Episode 0 - What IS Allergy, Actually? Understanding Hay Fever, Asthma Triggers & Beyond | Welcome to Allergy Actually

Introduction to Allergy, Actually

Kara: Are you tired of sneezing, itching, and wheezing? Do you feel overwhelmed by confusing allergy information and conflicting advice? Wish you had a trusted friend to guide you through the allergy maze?

 Well, you're in the right place. Welcome to Allergy, Actually!

The podcast and YouTube channel where we break down everything you need to know about allergies, from the science behind the sniffles, to the latest treatments, and everything in between. We're your bestie allergist moms, Dr. Kara Wada, Dr. Amber Patterson and Dr. Meagan Shepherd, and we're here to share our practical insider advice combining years of experience with a healthy dose of real mom empathy.

You'll get to know us as we share our own allergy journeys and what inspired us to create this show. We'll introduce you to the allergy, actually philosophy where we believe that knowledge is power, and taking control of your allergies can dramatically improve your quality of life.

Meet Your Bestie Allergist Moms

Kara: Meet your bestie allergist Moms.

Amber: Dr. Kara Wada, a quadruple board-certified physician specializing in pediatric and adult allergy, immunology and lifestyle and functional medicine. Dr. Wada brings a unique perspective to allergy care. As a Sjogren's patient herself and a certified life coach, she empowers her patients to combine anti-inflammatory lifestyle practices, modern medicine, and the power of mindset to harness the body's innate healing abilities.

Next is Dr. Amber Patterson, a world renowned allergy and immunology expert based in Findlay, Ohio. Dr. Patterson is powering the future of immunotherapy as the US Ambassador for ILIT, a three injection allergy shot protocol. She's redefining allergy care through her solo private practice, Auni Allergy, and the groundbreaking Auni ILIT Learning network.

Kara: Last, but certainly not least is Dr. Meagan Shepherd. Dr. Shepherd is a board certified allergist and immunologist with nearly 15 years of experience providing personalized care for allergies, asthma, and immune deficiency. 

She specializes in advanced immunotherapy and practical evidence-based treatment strategies to improve quality of life. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Shepherd is known for her focus on helping patients with allergy conscious living, designing homes, habits, and lifestyles that support both wellness and comfort.

Meagan: I am so glad we did this.

I know, I'm so excited.

Kara: It's a fun excuse to hang out and talk about the things we love so much. I 

Our Journey to Allergy Specialization

Kara: think our audience is probably wondering how we ended up here in these seats with these fun microphones. 

Meagan: It is a, a very long, uh, long time ago. I think I met Amber when I was applying for Allergy Fellowship. Back then, it was outside of the match, and Amber was a first year fellow, and so I met her at Ohio state when we did our first, uh, like interview where they did a lunch and had the fellows come and so that is how I met you, Amber. 

And then 

Kara: I think I met you when I was a resident in the Heart Hospital. I think, if I remember right, you were seeing a patient who had aspirin allergy and I had no clue that I like, I didn't really know about allergies as a field. I knew that I liked taking care of folks with asthma. And I thought maybe I was gonna be a pulmonologist, but it just didn't feel like the right fit. And so I think it was one of my first exposures to, "Oh gosh, this is a field." And so by the time I met our future program director on the children's side, I was like, "Oh, oh, okay. I gotta rotate there and see what it's about" 

Amber: Would that have been where we met Kara? I'm trying to remember. 

Kara: I think so. either that or when you were on faculty and I was interviewing for Fellowship. 

Amber: Oh. it could have been that too. Yeah. Yeah. It's, I mean, now 

Kara: been 

Amber: 10 years. so So long ago. 

Meagan: You were on faculty I remember because it... 

Amber: That's what I was thinking too. Yeah. 

Meagan: You were on faculty and it's when you had Dr. Thomas Kündig come over and talk about ILIT, right? You were rotating with us as a student. 

As a resident. Yeah. Yeah. It was as resident, 

Kara: Yeah. 

Meagan: Med peds resident. 

Kara: And I had just made the decision, I think, to apply. And was like, "Oh gosh, this is what I'm gonna do with my life" 

Meagan: Yeah. And we all got to watch that together, which now how far we've come from that point is really cool.

Amber: It is. And for non-medical people, just as a reminder, after four years of undergraduate college, if you're going to become a doctor, there's four years of medical school and then the stages we're talking about are residency, which comes after medical school. So Kara, at that residency stage, you did Med Peds, 

Kara: Which 4 years long. About half internal medicine. half pediatrics, and then it's somewhere around that second or third year that you really have to get your stuff together in order to, if you're going to, do a fellowship, to be able to apply. And so I was kind of late in the game in realizing that: one, allergy was a field, and two, that I wanted to do it. I was um, actually starting my third year. And so I really had some fire under, you know, my feet in regards to like having to get everything together 'cause it was pretty com. pretty competitive. 

Meagan: competitive. And Ohio State was considered one of the top, um, programs, at least the year that I went through. And like I said, that was before the match. And I decided I wanted to do allergy years before just based on liking the immunology class that we did in and um, that's actually where I met Nabil on the student doctor Network Forum. Oh my gosh. Do you guys remember that? We used to communicate on there all the time and didn't realize it. And one day he reached out to me after the match and was like, are you from Marshall? and I was like, medical school. And so then that's, and he's like, "you're going to Ohio State"? And I'm like, "yeah". And he's like, "I am too". So. 

Amber: And that's where we all ended up. 

Meagan: Yeah. Yeah. It was the best place for allergy at the time. And I'm gonna say, I still think it probably is.

Amber: Oh, for sure. Awesome. So anyways, now here we are. Fast forward. Um, all have gone through allergy immunology fellowship, have gone through serving on faculty at our respective institutions, and then getting to a point in our careers where we transition to private practice. 

The Practical Side of Allergy Care

Amber: We're all moms.

And every day in our practices we see patients who have needs that kind of go beyond just "what medicine should I take?" Or "What problem do I have?" And think that's part of why we wanted to do this was to speak to that coming as moms and allergists. 

Kara: I think with the particular area that I've focused on, which are. A lot of, a lot of times, people who don't necessarily feel safe in their bodies, or safe in their environments, and certainly, um, unfortunately many times don't feel safe within the healthcare system. This is one other way that we can make that connection and try to rebuild that trust that really has been eroded away. Um, as our healthcare has changed and evolved.

Meagan: One of the biggest things that I work on with my patients, because we all live such busy lifestyles, we're full-time working moms. We have spouses who are full-time working as well, and life just gets so busy. So for my patients, I like to focus on being practical about things. You know, I would get patients referred to me with extremely complicated eczema regimens. You do this on this day and this on this day, and I would think I have a doctorate and I'm confused. I mean, how, how can someone be expected to follow this? And so I like to break things down and make them practical so that you can apply that in your daily life and actually enjoy living.. 

Kara: Absolutely. I think we've all talked about this in our own ways as well, that. We like, we like nicer things, right? But we also are those Midwest moms that really appreciate a good deal. And if you compliment me on, you know, my shoes, I'm gonna tell you that, you know, "oh, this is how I got 20% off" or what have you or "look, this dress has pockets, um, and I got it off amazon and it's machine washable." I think that's what's missing is, I, is, I've read a lot of, you know, these really popular books that are out there, you know, that are like, okay, this is how you get healthy. I read through the plan and I'm like, "who has the time, energy, or money to make their own you know, peel the almonds for their own homemade almond milk . I mean, it is, it is, it is fun and actually kind of relaxing. 'cause I did try it once just for kicks, but like, generally speaking, like who has time for that?

Amber: It's like the sourdough thing. My daughter Lena and I, finally, thanks to our neighbor Hannah, tried out the sourdough 

Kara: craze 

Amber: Yeah. Journey. Yeah. Whatever you call it. It's so cool. And after we made the first bread, well, Lena did it mostly and it was delicious. We were like, I don't think we're doing that anymore. It takes so much time.

But to your point, it's, um, yeah, there are all these things that we see recommendations for, but is it practical? And in my practice, I really think about hospitality of not only the patient's experience in my office, but um, what I'm asking of them. Because it's really sacred. You know, that whole doctor patient relationship and what we ask our patients to do to take care of themselves has to be something that they can actually do and they will actually do. And so that's, you know, all the things we'll talk about here, like. 

The Importance of Mental Health in Allergy Management

Meagan: So something I struggle with in my personal life, just for me, I have a lot of issues with anxiety and I feel like with a ton of my patients, I'm addressing that all the time in various different ways. And it plays such a huge role in disease process. And my goal is to help my patients live a a calm, lovely life, and I am really into having a calm environment because I think that that allows you to relax and to be able to again, do things that you enjoy without feeling stressed about whatever healthcare issues you're dealing with. And I really like to make things pretty and share that with people, and i'm excited to talk about that. 

Amber: Me too.

Kara: I think that's so important to to talk about because how often is that weaponized potentially against us in, you know, being blamed for, you know, "Oh, i'm short of breath." "Are you just anxious?" "No, actually I had untreated asthma" or in my case it was Sjogren's that was drying out my airway that triggered asthma. You know, like some of these things you're like, "Oh yeah. like it, it is, is so intrically linked to our health." And it's important to address, but I think have we have to do that with some thoughtfulness given what so many of us experienced. 

Amber: And part of the topics that we plan to talk about in this podcast stem from things that we've experienced, either personally or through conversations with our patients. 

Engage with Us and Understand Allergy, Actually

Amber: But, um, we also want to learn from you. So please comment, contact us, let us know what topics you really wanna know about.

And I guess a little bit on our name Allergy, Actually, for the show. There are so many things that people think are allergies that aren't, and so many things about true allergy that are misunderstood. So that's also part of what we wanna help tease out is " What is Allergy, Actually? "

And if it's not allergy, then why not? And all the goodies that come along with that.

Kara: So welcome to Allergy, Actually.