Update on Gav's EOE

If you haven't read my previous updates on Gav, he has a condition called Eosinophilic Esophagitis. It's a food allergy that does not immediately present itself, but causes a delayed reaction.  We found out about this due to him swallowing a piece of plastic that he was chewing on, and it getting stuck in his esophagus.

The Dr. put him on a very strict diet and Protonix after that event. No wheat, no soy, no dairy, no corn, no peanuts, and no sesame. We had him scoped again back in November and the Dr. gave us great news that it had significantly improved with diet restrictions. This was very comforting because had it gotten worse, then we would have had to restrict his diet even more. I'm sure you can understand how hard it is for a child to drastically change their diet. I mean this kid loved PB&J sandwiches and we had to cut them out completely! After the scope, the Dr. said that he could have everything in small amounts or spread out except dairy and wheat. This did make it a bit easier to feed him. We went through a period that I wasn't even sure what to feed him!

After the visit today, the Dr. did not think that we needed to scope him again anytime soon! He was super excited to see that Gav has not had any issues with food getting stuck at all since the diet changes. He is going to keep him on the meds for another 6 months and we will decide to go from there. Gav does have a lot of acid reflux, so we will need to see if that improves.

It has not been easy trying to make sure that he follows the diet to a T. I mean he's 11 and sometimes he doesn't pay attention to ALL of the ingredients. I have to constantly check ingredients because sometimes foods contain things like wheat and dairy, and you would never even think about it. Although it can be a struggle sometimes, it's not the end of the world. At the end of the day, Gav can have any kind of fruit, vegetable, and meat he wants. He's just picky! Thank goodness he loves apples because for awhile that's about all he would snack on! We have been able to find great substitutes for treats such as coconut milk ice cream. We have also found that Lara Bars are perfect for him. They are also healthy, so I don't mind him eating them. Finding things he likes has become a little easier now that we've been dealing with this for awhile, and have learned a few things about it.

So, we go back in six months and we will update then. I know that if he wants to add in foods a little at a time, the Dr will scope him to see how he reacts to each. It may be something we consider later on. It just depends on how things go in six months.

Thanks for all of the prayers!