Food allergies and travel

Done clerkship!

Now for the sobering task of cardiac surgery electives and preparing for Nepal.

One looming threat for Nepal is I have numerous food allergies. Food I can eat is typically referred to as "Neil-safe". Friends often joke "I haven't managed to kill you yet!". I also joke. At a recent prayer meeting, I asked for prayer that "I not die in Nepal" as a succinct way of conveying my trepidation of feeding myself in a country where I do not speak the language and know only a handful of people from emails. (more on that later).

This article describes a physician holding his 13 year old daughter has she passed from anaphylactic shock. Despite her spitting out the food, multiple Epipens, antihistamine, and his medical training, he was unable to save her. A sobering reminder my own mortality, despite medical training. If you have and Epipen or know someone who does, please carry it and know how and when to use it!

For Nepal, I had been thinking I might bring a suitcase filled of food as a "just in case". That maybe is rapidly becoming a reality. Photos to come as my suitcase(s) of food develop!