Chapstick. Soap. Cologne. Candy. Antibiotics.

Those are just a handful of things 29-year-old Crystal Goodwin is allergic to. Three years after she was diagnosed with mast cell activation syndrome (MASC), a condition involving the release of allergy-causing histamines, Goodwin must now wear a surgical mask in most public places. The risk of going to the hospital is just too high.

“They’ve come to know that I go to the hospital and I come back,” Goodwin explained in a recent short film about her experiences with MASC. Even in the ambulance on the way there, she has to tell an EMT not to hook her up to certain nodes that track her vitals. “I’m allergic to those,” she says.

Daily anxiety is the norm for Goodwin. At any moment she could find herself in a life-threatening situation if the wrong material comes her way. To increase her lung capacity and bone density, in order to offset some of her risks, Goodwin works out on a regular basis. She has also been staying with her grandmother in South Portland, Maine to reduce some of the risk brought on by apartments and public life, though she hopes she can eventually be independent.

“I’m hoping to have my own safe space that I am in complete control over, for the most part,” she said. “That’s going to be a first for me, and that’s what I’m really excited about.”

The Woman Who's Allergic to the World from Narratively on Vimeo.