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The Evil Green Fruit

Zoe had a kiwi fruit this week. I know that may sound utterly boring to all of you but to me, it was a heart stopping moment, one filled with fear and anxiety. And it took place in a hospital under the watchful eye of her doctor and a team of nurses. There was a crash cart standing nearby and her mother was relegated first to the waiting room and finally told to leave her little baby there alone. Alone with her sister, her babysitter, and a giant hairy green fruit. I’m still having flashbacks. It was terrifying. What, you think I’m exaggerating?

The reason for all the hoopla will soon be clear, my friends. See, when I was a little girl, I ate some kiwi. And then my face swelled up. My parents were used to watching my diet carefully given my extensive food allergies but kiwi was a relatively new addition to our local supermarket and they had no way of knowing that this innocent looking little sweet delight would actually one day be the leading cause of fruit-related true allergic reactions. Until the day my face blew up.

After that unfortunate incident I managed to avoid kiwi for some 20 odd years until one night when I dined in a restaurant that ran out of cactus pear and decided to substitute kiwi fruit in its place. It was only after I’d taken a bite of my dessert that I realized what had happened. Fortunately the ambulance crew was very kind and took me directly to my place of employment where I spent the night hooked up to wires and tubes, hoping that modern pharmaceuticals would abort a severe or even life-threatening reaction. Since then I’ve been insane about avoiding kiwi, carrying an Epi-pen everywhere I go and actually running in fear from dessert trolleys.

So what was I to do with little Zoe, the poor child who got half her genes from me? Well, I did what any neurotic pediatrician mother would do: I demanded testing. And our doctor happily obliged. First we did a skin test. I wasn’t allowed in the room while they did it, but I understand she was a very brave girl. After 15 minutes and no reaction, I was shown the door. Her doctor wanted to follow up with an actual oral challenge and the risk that she would kiss me or try to shove some fruit in my mouth was too great. My awesome babysitter took over from here and I headed home, checking my phone every few minutes.

Per report, Zoe attacked that kiwi with gusto. She even shared a piece with Eva. (Hey why not kill two birds?). After an hour of observation they headed off to lunch (to make sure any trace of the poison was totally washed away) and then home for a complete soaping and teeth brushing. And finally back to her Mommy she came.

Allergy testing in little kids isn’t perfect so there is still a risk that she could one day develop an allergy like mine. And I have zero intention of actually bringing that evil stuff into my home. But at least now I can relax a bit when she steals other children’s food at playgroup. Fingers crossed it stays this way.

Dr. Lara Zibners, Sep 01, 2011

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