Tales from an Expert Mangoeer
Be warned. Disturbing photos below. Okay, they aren't that bad. But let this be a lesson to you all...and stuff.
So remember how I'm allergic to mangoes? Yeah, that. Well. Funny story.
Since this experience, I've been in a semi-denial state about my condition. I tell every medical professional about my allergy. Just in the rare chance case that I'm faced with a room full of raw mangoes or am almost administered a liquified mango serum...or some such weird instance. Even my oral surgeon knows of my mango allergy and joked in kind about it before extracting my wisdom teeth. But as far as eating, I HAVE eaten mangoes since that fatefully painful reaction. I just haven't been the one PREPARING the mangoes. I've intentionally and with full knowledge had mango sticky rice (YUM) at a Thai restaurant. The result was nada. NO reaction. Which lead me to think...was it just a freak accident and mangoes weren't the problem after all? But was I brave enough to test it? Hmm...well...if you guessed it from this post...apparently, YES. And YES. I AM allergic to mangoes.
When I got my produce box the other day, you might have spied two mangoes. I was quite excited about them. They looked like the "elephant ear" variety my fruit selling neighbors used to get. Except MUCH smaller but still! I missed them. So I risked it. I cut the fruit off the pit and then flipped the skips inside out after lightly dicing the flesh and went to town. It's the way I was taught to prepare a mango by an expert mangoeer and it is to-date the most effective way to prepare and eat a mango. It also is not at all recommended for those with a mango allergy.
I was under the impression the skin was the thing that caused the reaction. And it is. But I thought just the outside. Oh no. It's the inside of the skin too. I can't really adequately explain this allergy. Every time I try I end up sounding in COMPLETE denial. And I'm not. There really is sense to it all. So here are the rules:
1. I can never prepare a mango like an expert mangoeer and eat it. Sigh.
2. OTHER people can prepare the mango in the same way, cut it OFF the skin, serve it up, and I'll be perfectly fine.
3. I think that's it.
So...weird. I know. But true. This reaction didn't seem as bad. Partially because I knew it was happening very early on (oh botox, we meet again) which meant a good dose of benadryl around the clock. AND...I totally tried some natural home remedies. Because I'm one of THOSE people. I will never know if they actually worked (unless I decide to test the theory in a couple years...who knows, it could be a regular thing, right?) but they seemed to calm it down a bit and prevent as much oozing as I had the first time around. The fun side effect was the effected portion of my lips would turn white when being treated. And because you're so special, I'm going to share a picture of the progress. But really...this is more for my OWN sake. Because I know myself. I clearly tested the theory, right? I intentionally took these pictures to prevent this from ever happening again. It wasn't fun. Even now, I've forgotten how unfun it was but looking at these pictures...I'm reminded of the horror. So...the moral of the story is...never again will I eat mango from the skin.
Oh yeah...brace yourself:
So remember how I'm allergic to mangoes? Yeah, that. Well. Funny story.
Since this experience, I've been in a semi-denial state about my condition. I tell every medical professional about my allergy. Just in the rare chance case that I'm faced with a room full of raw mangoes or am almost administered a liquified mango serum...or some such weird instance. Even my oral surgeon knows of my mango allergy and joked in kind about it before extracting my wisdom teeth. But as far as eating, I HAVE eaten mangoes since that fatefully painful reaction. I just haven't been the one PREPARING the mangoes. I've intentionally and with full knowledge had mango sticky rice (YUM) at a Thai restaurant. The result was nada. NO reaction. Which lead me to think...was it just a freak accident and mangoes weren't the problem after all? But was I brave enough to test it? Hmm...well...if you guessed it from this post...apparently, YES. And YES. I AM allergic to mangoes.
When I got my produce box the other day, you might have spied two mangoes. I was quite excited about them. They looked like the "elephant ear" variety my fruit selling neighbors used to get. Except MUCH smaller but still! I missed them. So I risked it. I cut the fruit off the pit and then flipped the skips inside out after lightly dicing the flesh and went to town. It's the way I was taught to prepare a mango by an expert mangoeer and it is to-date the most effective way to prepare and eat a mango. It also is not at all recommended for those with a mango allergy.
I was under the impression the skin was the thing that caused the reaction. And it is. But I thought just the outside. Oh no. It's the inside of the skin too. I can't really adequately explain this allergy. Every time I try I end up sounding in COMPLETE denial. And I'm not. There really is sense to it all. So here are the rules:
1. I can never prepare a mango like an expert mangoeer and eat it. Sigh.
2. OTHER people can prepare the mango in the same way, cut it OFF the skin, serve it up, and I'll be perfectly fine.
3. I think that's it.
So...weird. I know. But true. This reaction didn't seem as bad. Partially because I knew it was happening very early on (oh botox, we meet again) which meant a good dose of benadryl around the clock. AND...I totally tried some natural home remedies. Because I'm one of THOSE people. I will never know if they actually worked (unless I decide to test the theory in a couple years...who knows, it could be a regular thing, right?) but they seemed to calm it down a bit and prevent as much oozing as I had the first time around. The fun side effect was the effected portion of my lips would turn white when being treated. And because you're so special, I'm going to share a picture of the progress. But really...this is more for my OWN sake. Because I know myself. I clearly tested the theory, right? I intentionally took these pictures to prevent this from ever happening again. It wasn't fun. Even now, I've forgotten how unfun it was but looking at these pictures...I'm reminded of the horror. So...the moral of the story is...never again will I eat mango from the skin.
Oh yeah...brace yourself:
The first sign of trouble. I know my lips. And these are just a little too luscious to be my lips.
Starting to get interesting.
Good. Grief. Why. Are. They. White.
The end!
P.S. For anyone too lazy to read my original post about my first reaction...my "botox" comment above was not referring to ACTUAL botox.
P.S. For anyone too lazy to read my original post about my first reaction...my "botox" comment above was not referring to ACTUAL botox.
Photos: Me-horrible-self
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