He Has EoE: EoE according to Oliver

Sunday, May 13, 2012

EoE according to Oliver

In honor of National Eosinophil Awareness Week, here's Oliver's definition of Eosinophilic Esophagitis

This was right before dinner several months ago. One of Oliver's brothers was asking if he could have a food, or we were just in general talking about food Oliver couldn't have, I don't remember exactly.

Dad: Do you know why you can't have that food?
Oliver: No
Dad: Is it because you have Eosinophilic Esophagitis?
Oliver: Yes
Dad: Do you know what that means?
Oliver: It means you can't have it.

And that, my friends, pretty much sums it all up!

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Who is he?

He is Oliver and he is three years old. Oliver was diagnosed with EoE two weeks after his first birthday. He was diagnosed as failure to thrive at nine months old at which point we pursued some blood tests. His celiac panel came back somewhat positive so we were referred to a pediatric gastroenterologist. We met with the GI on Oliver's first birthday at which point we scheduled an endoscopy to find out exactly what was going on. The endoscopy showed no signs of celiac, but instead a multitude of eosinophils in his esophagus. So celiac was ruled out and Eosinophilic Esophagitis became his new diagnosis.

What is EoE?

An eosinophil is a white blood cell that is an important part of the immune system, just not when found in large numbers in one's esophagus! Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) is the result of an abnormal amount of eosinophils in the esophagus. These eosinophils are often caused by food protein and the eosinophils cause inflammation in the esophagus. Treatment options are dietary management (removal of trigger foods) and topical corticosteroid treatment. The steroids control the inflammation in the esophagus and suppress the eosinophils, but once treatment stops, the eosinophils will return unless the trigger foods are all removed.