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HOME/Rare and Complex Conditions/Life With EoE Times Three

Life With EoE Times Three

Life With EoE Times Three
September 19, 2014
Kara Root
19 Comments

I have three kids and a husband with EoE. So I guess that’s really four under one roof! I also have a baby that may be following suit; my guess is that she will probably be diagnosed in the next year as well.

If you’re not familiar with EoE, or eosinophilic esophagitis, it is an inflammatory disease that manifests in the esophagus. The side effects and severity are a little bit different for everyone, but in my house it means that the simple act of eating is incredibly difficult. And meal planning. And doctor’s appointments. And daily life and tasks.

So what is life like? It’s darn hard. I’m not going to lie, but I keep smiling. Having three kids with EoE is like facing your worst enemy, everyday. Ours just happens to be food. I have two kids with feeding tubes because the disease got the best of them. Their bodies could not tolerate enough foods to sustain their development and growth. They were falling off of the growth charts. Then I have one that can eat enough to thrive, yet is so sick of what he’s allowed to eat that he won’t actually eat it.

Taking three kids to the doctor at the same time is a difficult task, but having three kids scoped at the same time takes it to another level. An endoscopy is a medical procedure for their doctor to see what’s happening with the esophagus, which is necessary to see what foods we need to avoid and which ones we can start trying. They go under anesthesia one by one. After the procedure we have to be ready to handle whatever condition each kid is in when they wake up. Cranky, screaming, crying or puking you never know what you’re going to get. A lot of times they will wake up happy. Then we wait a few days for results.

On results day I have taught them that we have to cheer on the other sibling that has a clear scope and gets to trial a new food. If a sibling fails the scope test then we let them know it’s okay to be sad, but to hang in there because we’re going to figure out what the food trigger is in order to get a clear scope in the future. I have also tried to teach them that if you’re the only one that passed the scope test and get to trial a new food to not gloat about it. It’s hard for the others to see you get to try a new food when they don’t.

Our kids with tubes are scoped every three months as we trial new foods. Sometimes we trial three foods at a time. For bigger foods, such as the top eight, we trial one at a time. We cross our fingers during that three month process and pray for a clean scope. Sometimes we don’t get past two weeks because they start to show signs of an allergic reaction to the food. It’s all a guessing game. There’s no clean-cut manual for EoE and introducing foods. Every kid is different.

Aside from grocery shopping, it’s toughest for me to make dinner. I have my two tubies, but they each have a few foods they can eat. They never want the same thing, so I have to make two different plates right out of the gate. Then I have to make something wonderful for the one who won’t eat, or, he won’t eat it. We have started introducing foods to the baby. For each bite she takes we sit and stare at her, waiting for some sort of reaction. Last, I have to make dinner for my husband and I. Do we have a sit down family dinner? No. It’s hard for my husband and I because we both grew up eating a family dinner every night. Now I’m lucky to get all three kids sitting at the same time. My husband and I eat dinner after the kids go to bed. It’s just easier. That way they aren’t drooling over our plates, wanting the food that they can’t have. However, my husband’s diet is limited so there are certain foods I don’t even have at our house. Dinners can get boring even for the two of us.

I also have the daily task of mixing 87 ounces of formula for my two tubies. That does not include the amount of formula that the baby drinks. I can honestly say that I feel like all I do all day long is mix up formula, fill bags, and then try to talk the tubies into hooking up to it. The three year old is not easy to convince all of the time. And the six year old can debate with me about the reasons why he should wait or declare he would rather eat a meal instead. I am thankful for that formula though. The two of them have grown so much in such a short time since receiving their tubes. Best and hardest decision we have ever had to make for them.

So that’s what it’s like at my house. There’s a lot of frustration. The kids are often broken hearted, begging for foods they can’t have, sick of foods they can have and hating feeding tubes, all while dealing with hives, swollen eyes, vomiting, tummy troubles, itchy mouths, mystery rashes, anaphylactic reactions, epi pens, benadryl, inhalers, and nebulizers. At the same time, there is a lot of loving of each other, caring, compassion, close bonding, enjoying new-found foods at the grocery, talking about the day they won’t have a tube, living life the best we can and making the most of this horrible disease.

Editor’s note: For more information about treatment for eosinophilic disorders, please visit the Cincinnati Center for Eosinophilic Disorder’s website. And to connect with other patients and parents with EoE, the CCED’s Facebook page is available as a resource.

To read more about Kara Root and her family’s journey with eosinophilic esophagitis, go to her blog Living the Allergy Life.

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TAGS:
  • allergy and immunology
  • eosinophilic disorders
  • food allergy

About the author: Kara Root

Kara Root is the average stay at home super mom. She loves coffee, dancing, learning to garden and teaching her children how to grow into the best people they can be all while dealing with EoE, food and environmental allergies, asthma and feeding tubes. Check out more about what life is really like for her at livingtheallergylife.wordpress.com

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Comments

Guest blog « LIVING September 19, 2014 at 6:09 pm

[…] Check it out HERE […]

deborah September 19, 2014 at 9:42 pm

Thank you for sharing your story about EoE.

shannon September 19, 2014 at 11:09 pm

I don’t know how you do it, but I know you do because you have to. My son was diagnosed at 2 days old with Hirschsprung’s Disease, and had his first surgery that day, a colostomy. Next surgery at 11 months to reverse the colostomy and 3/4 his large intestines removed. He had many issues, by age 8 he started vomiting every morning, the doctors joked it was “morning sickness.” His surgeon thought it was his HD acting up, by age 12 we decided on going with a cecostomy (a Mic-key) that goes into his lower right abdomen into his cecum, then every night he hooked up to a gravity feed bag and flushes his intestines. He got very ill about a month later, then ended up in the hospital due to malnutrition. His stomach was very swollen and red, he couldn’t eat more than 200 calories. They put an NG tube down for feeds and he had that for 7 months. A year went by and he was living on zofran and still sick. Finally his ped sent him to an allergist who found he was allergic to 5 foods (we didn’t have any signs) and 38 other allergens. He asked if he had been tested for EGID. I had never heard of it. We went to our GI, and low and behold after testing he had it. With a strict diet and pulmicort slurry he started getting better (with in 5 days). Since then he has done well. He is scoped every 6 months. The hardest thing is his symptom of anorexia. He is always threatened with getting a perm feeding tube, I think it’s a great idea, but convince an 18 year old of that.

Erycka Castleberry December 29, 2014 at 11:00 am

Thank you for your story! Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who has to go through this with my baby. Granted I only have one with it but it’s so hard when my other 2 can eat what they want and he cant. I have all the respect in the world for you. I get so frustrated that I’m always waiting on some kind of test result to figure out what to do next. I wish you all the best

Francie February 14, 2015 at 5:30 am

Thank you for the hope that we are not alone. My daughter who is 12 has been ill for over a year. We finally received a diagnosis two weeks ago. My daughter has lost south weight and is showing signs of all foods. There are other conditions we are treating her for. The most frustrating thing in all this is one of drs kept sayng it was mental, frustrated beyond words they just kept overlooking her and this monster which has robbed us of life.

brenda nichols August 15, 2015 at 12:58 pm

2.5 yr old grandson recently diagnosed with EOE ( eoso count > 80
after 3 mos diet)

seeing ped gastro knowledged with EOE
looking for more doctors,centers, parental advice blog

thk you
god bless his plans

Nicole November 25, 2015 at 5:05 pm

Glad I came across your post. Both my boys had endoscopies today. My 4 year-old was diagnosed for the first time. My 20 month old, who was diagnosed 4 months ago, has not improved with medication. No idea how we are going to manage the food situation. My husband and I both work full-time demanding jobs. Kudos to you. I am open to any and all suggestions on how to make things easier.

Irene Hinesman December 9, 2015 at 8:28 pm

Omg…..I don’t know how you do this. God gave all of you some amazing strength and courage. My son-in-law has EoE, their 20 month old son is positive and probably their 3 year old; and I thought that was a challenge….Your children are beautiful and I look toward to following their lives in your blog. Perhaps they will meet Tommy some day in Cinci.

Nithya October 24, 2016 at 1:54 pm

Great!!!

Rita May 31, 2017 at 12:57 am

Thanks for this! I have 3 kids and they all have EoE. I do, too, but it’s a whole other ballgame for my kids to have it than me! My oldest’s case is relatively mild. I thought my middle was severe, but it seemed easy to find her trigger foods compared to my youngest. He’s 5 and so scared of food that he doesn’t even want to eat the foods we know are safe for him. I know EoE is rare, but I also heard it runs in families — tho until I read this blog post, I hadn’t met or heard about anyone who personally had more than 1 kid with it. I don’t wish it on a family, but like I tell my kids, at least we all know exactly what the other one is going through. There is empathy abound around here!

Mrs.C August 3, 2017 at 5:27 pm

Thank you for sharing your story with everyone.
My three year old is newly diagnosed and my 10 year old is on his way to a diagnosis. Sometimes when we are living it everyday it can feel so isolating. Its really helpful and hopeful to hear that others are doing it too, and in your case doing even more.

Thank you.

Mark October 24, 2017 at 3:04 pm

Kara — heard you speak at CURED. How brave you are and what an inspiration for so many people. I was very glad to have met you and look forward to speaking to you again about how we can help.
best

    Kara October 21, 2018 at 3:01 pm

    Thank you Mark!

Dee February 20, 2018 at 6:47 pm

Hi there. I have 3 with EOE as well and was feeling down today.. your blog made me smile. I guess misery loves company. lol. good luck to all your precious children. they are gorgeous like mom!

di May 7, 2018 at 4:03 pm

HI there.. I have 3 with EoE too. Can I ask you how often do you scope when things are going well. Im overwhelmed with medical bills. My doctor said yearly but do you find it necessary when things are going well. My insurance still leaves me paying 2 k for each scope. thanks! hope kids are doing well!

    Kara Root October 30, 2018 at 5:17 am

    Hi di,

    Three is a lot to handle! I think ultimately it is up to you. If your kids are feeling well and doing well with a clean scope behind them, then you may not have to. With that said, though, we’ve had many scopes we thought would be clear because the kids were symptom free and the scope ended up horrible. Maybe just space them out through the year so you don’t have to pay for all 3 at once. Have each kid scoped once a year and do one in March, one in July, and one in Nov. It’s a tricky disease. So I hate to say don’t scope once a year.

    Sometimes you can apply for medical grants. We did that once. It paid for what we would owe after insurance. That may be a good route to look into!
    Best,
    Kara

di February 7, 2019 at 5:52 pm

Hi there . this is Di again, haven’t written in months, but just at Dr. who said there is a new trial drug out for EoE where you get an injection that shows promise. I have one where nothing seems to be helping.. Have you heard anything about this? t hanks.

    Avatar photo
    Rachel Camper February 11, 2019 at 1:12 pm

    Hi di,

    We currently have three injection-based trials that could fit what you’re describing. Their details can be found on our website: https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/research/divisions/c/cced-research/trials . Or you can contact our research team directly at
    CCEDresearch@cchmc.org.

Porshay March 21, 2019 at 11:28 pm

Thanks for sharing. You’re tough. You’re doing a good job!

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