June 30, 2022
When I was a young child my mother showed my photograph to my grandmother. My grandmother asked what was on my face. My mother's response was that it was spaghetti sauce. However, she was baffled because she always washed my face after I ate. Many years later, after learning about food allergies, she realized that it was a rash.
My mother enjoyed serving fresh cut vegetables on a glass dish. The dish had a divider in the middle but it stopped about 1” before the end. She would serve a sliced tomato on one side and on the other side were carrot sticks, celery sticks and olives. I always threw a fit if tomato juice ended up on the carrots. I stated that I didn’t like tomatoes. My mother's reply was that I wouldn’t know because I had never tried them. What I did know was that the tomato juice on the carrots was always so very bitter to me. I would usually have one carrot stick and then eat the uncontaminated olives.
As a teenager I was eating next to an open window. As I ate I found that I was not able to breathe for a short period of time. I assumed it was because of the strength of the wind that had blown directly onto me. This would have been a logical conclusion because I had severe environmental allergies. After three bites, making sure that the wind had calmed down, I realized that it was what I was eating. We were spaghetti with homemade spaghetti sauce.
Later I was helping my mother pick tomatoes from a friend’s garden. The sensation of fire raced up my arms, jumped to my neck and then my face.
After these experiences I carefully avoided anything tomato. Eventually I found a tomato sauce that I did not react to. This opened up a few new food options for me. I was very grateful for this new world!
I then went to college. One night I came in late and my roommates offered me their leftover spaghetti. At first I declined but in the end I ate some and was fine. This was great because I now felt that I could more fully participate in things with my roommates and other friends.
The next night my roommates and I made spaghetti dinner together. It was great fun. I had made my spaghetti sauce and then we added what was left of their jarred sauce. I thought that I would be fine because the night before nothing happened when I ate their sauce. I also thought that I would be ok since the majority of the sauce was mine.
I felt fine. However, during the middle of the night I had a very scary experience. The only thing I could relate it to was the combined spaghetti sauce.
Obviously, I was having an allergic reaction even though it was delayed.
I spent the next 30 years being very careful with anything tomato.
In 2019 I was introduced to the N.A.E.T. allergy treatment. I had this done for tomatoes. Since then I have been able to enjoy whatever I want. A Whole New World has opened up to me.
I Am So Excited And So Very Grateful!
Note: At this time I also learned that onions and potatoes are related to tomatoes. The headache I would get every time I ate anything with onion also went away with my tomato allergy.