At 13 months old, my son Brandon was diagnosed with a rare disorder called Eosiniphilic Esophagitus. This disease causes certain white blood cells(eosiniphils) in Brandon’s digestive tract to attack the tissue in his esophagus and intestines anytime allergy-triggering foods are introduced. These attacks cause his digestive tract to become swollen and irritated to the point that it is nearly impossible to tolerate any food or drink by mouth. Compounding these problems are the fact that Brandon has severe allergic reactions to ingredients that are found in most food products, namely milk, eggs, wheat, soy and peanuts. Brandon’s diagnosis was made when, in March 2005, he began to refuse any and all fluids by mouth. He would still eat baby food sparingly, but clearly was not getting the nourishment he needed. After a few days, he got dehydrated badly enough to require hospitalization. After 8 days at Children’s Hospital with no explanation of what was happening, we finally got a diagnosis - EE/EG.
The next five months consisted of a carefully regimented diet of foods that we hoped he would not react to. In August, an endoscopy was performed to check the condition of his digestive tract. The results showed that the condition had worsened. The decision was made to bypass the esophagus completely by inserting a feeding tube into his stomach. We currently feed him a formula called Elecare through this tube. Elecare gives him the most basic "stuff" that he needs to be nourished. He is now also able to eat baby food squash and bananas, cheerios, white grape juice and the occasional Dum-Dum sucker.
Brandon has endoscopies every three months or so to check the condition of his esophagus and stomach. The goal is to introduce one ingredient at a time and then scope his system to see how it reacts. If the scope comes back clear, he can add that ingredient to his diet. Until this process produces enough foods to keep him nourished without the formula, we will have to continue feeding him through the tube in his stomach. To learn more about this disease, go to the link for the CURED FOUNDATION, a non-profit organization that raises money for continued research on this disorder.http://www.curedfoundation.org/
2 comments:
Can you explain the Fair Tax in detail? My only reference is from radio talk shows, which never seem to go into specifics.
The fairtax replaces all federal income taxes with a 23% national retail sales tax on all new goods and services. Although the details can be quite complex, the principle is really quite simple. You go home with 100% of what you earn! For most americans, this would be about a 30% increase in spendable income. The flip side is that you would pay a 23% tax on pretty much everything you buy. Sounds scary, but if you do the math, it's not. One of the great parts of the FairTax plan is what's called a prebate. Each month the head of household recieves a check from the government equal to the tax that would be paid on the necessities of life (as predetermined based on family size). So your groceries, utilities, etc. would essentially be untaxed. The best part of the plan is that it allows the individual taxpayer to choose the amount of taxes he will pay based on what he chooses to spend. Notice I reference the word choice...not something you hear when discussing a government program. One FAQ associated with the fairtax is "will there be enough revenue to run the government with this program?". Think for a minute how many illegal aliens are in this country, not paying taxes. With the FairTax - EVERYONE PAYS! If you buy anything at all in the public arena in this country, you pay taxes. Even the government pays taxes anytime they buy something! We're talking billions in additional untapped revenue. Imagine with the IRS gone, there's no more reason for companies to move overseas to escape the burden of our tax system. Suddenly America becomes THE tax haven. There are many more facets of this plan that can be found in the book written by Congressman John Lindner and radio talk show host Neal Boortz. It's a quick read and makes this plan very simple to understand and get behind. I highly recommend it.
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