Raspberry Flavouring

Life is full of battles, at least my life is full of battles. I have to choose wisely, otherwise life as I know it will crash and burn. One of the battles I am obliged to tackle, over and over and over again, is surviving anaphylaxis.

This morning I fought another anaphylaxis battle. I congratulate myself on not getting emotional when my own death is on the table, I must be getting better at this.

The first issue, non-threatening, involved the drops the cataract surgeon prescribed for the surgery. Attila picked them up at the drug store. He had to pay cash for them, they are not covered by our government drug plan for seniors, Attila didn’t ask why. So I called the drug store, who said they were definitely not covered, please call the surgeon’s office. So I called the surgeon’s office, they said that they prescribed generic drugs that are covered, and if the drug store did not have them they were instructed to give me the non-generic alternatives, please call the drug store. So I called the drug store again, and apparently one of the ones I paid for is generic and is not covered, and the other one I paid for has no generic alternative. Who knows what the heck is going on, the stories are not the same, but I decided I had bigger issues than a sizable bill for medications.

One of the medications I was prescribed has my allergen in it. I found this out after researching every one of the medications prescribed. One listed my allergen.

NOW the thing is I have emphasized this allergen and anaphylaxis to the surgeon’s office AND to my regular drug store. Both, in theory and according to what they have stated, know and have it on record that I have anaphylaxis, and the name of my allergen. Both have assured me they take allergies very seriously. BUT here we are, once again humans have overestimated their abilities.

OK, having established the claims made by the people at drug store and the surgeon’s office, I will continue with my saga describing how those grand claims of making records and taking allergies seriously play out. For me it is an old story, and it gets older all the time.

So, having found my allergen on the non-medicinal ingredient list for the exact product I held in my hand, I called the drug store again. I wanted to verify that the internet information was indeed correct. My telephone call was passed to the pharmacist. I told them what I was allergic to, what had been prescribed to me, and that I wanted to confirm my allergen was an ingredient. They proceeded to read me a list of ingredients that did not include my allergen, so all was well… except that one of the ingredients was raspberry flavouring.

“They put raspberry flavouring in eye drops?” I asked.

“Could you hold for a moment please?” they responded.

When the pharmacist returned to the call they read a different set of ingredients, that included my allergen. There was a long silence that I was unwilling to break. Then the pharmacist asked me if the allergy was serious. I sighed inwardly, thinking shouldn’t this have been kept track of at your end? Then I politely answered that the allergy was called anaphylaxis, and for emphasis, which I felt I needed to add at this point, I stated that it was a fatal, sudden death condition on exposure to my allergen. Another long silence.

I broke the second silence with a question.

“Are there any alternative medications that do not contain my allergen?” I asked.

“Could you hold a moment?” they said.

The answer was yes, and the pharmacist said a request would be sent to surgeon’s office for a new prescription. I also asked about getting a refund for the medication with my allergen, for which I had to pay cash. Very graciously they said of course.

The pharmacist suggested I call the surgeon’s office to let them know the request for a new prescription was coming and why. I called the surgeon’s office, got the answering machine, and left a message.

Raspberry flavouring saved my life.

Now, for the surgery itself, I will be given an injection to relax me by an anaesthetist, as well as a pill given to me by the surgeon. I have been ASSURED by the surgeon that there are NO allergens in the pill I will be given…

At this point, would you trust these people with your life?

I certainly do not.

And then there is the anaesthetist at the hospital. I have a LOT of experience here, and rarely has it inspired confidence. I was told at the surgeon’s office that it was up to me to discuss my anaphylaxis with the hospital when they called. Not hopeful, in the past this has NEVER worked well. I have ALWAYS had to make a “fuss”, stick out as a “difficult patient”, to get the attention of the anaesthetist, and to ensure I wasn’t getting the usual “brush off” reassurances that are prone to human error. Penetrating medical generalizations is very difficult work. Do I trust that their records will flag my anaphylaxis and allergen, NO I DO NOT. Do I trust that if the records flag the anaphylaxis and allergen that the medical people will read and understand the records, NO I DO NOT. Do I trust that they and possibly their records will flag me as “difficult” (at best), YES I DO.

It serves me well to be friendly and cheerful through all of these life and death encounters. If I let my fear and frustration anywhere near the surface of my mind, I would panic.

I have had terrifying near misses, some involving health care people who took no responsibility for their actions. I could really relate to Joyce Echaquan’s racially motivated horrific experience and subsequent death, when seeking help at a hospital emergency department. Those situations are not always racially motivated, they can happen to anyone, as we hear more and more on the news of people dying waiting for care in hospital emergency departments in Canada. I can personally attest to facing indifference in emergency department settings – never by doctors.

This everlasting battle with the outside world, mainly health care, and anaphylaxis is exhausting. I congratulate myself for maintaining calm as I literally fight for my life with a smile on my face, a smile that does not represent how I feel.

So when I am told the cataract surgery is safe, there is a whole other level of concern going on.

I have to choose my battles carefully.

You win some, you lose some… anaphylaxis is one I will only lose once.

Worldly

Weather

16°C
Date: 1:00 PM EDT Monday 22 June 2026
Condition: Light Rainshower
Pressure: 101.7 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 15.8°C
Dew point: 14.7°C
Humidity: 93%
Wind: S 16 km/h
Visibility: 24 km

Quote

“She had an unequalled gift… of squeezing big mistakes into small opportunities.”
Henry James
1843 – 1916

Everybody makes mistakes!