Michael "Dog3" Lonergan wrote:
> Todd and I had a good start to
> the summer until... I decided to feed him scrambled eggs for breakfast one
> morning. He was probably almost a year old. He blew up like a balloon... He
> couldn't breathe. His face was all red. I desperately tried to reach my
> parents. Couldn't find them. I threw him into the car and went to ER. I was
> told if I had waited any longer Todd would have suffocated because his
> throat was almost swollen shut. He had an egg allergy. I was hysterical by
> the time we got to the hospital. I won't even tell you how I made my
> parents suffer the rest of the summer He outgrew the allergy but to this
> day if you serve him a plate of eggs he basically runs from the table.
> He'll eat eggs in cakes etc. but if he has to look at them he gets ill.
>
> Michael
>

That's exactly the same reaction I had when I had my first flu shot,
forty or more years ago.

Forty or more years ago my father wanted to avoid the yearly flu
absenteeism in our business, which employed about ninety factory
workers and ten office workers and executives and he asked his doctor
to come in one day and give flu shots to all.

The good doctor started with the offices and then went into the
factory. My left arm in which I had been stuck with the needle felt a
little sore, but I paid no attention to it. Then one of the other
women started to yell: "Look at Margaret" and at that moment, the
left sleeve of my blouse started to shred because my arm had swelled
up and I felt as if I were drowning. I didn't see it, but my face had
swollen to something worthy of a horror picture and I was unable to
breathe.

Someone from the office ran outside to get the doctor, who took one
look at me and got the antihistamine, but also warned me that I might
have to be rushed to the near-by hospital.

The drug did its work and the swelling subsided within minutes. By
then the other sleeve had shredded, too and the loss of the blouse was
the only negative memory I had of the allergic reaction I suffered.
For some reason, I wasn't one bit scared.

The doctor advised me not to have any more flu shots and said that the
egg in the serum had caused the swelling. My father gave me some
money to replace the blouse, something like three dollars.