Living With Food Allergies at 71

Mac Harris’s food allergies have followed him into adulthood. This is his story….

“I read the story of Oakley, what a tragedy. I wanted to share my own experience. I am 71 years old, and have had a peanut allergy all my life. Over the years, I had several minor incidents. As soon as a peanut touched the inside of my mouth, I knew. My mouth would get itchy, hives would appear on my lips, and my tongue would feel thick. If the reaction was bad, hives would appear on the inside of my elbows, the back of my knees and armpits.

“I would usually take some Benadryl, sleep it off, maybe vomit, then feel better 24 hours later. But not this time…… On November 02, 2014, I went to a Chinese buffet for lunch even though I know they can be dangerous because a lot of their food contains cashews, peanuts, etc. Lunch was fine, no problems until I decided to help myself to the self-serve ice cream, which I later found out was poorly labeled. One particular flavor was chocolate/peanut butter.

“If there was a sign, I never saw it. Chocolate and peanut butter together look like just chocolate.

“When I got to the table, I got a spoonful and the deed was done. Typically, you chew food, realize something isn’t right and if you have allergies you spit it out, but ice cream is different. I pulled it off the spoon, smashed it with my tongue and down it went. I Immediately knew what happened and told my wife we needed to leave. I was swelling, slobbering, and having difficulty breathing. My wife drove me 8-10 miles to the ER, and just by the grace of God, there was an ENT surgeon in the hospital making rounds. I underwent an Emergency Tracheostomy, spent 4 days in the hospital, and waited 4-5 weeks for the slit in my throat to heal so I could talk without pinching the slit together. I am still here. An absolute, bona fide miracle. The surgeon told my family I was 20 minutes from dying.

“As I said, I was aware of my allergy. I had been discharged from the Air Force because of it (after a reaction to bagged lunch while walking patrol around a plane).

“When I was a kid, my pediatrician told my mom, ‘He will probably outgrow his allergy.’ But as you can imagine, I now fully realize the seriousness of my allergy and I now always travel with 2 EpiPens. Allergies are so much more prominent than most people think.”