Home Sweet Home! It’s never felt so good–although I could go for a round 3 of Skyline Chili about now!

So a lot of you are wanting to know what Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EE) is and what does that mean for Sy Sy. Today I will just cover what EE is and tomorrow I’ll try post more about our course of action (or treatment plan although I don’t like to call it that).

Very briefly:

Eosinophils are a type of white blood cell; they are both good and bad. Our bodies need them to fight infection and they are good depending on where they are found in the body and if they are at the appropriate levels. However, they are NOT typically found in the esophagus–as in not at all, zero, zilch.

After completing another endoscopy, we found that Sy Sy has a ton of them in his esophagus. The eosinophils damage his esophagus and cause severe swelling. Left untreated, it will continue to get worse (which it already has) and will cause stricture (or narrowing). This causes food to get stuck and difficulty with swallowing–all of which can lead to a feeding tube. As it progresses, the damage may be irreversible. It is also tough on his immune system and researchers are now thinking of EE as an autoimmune disorder. EE has also contributed/caused Sy’s insane reflux, allergies and asthma.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, there is no cure but the disease can be managed. It can go into points of remission and then flare up again for no apparent reason. They only discovered EE 11 years ago so the research piece is huge. As of now the treatment pathways are either through diet therapy or drug therapy. The drug therapy is still in clinical trials and has not been approved by the FDA yet.

So there you have in a nutshell!! Stay tuned for what the plans are to help our boy…