QuoteWe would review an allergen avoidance sheet with the family, explaining the importance of reading food labels, and discuss an emergency health-care plan, teaching the families how to recognize and treat an allergic reaction. We provided them with a short list of support services and asked them to follow up in one year. It was a good system, at least as far as I knew.

After we reviewed the perfunctory literature, I got my one-year send-off and then, I panicked. I wanted our allergist to come back in the room. I had so many questions left to ask. But I was an allergist, so how could I have so many questions? I only knew one thing – that I needed more time with her. I felt alone and anxious.

As a fellow, I'd never quite understood it when parents cried at the end of our appointments. The diagnosis and treatment was a matter of fact. You avoid the food and you avoid the reaction. But now, on the other side, I understood. It was about: how in the world you were going to avoid the food and what on Earth would happen if you didn't.

I walked out of the office saddened that, previous to this appointment, I had not really known what food allergy families go through and devastated that I had to learn it like this. It felt like I was like starting over, both personally and professionally.

QuoteAs a parent of a child with a nut allergy, Pistiner empathized with parents who have to educate their peers even as they're trying to protect their children. It can be difficult to pass on that responsibility to others, he added.

"I'm trying to teach my mom how to use an EpiPen and read labels, and she's not taking me seriously, and I'm a pediatric allergist," he said. "Imagine if I'm a school teacher, imagine if I'm a stay-at-home mom. Now who's going to take me seriously? It's a really hard position to be in."