Magnolia’s Story

Magnolia is a current student at SUNY Purchase studying photography. They are in their senior year and currently residing in the Bronx. Magnolia has a severe tree nut allergy that was discovered when they were one years old, after they broke out in a rash from eating mixed nuts.

They recall getting symptoms such as a rash, nausea, and vomiting whenever they ate tree nuts as a kid. They would feel miserable to the point they couldn’t stand up, and those feelings would last for an hour or two.

There was a ten-year gap from childhood to young adulthood where they did not experience an allergic reaction. This changed when at the start of college they accidentally ate tree nuts. They were able to sleep it off after taking an antihistamine. But they weren’t as lucky the next time when they had a severe reaction that caused them to be hospitalized.

“I had cream cheese that had cashews in it, and I didn’t know about it. I had a few bites and I felt terrible instantly. I knew it had nuts in it. It went really downhill fast. I eventually was like, I need to go to the hospital.”

 His friends brought him to the hospital, where he was treated for anaphylaxis and injected with an auto injection of epinephrine. They told him that his throat was closing, which he didn’t even realize. He was prescribed an EpiPen and keeps it in his house, but he doesn’t always bring out of the house with him. The only time he ever had to use it was when it was administered at the hospital, so the thought of having to administer it himself worries him.

Magnolia experiences discomfort even being around tree nuts. Even though he doesn’t get a reaction from being near them, it still causes him anxiety. He’s diligent with asking if foods have nuts and carries antihistamines with him, but he doesn’t do much more than that. Since his hospitalization, he has been more cautious when it comes to avoiding tree nuts.

“I wasn’t that careful about it, and who knows what could have happened. I’ve just been incredibly lucky, and not everyone is.”

He expresses wanting to be more cautious set more boundaries with the people around him, but often is stopped by anxiety or worrying his allergy would be an inconvenience to others. He especially worries about making others feel bad in cases where someone unintentionally does give him foods with nuts in it.

“It’s always someone offering me food that they don’t know has nuts in it. And I don’t want to make them feel bad for that, cause it’s not their fault.”

Magnolia is a vegetarian and finds it difficult at times to find plant-based protein due to their tree nut allergy. They want to have a more plant-based diet and eat more vegan foods, but vegan foods are often inaccessible to them due to their frequent use of tree nuts. This is one way where they feel food allergies aren’t taken into as much consideration as they should be.

When it comes to seeing food allergies represented in the media, they usually see it being shown as a joke or for a dramatic plot point. They hope to see food allergies become more normalized and taken more seriously.

“All of the examples I can think of, it’s just people’s faces blowing up, making them as a joke. It’s not like, ‘Oh, we need to get this person to the hospital!’”

Thankfully, most of the people he knows take food allergies seriously. He still express a desire for more education and awareness and believes that he himself has a lot to still learn about food allergies. 

“I don’t really know anything about my own food allergy. When they told me at the hospital that it was just going to keep getting worse, like I didn’t know that. I had been told it would get better.”

Their message to anyone who also struggles with food allergies is to be cautious and not let any fears of being an inconvenience get in the way. And for those who don’t have food allergies, he urges them to be supportive to people who may feel anxious about advocating for themselves.

“Be as careful as you can…and not think that you’re inconveniencing anyone because that’s my big thing.”