What I love about Madeline is she's fearless, and she knows what she wants in life, and she goes after it.
My mom is incredible.
She's my best friend.
She's someone that's protected me in ways that I didn't know I needed.
For us it's important to be a foodie when you travel because it's one way to immerse yourself in the culture.
Dinner is like our favorite meal. You know, that's where we go all out.
With dietary restrictions, you make modifications, you learn to love what you can. Doesn't mean you don't love what you used to love.
I can recall a time when I was at my friend's house, it was just like a simple meal. It didn't really strike me as something I should be concerned about at that point.
But I knew after a couple of bites, this wasn't going to go well.
The sensation began, the tightening, the constriction, and then the fear, the panic, and then, you know, your choking. And I didn't know what to do as a kid, so I just hid.
I didn't know that I had eosinophilic esophagitis.
You know, as I think back, she showed signs of this as a, as an infant.
She had colic as a child. She was prone to vomiting. She was prone to choking on her food at a very early age, and I didn't put it together until she could really verbalize it to me.
It really came to light about at age nine, she was in a lot of pain. She would complain of what she called a bubble in her chest, and it was really hard for me to differentiate what that meant.
We really didn't know what was going on.
We went to her pediatrician first, they sent us home to try certain things.
We went to a cardiologist and they worked her up for everything. And everything was normal, including her labs.
I kept advocating for her. We kept going back and eventually, we got to see a pediatric gastroenterologist.
It was quite a lengthy process to go to all these doctors, receive all the referrals.
I finally received an accurate diagnosis when I was nine, which seems really young, but I remember all the years before when I wasn't diagnosed.
I could finally tell people that I had eosinophilic esophagitis, and that was worth its weight in gold.
The explanation of all my behaviors and adoptions to eating and the symptoms I was experiencing.
You know, it feels good to know what it is, but then we really didn't know what to do next. We knew that we had to try to find her triggers.
It's it's sort of somewhat a relief, but also fear of the unknown.
High school was a trying time, I wanted to be included in all the food, all the parties, all the events and have no second thought about it.
Some days I don't think about it at all, and some days it's all day.
I became really good at choosing things on a menu.
So whether it was dry as a bone or served up in a beautiful plating, I was going to smother it in ketchup. And that is not cool. It's weird and doesn't really add to the foodie lifestyle that I once had.
People can tell something is very wrong.
When you're having this dysphagia, when you're choking, you're not really able to advocate because you're a little bit busy. So people are frightened.
When you're having these situations, you're you're like trying to calm them down as you choke.
No one can really relate.
It happens whenever it happens. It's very unpredictable. And you're not alone. Because people care about you.
I appreciate, the fact that I can be honest with my friends and family.
We are able now to understand my triggers, understand what I can and cannot have.
What I've learned is that inflammation in the esophagus long term is not a good thing to have.
You don't have to suffer in silence.
Keep fighting for yourself. Keep advocating for yourself. Keep coming back to the doctor and, and treating this disease.
There is hope. There is change, there is medical progression.
One thing I would tell my nine year old self is when she was so confused and worried about something being wrong with her, the experience that she's having with these symptoms of dysphasia, the chest pain.
There's a name for it. It's a long one, but it's a name and it's a diagnosis.
Eosinophilic esophagitis. You don't want it, but you have it and it's it's going to be okay.
EOE is something that is lifelong, but it's able to have reprieve.