A Massachusetts woman says she’s “allergic” and subsists on oatmeal and hypoallergenic baby formula but still manages to make the best of it and have a fun holiday season.
Caroline Cray, 24, developed an allergy to ice cream in September 2017, and suffered anaphylactic shock, she told SWNS media.
Soon after he had the same reaction to bread and pizza, then he had a bad reaction after eating rice and beans and spent 12 days in the intensive care unit.
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At first, doctors hoped it would pass.
“In the fall [of 2017]”When I had repeated shocks, my general practitioner and ER doctors thought my reaction would only last a few months,” he told SWNS.
Caroline Cray spent 12 days in intensive care after suffering a severe allergic reaction to beans and rice. (SWNS)
Doctors put him on antihistamines and referred him to a specialist, he said.
The reaction didn’t stop, something he said was “really disheartening.”
“Every day I wondered if I would end up in the hospital, I was really stuck in my throat and biting and panting,” she said.
After nearly a year of testing, Cray was diagnosed with mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), a rare chronic illness, in May 2018. MCAS causes recurring allergic symptoms, he told SWNS.
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Getting the diagnosis was emotional, she said, but also “confirming.”
“I’m a cut and dry person, but me and my mother, Julie, 59, were both crying,” he said. “It was reassuring that someone was finally like, ‘This is a chronic disease, and we need to treat it like one.’
Caroline Cray, 24, from Massachusetts, has a rare condition and can safely eat two different foods. (SWNS)
He felt a mixture of relief that his condition had a name, while grappling with the thought, “Oh God, I’m going to live with this for the rest of my life.”
Six years after her diagnosis, she can only eat two things – oatmeal and special baby formula.
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“I’m at a point where my food is just EleCare and oatmeal,” she said, referring to some type of hypoallergenic baby formula.
“I will eat three times a day, and I only eat three times a day because I have to heal myself in advance,” he said, adding that “it’s really hard.”
It took doctors 10 months to diagnose Cray with MCAS, a condition that causes severe food allergies. (Stock)
Additionally, Cray takes a number of medications, including some that are taken daily, weekly and monthly.
Despite her dietary restrictions and limited meals, Cray tries to be as normal as possible, and that includes the holidays.
“I’m not taking things out, though,” he told SWNS, adding that he’s joining his family for dinner tonight.
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“I will go out to eat, but I will bring my own food. And I will go at night to get a bottle of water,” he said, adding that he is “always a regular driver” and knows how to “fill people in. what happened the day before.
“I turned that into one of my favorite things,” Cray told SWNS. “I tell my friends that they make me drunk.”
“I’ll go out to eat, but I’ll bring my own food. And I’ll go out at night to get a bottle of water.”
To better accept his condition, Cray hosts Thanksgiving and Christmas at his home.
“For the first few years of my diagnosis, I didn’t want to eat in front of anyone else,” she said.
“Of course it’s difficult because food is part of the holiday season, but there are many things that make me feel part of the Christmas tradition.”
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Caroline Cray, second from left, with her siblings. He told news station SWNS that he feels more included on Christmas because it is less about food than Thanksgiving. (SWNS)
Now, Cray hopes to expand her diet beyond oatmeal and baby formula.
“This is my fifth year eating oatmeal, and it’s hard,” she told SWNS. “I would be lying if I said I don’t struggle because I know.
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“Right now I’m meeting with my MCAS therapist to (try) different foods,” she said. But, so far, nothing has worked, noting that she has tried eating chicken, lamb, sweet potatoes and broccoli.
“I will try each food individually so that if I have a reaction we know exactly what it is,” she said.
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