On Mondays and Thursdays at my school, seniors are allowed to go out to eat for lunch. Today was Monday, so Jimmy and I made plans to get Thai food from a nearby Thai restaurant called Lemongrass near my school.
Jimmy needed to place the order for our food before picking me up at school, so that it would be ready when we got there. I told him to surprise me, but that I wanted something off the noodles/rice lunch menu. I also made sure that he knew exactly what my food allergies are, because one of the dishes they serve at the restaurant has cashews in it. I am allergic to cashews and pistachios, as far as I know.
He got me the Pad Thai for lunch, which was actually what I was leaning toward on the menu anyways. The description on the website says that it is “stir-fried thin rice noodles with chicken, shrimp, egg, bean sprout, green onion and ground peanuts.” It was delicious, although I could have done without the peanuts just because I didn’t really want that kind of crunch.
I didn’t get a chance to finish my meal during lunchtime, so I took it to history with me and finished it in the tech center while we were supposed to be working on a project about foreign and domestic policy of a country before World War II.
After history, math came around. Not long after class started, I started to get a headache. This wasn’t like any normal headache I’ve ever suffered before. No, it literally felt like my head was going to implode.1 Although I hadn’t eaten anything that I’m allergic to, I recognized that I was having a reaction to something. I’ve never had that symptom before, but something just told me that it was an allergic reaction.
I remembered putting some Benadryl (generic allergy relief medication) in my purse, but I also remembered taking it out again. I prayed that I had put it back in as I fished around in my purse for the pills. Thankfully, I found two pills rather quickly, so I borrowed Lucy’s juice and swallowed them both.
Of course the relief doesn’t come instantly with medication like that, and naturally my headache got worse. I was at the point of literally pulling at chunks of my hair as if to keep my skull from falling in on itself. At this point, my math teacher paused in her lecture to have the class do an example, so I told her that I thought I was having an allergic reaction and asked if I could go to the office. She said I could, so I left the room.
Before going to the office, I decided to stop in the one-person bathroom in the next hall to check on things and moan to myself a bit. That walk to the bathroom felt like one of the longest in my life. I had abdominal pain like the worst period I’ve ever had. I think it took all my strength to walk to the bathroom.
When I stood up to leave the bathroom and go to the office, I happened to glance in the mirror and saw that my left eye was almost completely bloodshot. Blood must have been rushing to my head to make it feel the way it did.
When I got to the office, I asked if I had an Epi-Pen (a shot I’m supposed to give myself if I have an allergic reaction) in the office, even though I knew for sure that there wasn’t one there. While the secretary checked for me, I laid down on the bed in the school’s little clinic on the side of the office. I just wanted to curl up in the smallest ball possible, so that’s what I did. I laid there whining, “ow… ow… ow…”
The secretary got my mom on the phone, so I had to go over and talk to her. I asked if I could sit while I talked, but I don’t think she heard me. So there I was standing at the desk on the phone trying to explain to my mom what happened, and each second of standing just got worse and worse. After maybe half a minute of trying to explain, I said I thought I had to go throw up. My mom didn’t hear me so I repeated it, and again she did not hear me. Finally the secretary took the phone from me and I ran to the staff bathroom next to the office. There was no time to follow rules. 
Thankfully, I didn’t actually vomit. It sure felt like I was going to, though. I went back to the clinic and laid down some more in the tiniest ball I could muster. Meanwhile, the secretary called 9-1-1 and they sent an ambulance to the school. I was so relieved when the paramedics walked in. So relieved in fact, that the Benadryl I had taken decided to kick in just then, and within a minute or two of their arrival, I was fine. 
It’s good to be safe, though!
I was lucky that I could breathe this time. In the past when I have had allergic reactions, the symptoms have been completely different, and have pretty much always included difficulty breathing. Waiting for medicine to work isn’t exactly an option when you can’t breathe.
By the way, my theory of what I reacted to is this. My meal had peanuts in it, and although I am not allergic to peanuts, they do have the same coloring as cashews. Perhaps a cashew ended up among the peanuts when they were grinding them to put in my meal, since they do serve one dish with cashews at that restaurant. However, these symptoms were completely different from any I’ve ever had to a cashew in the past. Maybe I’ll go to an allergist one of these days.
You know, Jimmy promised not to kill me.
- Hence the title. When a star implodes, it becomes a black hole! Or… something like that. ↩
Goodness gracious! I could not imagine having an allergic reaction like that. It seems to be so very serious and you seemed to have handled it really well..thank God! There had to have been a cashew in there somewhere? Goodness. I’m just glad everything is alright.
Oh wow. That’s insane, but good thing you were okay in the end. I would have been scared, but at least you knew what to do and knew what was going on.
[...] More here: Supermassive Black Hole… My Head? [...]
I have so much in common with you. It’s not even funny! Yesterday, my mom picked up Chinese food, and for some reason it had peanuts in it. It wasn’t supposed to have them, (I’m allergic to peanuts) but I ate it anyways. I threw up last night.
I”m fine by the way but I kind of had an food allergy reaction yesterday too!
I’m not allergic to cashews but I think I’m allergic to some type of tree nut and I’m allergic to peanuts. Food allergies might change when you grow older.
But anyways, I’m glad you’re okay!!!!
Aww, I’m sorry that you had an allergic reaction too.
Yeah the doctor once told me that each time you eat something you’re allergic to, the reaction gets worse and worse. So I agree, they must change as you grow.
Oh my days, that sounds awful! I hope you’re feeling better now! As far as I know, I’m not allergic to anything, and after reading that, I’m glad I’m not! That really sounds awful, and I’m glad you’re alright and it wasn’t any worse than that. (:
Your layout is lovely, by the way.
Omg.
I was actually really scared for you when I was reading this. I was like “omg don’t die Rachel”. Then I remembered you’re on Twitter + you posted this blog about it. 
but seriously, don’t panic me like that! 
I’ve never had an allergic reaction – as far as I’m aware, I don’t have any allergies. But I’m so glad, because if I ever went through that kinda situation, I think I would have had a panic attack or something. Eeek. Just the thought of that happening is making me feel icky. You poor thing
At least you’re okay now though, right?
PS: you never told me if you liked the story of Rachel and the Retractable!
PSS: I love the Muse reference in there
Wahh dude I LOVED the story! I just never got to returning comments.
I’ll tell you all about my reaction when I comment you. 
Muse <3 Ahem.
Such a scary day you had. I've never had a bad allergic reaction to anything, that sounded really scary. It is good to know that you are prepared though and also that people helped you and everything turned out fine.
I am glad I am not all;allergic to anything. If you had a more serious allergic reaction, maybe you could of sued the restaurant?
My friend is allergic to nuts. You forget about it, but then when you get some kind of new food, you have to help her check it for nuts. Once she started to like, throw up blood, and she had to go to hospital. I wasn’t there though.
HEY YOU XD
LOL LOL
My business teacher is like that.. she might now everything.. but she kinda sucks at explaining it XD Which definitely is a bad thing, because I will have my final exam in business..
Nope.. I have 4 exams plus and oral exam. We got to “chose” which classes we wanted to take and I ended up picking some I may pass XD Well.. I am not worried about my English exam – I think I will do pretty good and maybe busines too.. but the other two.. oh boy XD
How about you? Do you have exams in every class?
I still have school from 8am to 1pm everyday.. and two times it until 3pm.. it sucks XD
Hehe, that’s really nice of you
I read yours always too 
Haha XD But I think if you try you’ll get better and better each time
Hehe, yeah
That’s just how cool we are 
What oh wow.. I would’ve freaked out.. I am turning into a real baby in moments like that.. I need my mummy and stuff XD
Headaches suck – big times.. I once had such a massive headache that I was crying from pain.. and I can’t take pills.. I think they are disgusting.. so my dad brought me to the doctor and he gave me something different.. though it took some time until it felt better..
So I understand how you felt in that situation.. At least you teacher left you go to the office and lie down for a while.. rest is usually the best medicine anyways
My goodness that was a lucky call. Maybe your body went into a false sense of shock and did those reactions. Or maybe you are just due to surf the crimson waves.
Kinda sucks though, being ill so early on in school. In my old school we were allowed to eat out for dinner everyday. I s’pose here is different to there though.
Haha, yep it was quite exciting
Yeah, it probably was. They were probably drunk and didn’t know what they were doing or something (:
I’m back at school now though. It was horrible getting up so early again and doing work and getting homework :| But most of my lessons are alright, but they’re already talking about GCSE’s and I’m only in Year 9 :| I wish they’d slow things down a bit- it’s gone so quickly. I still remember my first day in Year 7 
LOL, it was certainly an exciting night
Oh my god that sounds awful! It must have been pretty scary not knowing that you couldn’t control anything and not knowing what you were reacting to.
I always think that school secretaries seem to be useless. When I was at school one time I had a panic attack. (I don’t have a clue why) I couldn’t breathe and I was literally turning blue. My lips were completely blue and the skin on my face was starting to go purple. I couldn’t stand because I was so light-headed trying to catch my breath and I was carried to the office.
lol.
When I got there, I was trying to explain what I felt like to the secretary (it was obvious I couldn’t breathe) and she told me to stand up straight, calm down and start talking!
I wanted to kill her there and then. If only I’d had the strength.
Anway, hopefully you’ll find out what caused that reaction so that it doesn’t happen again.
I think at my old school that if you have a car, you can go out to eat if you want. I don’t know if it depends on grade.
Oh my gosh, thats awful! I’d hate to have an allergic reaction like that, I hope you’re okay now.
That theory is possible, I guess. That meal sounds delicious, but I guess the safest bet is not to have it next time :/ or just tell them to not put the nuts in!
Thanks for the link to the WP Smilies tutorial! I’m finally going to get round to doing them today.
Oh my gosh! That sounded like a serious reaction. Almost life threatening :o Thank goodness I’m not allergic to any food
The worst allergic reaction I’ve gotten are just red spots on my skin from penicillin. I hope you are okay 
Good job for being so brave! 
i live in u.k!
it was TERRIBLE at school. utterly HORRIBLE.
thank you!
I am so sorry to hear about your allergic reaction, and I would definitely forgive your friend Jimmy. I am betting that the restaurant had a sign about allergies, because anything in there could come in contact with what you are allergic to. I hope that you start feeling better soon.
When I try to visit your site it tells me there is a database error, so naturally I can’t get on it.
I’ll return your comment here instead and hope you get the email telling you there was a reply.
Lol yes I have forgiven Jimmy.
I never really blamed him, though he felt sooooo bad when I told him what happened.
Thank you!
Alfie’s a friend of mine.
Yeah I know right?! But thankfully, it was only that expensive in the popular tourist attraction areas. In restaurants and stuff it was usually about 50 cents.
LOL yeah I just don’t get it. Most of these washrooms are near places that are earning tons of money, so I don’t see the need to earn even more just when people need to release themselves.
The hotdog is priceless. End of story hahaha.
Nope, not all their water is like that, they have uncarbonated water as well, but the majority is carbonated, so the uncarbonated water was hard to find.
Yum that Thai food you had sounds delicious.
Sucks about the food allergies though, it restricts you quite a bit. I don’t prefer peanuts with rice or noodles either since the crunch kinda throws me off. 
Sorry to hear about your headache, I hate it when something like that happens during the school day cause you don’t really get a chance to relax.
Omg. I actually started to get so scared as I read your blog. That must have been a really intense and freaky situation.
Aweh, thank goodness the paramedics arrived in time, but dayum I really feel for you. Must have been horrible and everything seemed to add up at the wrong time like the abdominal pains and such. 
Jimmy must feel really bad about it, I know I would.
The guilt would eat me up baha. Hopefully something like this doesn’t happen again, and I guess the lesson to be learnt is to look more closely at the nuts you’re eating. 
Hope you’re 100% fine!
They won’t let out the door during lunch. so damn strict lol
Oh My Goodness!!!!! I swear everyone word of that story, i just couldn’t stop.
I am soo glad you’re okay.
What a stoke of luck that you had those pills with you.
I won’t say I know how you feel because I don’t, I have never had an allergic reaction before, I don’t even know what I’m allergic too.
Aww don’t blame Jimmy, I don’t think he knew, I bet he felt guilty huh?
Holy shits, that sounds horrific and scary! Wow. That’s fortunate you had Benadryl with you. That’s definitely something good to have around, just in case for situations like this. Whew! I’m glad you’re all right!
I’ve got to say that what happened to you is probably an example of why my high school didn’t let people leave for lunch. Just another liability issue since they’re technically “responsible” for us for the whole school day, and they can’t risk kids getting drastically ill or injured just because they left for lunch.
er….yeah…i knew that.
i lived in philippines, this little country with lots of islands in asia.
Waoowwww! I felt the pain in this blog, honestly.
I’m glad you’re okay now. It sounded pretty scary. Reading about the peanuts… I figured something bad would happen.
*HUGS*
I think it’s pretty scary actually. My friend is allergic to peanuts. Peanuts and cashews look very similar though. I would have just been safe and taken them out. Ahhh. But that must have been terrible feeling your head implode, like, and seeing your eye. I would have freaked out majorly.
That reminds me. STORY! Hahaha.
I haven’t had an allergic reaction to anything… well, not a bad one. I am mildly allergic to coconuts (hmm, who would have guessed), but since I haven’t eaten them in a while, I feel like I’m probably not allergic anymore. Well, there was this one time my friend gave me a coconut lolly and even though I spat it out, I started to feel sick. I started getting a headache, and then I felt very queasy and I nearly threw up. For quite a few hours I was feeling really dazed.
Haha I might have closed comments on the old posts, but yeah, WordPress would show me… it’s alright though. You don’t have to comment on them. Otherwise you’ll be left with my new comments to return too.
Bouncy boob balls! XD
Hahaha I just watched the video. XD
Yeah, we have a cafeteria and… yes, shops. Big change from high school (absolutely nothing but a cheap tuckshop?).
Haha yeah, that evil seam!
Yeah, someone mentioned to me in a review that a woodgrain works with a scrappy-looking layout. I’m not too proud of my current layout but oh well.
LOL, moving down a table. I kind of imagine a long scroll sitting on a table and being pushed up to read. :3
Yeah, my freaking sidebar. I always have problems with it. T_T
I turned off alerts for people signing in and stuff, so it annoys me no more. I cut the list down to 200 or so, though.
No, it wasn’t a crappy comment! LOL.
Yeah, I don’t really like the colour either.
I think I’ll change it (remind me or something, I’m kind of lazy…). XD
Oh, you left me another comment.
LOL, it did hurt. I was like AHH~
I am shocked that yours bled so bad though, haha.
Oh, well, it was a weird accident. I would understand why you find it funny. XP
LMAO. Yeah, he ran a red light.. LOSERRRRR.
Haha oh man. I have a lot of domains. But I want to give away a lot as well. We need to celebrateeeeee~ XD
HEY ! haven’t heard from you in a while !
hope you still remember me ! (:
and omgsh, that sucks to hear about what happened with your allergic reaction.
at least you’re all better now, i hope!
I don’t remember if out seniors were allowed out for lunch but i just skipped school to do what ever i wanted any way.
I love Chinese foods but Thai is not my thing.
How is your study on the time before wold war to going? I would love for you to share. I find history interesting.
That sounds so scary. I’m glad your fine now.
Did you get to take the rest of the day off?
That’s really scary, and really sucky! You had me on tenterhooks for that whole story. Don’t scare me like that!
I’m glad you were ultimately okay, though… although I bet that calling 911 caused a bit of a flutter among any students that saw it. 
Yuck, I hate that kind of food. I’m pretty picky. XP I don’t think I have any food allergies — or any allergies at all besides penicillin — but if I did have one like yours, I would probably never eat anything with nuts in it, ever. XP Although I don’t really like nuts anyway, so that wouldn’t mean too much to me… lol.
yes I get to go on a Euro trip, especially when I am earning my own money for traveling so that’s why my parents are alright with it
I have definitely watch Euro Trip, not once or twice but I reckon more than 10 times! I loved Michelle Trachtenberg in it and that lead actor was awfully adorable! My fav scene would probably have to be when they were in the train with a gay guy XD
The medicine did wonders to my wound; I am impressed. Good stuff indeed!
I love love Thai food! I used to had Thai for lunch back in Uni- good times indeed.
I’m really sorry you had an allergic reaction; yes you’re probably right, they must have mixed in cashew when they were grinding the peanuts. They should have cleaned it before hand because a lot of people I know are allergic to all kinds of nuts :/
I’m glad you’re alright though if I were Jimmy, I would feel really bad and take you out for ice cream
Thank you! I’m so glad people are quite happy with the layout!
And well, thank you for everything else, haha. You leave such nice comments, so that’s all I can really say