Tales of Anaphylaxis–Part 2

After that first grade episode, I made it through most of my suburban elementary school, junior high, and high school experience with few memorable incidents. The one episode I did have occured while passing through Bangkok, Thailand about the age of 13. We were there for just a couple of nights and I was determined to not get sick and only eat safe foods, especially because Thai food is notoriously rife with peanuts. We had dinner one night at an upscale hotel restaurant and repeatedly told all staff multiple times, including the chef, to not put peanuts in one dish. Well, peanuts somehow ended up in the dish. An Epi-pen and some throwing up saved the day on this one. What’s the moral to this story? Perhaps, only eat fruit and at McDonald’s while in Thailand with a peanut allergy. Seriously though, it is highly likely that people in other countries (and also in North America) simply may not understand what you’re telling them even if they speak English. — Neelu