My Allergy Journey, Part III: Staten Island, Exit 1

 There was light intermittent rain as I followed my Apple Maps directions off exit 1 off the Veteran’s Memorial Highway in Staten Island. I turned into a parking lot in front of a Target, turned on the telemed app, and waited for my appointment to begin. 

In one of the odder aspects of remote medicine in 2024, it’s either the law or insurance rules (someone out there must know) that you have to be in the same state as your provider when doing remote medical consults. The allergist’s office is on the East Side of Manhattan, and since we were to do our follow-up meeting to discuss our allergy treatment plan via telemed, I had to cross from NJ to NY. Staten Island is 20 minutes away, so a quick jaunt over the Outerbridge Crossing was literally what the doctor ordered.

The Outerbridge Crossing from New Jersey to Staten Island. 

Photo by Jason Eppink/Wikimedia Commons.

“I hope you’re not driving,” said the doctor when our session started and he saw I was in the car. I assured him I was parked. 

We discussed the results of my scratch test, which were confirmed by blood tests: I had serious allergies to  sunflower seeds and walnuts, lesser allergies to some other nuts. The ones that scored the lowest included Brazil and Macadamia nuts, pecans, and hazelnuts. For these, we decided to do a food challenge. Over a 6-week period I’m to come to the office for a half day and find out for sure whether or not I’m actually allergic to these things.

During a food challenge, the patient starts by eating a tiny amount (around a gram) of the suspected allergen, mixed with applesauce or yogurt. Increasingly larger doses are given every 15 minutes. The staff is constantly monitoring the patient. If there is no reaction, the client is given larger doses until they eat a complete nut. If the client has no reaction, they are cleared to eat that food!

I admit: I’m nervous about pecans and hazelnuts. I have memories of reactions. The worst one was when I accidentally ate a hazelnut muffin in 1990. I became violently ill. I haven’t eaten a hazelnut since. I’ve also had lesser reactions to pecans. I shared this with the doctor and my puzzlement of how both of these scored so low. “Your last experience was over 30 years ago,” he noted. “You may have grown out of it.”

Additionally, I attempted NAET (see previous post) in the intervening years, and although it didn’t seem to be affective when treating sunflower seeds, perhaps it helped me more than I’d given it credit for.

Macadamia and Brazil nuts are another story. I actually do not remember ever eating either one. But because they are nuts, I stayed away. Perhaps there was no need. In any case, we’ll find out soon enough. First food test (Brazil nuts) is coming very soon! Read about it here!

Last time: The dreaded allergy scratch test.