The year was 1951. I was 12 years old. The night before, I had eaten a wonderful toasted Spanish onion sandwich with lots of Miracle Whip dressing. Wonderful! But I woke up in the morning with my eyes swollen tight shut and itchy hives all over my body. The family doctor was called – in those days he made house calls, and he came right over. He suspected an allergic reaction because he asked me a bunch of questions. It did not take him long to ascertain that I had this Spanish onion sandwich just before going to bed. I think that his suspicions were confirmed. He was later proven correct.
He then called the Sick Kids hospital and made an appointment for me to be checked out by their allergy section. I was also advised not to eat or drink until I had been examined at the hospital. I followed these instructions and existed on water for the next day. The swelling was slowly going down, thank goodness.
Two days later I was at Sick Kids for tests. They tested about 80 different foods, drinks, etc. with needles and food into my back. The results were immediately available – allergic to a number of foods, including onions, eggs, nuts, milk chocolate, artificial flavouring and colouring. They were the worst. They indicated that the allergy was basically a sensitivity to protein. I was fine with that because I really didn’t like meat anyway – too hard to chew. I was 12, remember.
The allergy person said that they will put me on an elimination diet with foods that very few are ever allergic to.
Lamb, pears and rice were to be my foods for the next three days with only one food of my choice added to see if it caused swellings, etc. – no condiments, salt, pepper or anything but the basics. This was to continue until I have a clear, no problem diet without hives, swelling, etc. And my life as a 12-year-old proceeded, with tests to find out what I could eat or not eat.
Life was going pretty well until I was 14 years old. I got most things straightened out until my first spring prom in high school – I had a ‘great’ date. The morning of the spring prom I woke up with both upper and lower lips severely swollen. I panicked for the doctor to come quick. More questions. “What did I eat that I shouldn’t?” he asked. “Don’t know,” I replied. “Are you in trouble, are you under stress?” “No,” I said. “What is different about today?” he asked. “Nothing, just the spring prom tonight.” “OH!” he said. “I have something for you.”
With that he brought out a small vile of pure liquid and a syringe. “This is Adrenaline,” he said. “A hormone that could help the swellings to reduce.” I agreed to be injected, as did my Dad and Mom. He injected my arm and left with the comment to call him and let him know how it worked out. And it did work out; I was almost normal or at least acceptably so. A great prom – she even liked my slightly extended lips.
What the doctor didn’t tell me is that he had left some Adrenaline with my father (a Type One diabetic) so that he could give me an injection when itches or inklings of swellings occurred. This occurred very seldom. The end result is that most of my life I ate what ever I wanted – no bad allergies. But occasionally the itches, etc. would show up and I knew that I was under stress – nothing I could do but deal with the stress. I was no longer at home.
I found out in later in life that I probably had Angioneurotic Edema (ANE) and not an allergy of any significance. I wasn’t an error – just the state of medicine some 70 years ago. Did I have it this July 2021? I may find out.
On July 10, 2021 when I was having itches, tingling on my scalp and sores throughout my mouth I went to my doctor. But she was absent for the summer and I dealt with the doctor’s assistant. He tried hard and got another family doctor involved. Over nine weeks plus they tried many therapies, creams, stieprox, benzydamine and nystatin to relieve the issues. Nothing worked. Finally, on Sept. 10 the doctor assistant wrote to a doctor in London for advice.
Basically, his fax to the doctor, very accurately said, and I quote sections of this email from Sept. 10, 2021, as follows:
“Bob has struggled in the last six to eight weeks with seborrheic dermatitis, stomatitis and contact dermatitis on his lateral thighs. Unfortunately, all therapies have brought little success in bringing him relief. Bob believes that his symptoms are inter-related to an underlying central nervous system disorder and or his dementia.”
I really do not understand all this but the gist is that there appears that nothing can be done. Scary! The consulted doctor has not responded to this email. In addition, my physical strength had decreased dramatically throughout the summer.
My situation was growing worse since Sept. 10. So, at noon on Sept. 24, my wife took me to the emergency room at our local hospital. The ER doctor heard my story and came up with a plan. I would go on a steroid – 50 mg of Prednisone per day for five days starting this day, and decreasing amounts until Oct. 18 when I will meet with my regular doctor and review my condition.
Did the past come back to haunt me? Was ANE responsible? Are my amyloid plaques giving my brain problems? Is it cancer? Is it TIA (stroke)? Is my immune system in trouble? Or, maybe I am just getting old?
I sure would like to know!
So, “My Voyage with Dementia” continues under our new plan. Stay tuned.
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Bob Murray is retired from the graphic communication (printing) industry and has been living in Seaforth since 2015. Murray was diagnosed with Dementia in 2013 and works hard to stop the progress of the disease to AD. He shares his experiences in his column entitled “My Voyage with Dementia.” Follow him on his blog entitled Voyage with Dementia – https://myvoyage553264702.wordpress.com
