My youngest has had a bad hand dealt to him.
I have mentioned that he has ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), and joy to me he is at that 'it gets worse before it gets better' stage. And worse it is...
But in honor of the upcoming holiday - Halloween - I will give you the horror story.
My son also has Eosinophilic (ee-uh-sin-uh-fil-ik) esophagitis - commonly abbreviated to EoE. At the end I'll include some links so that you can read up on this, but here is our story.
Poor kid was projectile vomiting since he pretty much started eating solid foods. Yep. It wasn't reflux, no that would be easy. This is full on Linda Blair in The Exorcist projectile vomiting. Two or three times a day every day of the week.
We would be in the doctor's office at least 2 - 3 times a month, when it got really bad. They would monitor his weight, and at a couple points he wasn't gaining.
We saw a number of specialists.
He had 3 biopsies of his throat.
And he is a special case study.
Usually you have the issue in one or maybe two parts of your throat with this. Nope. He has it in his upper, mid, and lower esophagus.
Better yet, they couldn't tell what was making him sick since the normal allergens weren't it.
So I had a food journal to keep for months. Then Christmas came, and we were making ornaments as a family. He had the worst allergic reaction I ever saw. We rushed him to the hospital after the epi pen didn't even seem to help.
He's allergic to cinnamon.
He can't go to Target, Trader Joe's, Spouts (a regional version of Whole Foods that doesn't take all your paycheck), Starbucks, or anywhere else that has cinnamon everywhere until about January when it disappears.
He's been really good about asking if something has cinnamon in it, because in first grade a kid shared his snack.
I got the call from the nurse. In the bathroom at Starbucks. While waiting for the last Pumpkin Spice Frap I've ever had.
He not just vomited, he hit the kid sitting across the table, and across the aisle at the next table with it.
I came in to a bunch of first and second graders with their eyes bulging out and mulitple versions of 'he threw up EVERYWHERE!'
But after he did it, my son knowing pretty much what it was, went to the wall and got all the paper towels he could and started cleaning it up.
On the plus side, he hasn't had an episode since. And his doctor thinks it is hilarious that I say he has 'Exorcist vomit'.
And a side note: I went to Catholic school and at one point the priest who assisted in the actual exorcism came to speak to us. Too much of it is true. Which is more upsetting to me.
Now if ever I need a priest, please let it be one like him (necessary eye candy shot):
Links on EoE:
http://www.aaaai.org/conditions-and-treatments/related-conditions/eosinophilic-esophagitis
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/eosinophilic-esophagitis/basics/definition/con-20035681
http://apfed.org/about-ead/egids/eoe/
https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/eosinophilic-esophagitis/
And where my son was diagnosed by Dr Dohil:
https://www.rchsd.org/programs-services/gastroenterology-hepatology-nutrition/services/eosinophilic-gastrointestinal-disorders-clinic/