Moore will play YOU in a movie version of your life! Julianne is known to play humble, likable and somewhat complicated characters and guess what - you fit right in. You are a very likable person, but you are not quite like everyone else. You are always looking for new challenges, new adventures and new experiences, and that's what puts you aside from the rest of us. You truly have a special and unique soul, and Julianne will do it justice."
8. What is one of the most awesome things we should know about you? I can lick my elbow. I discovered this about myself when our babysitter, Kara, told us it was impossible to do. I decided to try and I actually could do it. I guess it kind of speaks to the fact that I never see things as impossible. 
9. Name one of your pet peeves (ridiculous or not) I hate hair when it isn’t on people’s bodies’
10. What is your favorite way to relax? I like to relax by being active. I sit around in classes a lot and I like to get up and move to help get some of the extra stress out. I love playing tennis and riding my bike any chance I get. 
11. What’s the best food you’ve ever had? Anything my Mom or Nana makes. They are both killer cooks. True story—I made my mom audition for Next Food Network Star on the Food Network. They didn’t pick her because they knew if she competed, the other chefs wouldn’t have had a chance against her.