It took Gerri 27 years to find relief.
Despite suffering severe allergies since birth, Gerri never thought to visit an allergist. She figured her only remedy was over-the-counter medication. But then at age 27, a severe allergic reaction to latex threatened her life and derailed her plan to work in the medical field. It was finally time to see an allergist.
“I think my allergist kept me alive. I didn’t think I would live,” she says. “Allergists are equipped and aware of not just how to treat a reaction, but also how to teach you to live with an allergy in your day-to-day life.”
Eleven years later, Gerri is successfully managing her allergies, which are triggered by many foods and just about everything in the environment from mold to ragweed. After spending years afraid to enter a grocery store full of allergy triggers, her allergist taught her how to shop without risking an allergic reaction. “My allergist really was an advocate for me,” Gerri says.
An allergist also diagnosed Gerri’s 12-year-old, Malik, with a latex allergy. Her 13-year-old daughter, Jazmyn, suffers from tree nut allergies. “Allergists have helped us get a handle on our allergies. Now that we are getting the right treatment, the difference in our lives is like night and day,” she says.
As a mother of two children with allergies, Gerri’s focus has shifted to them and serving the public as a certified asthma educator. “I’m not afraid to get out there and have fun,” Gerri says. “I control my allergies; they don’t control me.”
This patient successfully found relief after seeing an allergist, but the patient’s photograph is not available to respect the patient’s privacy and identity.
Child Allergies, Environmental Trigger Avoidance, Latex Allergies, Milk Allergies
