Sharing Stories - French

Never did I think I would be a patient the doctors were clueless about and even some still are. I
have been an avid hunter my whole life and never thought a tick would change my life. Saying I have
had 100 ticks crawl on me or have been spotted on me would not be an exaggeration. However, I do not
remember ever getting bit by a tick around the time my issues started.

They say it comes from a Lone Star Tick. My trouble started about the middle of October 2013.
First, my hands started to itch. It was an itch that scratching would not help. Shortly after, the whelps
began and they were the size of quarters. About a week later I decided I better go to the clinic to get it
checked out. I went and saw my first doctor who said it might be coming from my blood pressure
medicine and to stop taking it to see what happened. 

A week later it was no better. This time I decided to go to the Emergency Room. The doctor told me it was from my cholesterol medicine and to stop taking that. On Thanksgiving Day we went to my sons’ house for dinner. After I ate, the itching started and my lips started swelling bad. On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, I went back to the ER. This was the third doctor I saw and he told me to call my family doctor and to get tested for Lime Disease. 

The following Wednesday I went to my family doctor to get checked and he drew blood to check that. It
came back and he said I had no problem. Days later I was still having the same symptoms so I called my
family doctor again. He told me to come in and get tested for Lime Disease. I thought they tested me the
first time at my family doctor for Lime Disease, but he told me they checked my sugar.

Shortly after me and my son went hunting in Nelson County, Virginia. On the way back home we
stopped for lunch and I got a pound of pork BBQ. When I got home I ate a BBQ sandwich and then went
to pick up some apple dumplings at church. When I got home, I ate an apple dumpling and within 30
minutes I had broken out in whelps and was itching bad. I had come to the conclusion that it was either
the pork BBQ sandwich or the apple dumplings that caused it. By this time it had gone on for about two
months. I decided to get an appointment with the dermatologist. I explained to her what was going on
and she drew four vials of blood and said she would let me know something in a few days.

On Christmas Eve, I was baking a ham when the phone rang. It was my dermatologist. I
answered the phone and she told me I had Alpha Gal. I said, “What the world is that?” She explained and
told me I was not allowed to eat pork, beef, lam, goat, or deer. As I was getting the ham out of the oven
my dermatologist was calling again. I answered and she said, “Did you understand what I told you? No
pork. No beef. No lamb. No goat. No deer. Only eat chicken, turkey, and fish.” What a bummer at
Christmas. I was set up an appointment with an allergist and was in her office for three hours the first
time I met with her. That is when I learned that I could not only eat pork, beef, lam, goat or deer, but I
could not eat any cheese, ice-cream or milk or anything that came from cows, sheep, goat, lams, and
deer. I also have to carry an epi-pen with me at all times.

Fast forward to January of 2016. Alpha Gal has definitely changed my life style. When I go to a
restaurant I would have to be very careful about what I ordered, it even matters what the food was fried
in. So it is very rare that we go out for a meal. When we have any family get to gathers we have to have
chicken and we have to make certain things certain ways just for me.

I have found out that I am able to have Almond milk in replace of regular milk. I can have Turkey
burgers, turkey bacon and turkey hotdogs in replace of the normal. In replace of regular cheese, I am
able to eat “Go Veggie Lactose Free Cheese” and “Earth Balance Butter” found at Kroger. I also have
found that Ben and Jerry’s have a non-dairy ice cream.