My severe allergies dominated my childhood, but immunization shots gave me a new life. Now, I'm a proud cat owner.

• I spent most of my childhood sick at home because of my severe allergies.
• In college, I began a five-year process of getting immunization shots.
• I progressed so much that I was able to get a cat I otherwise wouldn't have been able to be around.

Environmental allergies affected me year-round throughout my childhood. Animals, plants, dust, pollen — all of these things would make me sick to the point of barely breathing. While other kids were playing outside, I would opt to stay in my room because the impact of my allergies felt like getting the flu on a daily basis.

I tried different medications — over-the-counter and prescription — with minimal success. But compared to the alternative, it felt like I couldn't survive without them. Living with my difficult allergies was challenging.

But finding the right allergist changed my life.

Getting my allergies under control was no easy feat

As a kid, my parents couldn't commit to the significant time suck immunization would take. But when I started college, I decided to take on the challenge myself.

The allergist I saw did a test on me that felt like getting bitten by a swarm of mosquitoes. She administered about 40 tiny shots of different allergens and measured my skin's reaction to determine how allergic I was to each thing.

It was no surprise to me when I saw my skin react negatively to just about everything. It was an uncomfortable process, but the thought of a life where I could spend Spring days outdoors in the grass was too much to forgo.

After the tests were done, the doctor told me I would need about five years of immunization shots, starting with bi-weekly injections for several months. It was a massive commitment, but I was ready.

Since I was in college and my allergist was thankfully just one town over, I was able to visit before classes and had four shots administered per visit. I was required to wait 30 minutes to be sure I didn't have a reaction. It was always a good thing I did because I sometimes experienced significant reactions. The nurses who administered the shots knew just what to do and helped me through. The discomfort was minimal compared to the ample benefits the shots brought me.

I could suddenly stay around pets as long as I wanted

By the time I passed the one-year mark of getting the shots, I noticed a change. When I was finally able to visit with friends again after the pandemic, I suddenly no longer had severe reactions to their pets.

As fantastic as the benefits of spending time outside were, it was the animals that really made me realize how much of an improvement I was feeling. I had accepted it as a part of my life that I would never have a pet or be able to spend much time around them, until I started the process of getting the immunization shots.

I didn't even notice that the severe reactions were gone until I left the home of some friends with two cats and didn't puff up.

It was as if I was never allergic to begin with, and from there a new world opened up to me.

I was able to adopt my first pet and best friend

After five years of receiving the shots, I moved into my first apartment away from home. I had never considered the possibility of getting a pet, but having that newfound space of my own and a strong handle on my allergies, I decided it was time.

I always considered myself a dog person because I was so much more allergic to cats, but for the stage of life I was in, I felt I was better equipped to give a cat a good home. After visiting various rescues and searching online, I came across a young cat in need of a home who had been returned by a previous family. She had a lot of anxiety, but I did too, so I decided to give fostering a try.

I proudly became a "foster failure," as it only took a few days to realize I could never let my new best friend, Munchkin, leave my side. Even now, I think back on what a new feeling it was to have an animal companion that didn't make me sick to be around, but I couldn't picture life otherwise anymore.

Every ounce of time and effort it took to get those shots was worth it. The immunization shots changed my life for the better, and the life of one now very spoiled little cat.