National Eosinophil Awareness Week

So, if you've been reading this blog at all, you know by now that my daughter has food allergies. As an infant she had severe reflux which continued well into toddlerhood, long after most babies outgrow it. When she was around 18 months old, we finally realized she had food allergies. I connected with a local support group who referred me to Kids With Food Allergies. It was here that I learned how to manage my daughter's food allergies and how I discovered how uncontrolled her reflux was. She was still waking frequently during the night, had frequent ear infections, frequent hiccups after eating, wanted to eat and drink constantly and even spit up occassionally - as a TODDLER! Our pediatrician referred us to a pediatric GI who ultimately tested for EE (Eosinophilic Esophagitis) which often goes hand-in-hand with reflux symptoms and food allergies. Taylor was not diagnosed with EE, but for several weeks, as we were awaiting our GI consult, as we were waiting for "scope day", and as we were waiting for the results of the biopsies, I pondered what it would be like to raise a child with EE. KFA has a forum dedicated to parents of children of Eos disorders where these parents can discuss symptom management, feeding tubes and get support from other parents who have faced similar circumstances and had to make the same dificult decisions for the health of their children.

This week is National Eosinophil Awareness Week. I feel compelled to do my part to raise awareness of this rare but significant condition. As I was blog hopping tonight, not even thinking about EE or food allergies, I came across this post. This is a very touching story of a mom who's 3 year old was diagnosed with EE. Still don't know what EE is? Check out her post so you can learn more! She'll do a much better job of explaining it than I will!