Journey With Nathan: What a Year it's Been...

So, I've been a terrible blogger since my post back in November. In fact, I've not been a blogger at all. The Thanksgiving, Christmas, & New Year holidays were wonderful to us! Blogging was an extremely therapeutic outlet for me in the beginning of Nathan's diagnosis and I guess it still could be if I would just do it, but my hands stumbled upon quilting and sewing last fall and they haven't stopped since they started. It's my new therapy and escape from dealing with all things food and EoE.

Another reason for the lack of posts unfortunately, is the fact that Nathan has been doing so well! I am ashamed for not sharing good news with all my readers. We tried a few foods since my last post and some worked and some haven't. Wheat was Nathan's first fail and it devastated me. But I quickly remembered how blessed we were for going so long without a fail. Eggs are being trialled right now (we're on day 8) and there has been coughing and sneezing and a bit of a runny nose... typical fail signs, but we will continue on and see what happens. Has hasn't started refusing to eat them yet, so that's a positive sign. These days this lucky little guy is able to eat: chicken, pork, beef, apples, pears, green beans, carrots, raisins, potatoes, rice, marshmallows, and a variety of Enjoy Life cookies. We are beyond blessed for this! I know way too many other children out there with this that have fail, after fail, after fail, and have zero safe foods after months and years of trying to find one. My heart breaks for each of them. Nathan still has his feeding tube, but we only use it occasionally. He drinks 24 ounces of EleCare a day to supplement his nutrition. Typically he does great and gets it all in on his own, but there have been a few weeks he has not felt well due to a food or an illness and he looses interest in eating and drinking. So we increase the number of ounces of EleCare during those times and hook him up to his feeding pump while he sleeps to keep his calories consistent. We are so thankful for the peace of mind his tube give us when he doesn't feel like eating.

I can't believe it's been almost ONE year since we got that phone call from Dr. Williams on Friday, March 24, 2011, at 1:30pm. Yes, I still remember the exact time of that life changing phone call. It has certainly been a year of ups and downs full of unexpected twists and turns. But it has been wonderful all at the same time thanks to the many friends we have made along the way from around the country! We have become especially close to a family in Arizona and now consider them quite literally "family"!

Nathan and I flew out to meet our new found "family" and visit with their precious Tyler (Nathan's EoE buddy) and their five other kids the first week in February this year! It was as if we were visiting with old friends, we had an amazing time with them! We are so gracious for their love and support for our family. They have made the last 12 months so much easier for us than they would have been without them! It makes all the difference in the world to be able to talk to someone else who walks in the same shoes you do.

The two sweetest boys ever!

Bath time buddies.

(EleCare) Drinking buddies.

Hiking buddies.

Most days are good days for us all, Nathan has a hard time understanding why he can't eat things that we or other "normal" people eat from time-to-time. It's hurts me terribly to tell him no. But typically I am armed with safe foods for him to try and divert his attention. Last week Nathan's daycare had a class party for St. Patrick's Day. I thought it would have been done and over with before we arrived that afternoon, but it was just beginning as we got there. It was the first time I wasn't prepared with food for Nathan and it was terrible! All of his classmates greeted him by running up to him and telling them about all the green cookies and cupcakes. It took all I had not to grab him and run out of there and head back home. The two year olds in his class meant no harm, and Nathan didn't seem phased, but it made me realize that as this does get easier to get used to living with, it still has a horrible way of sneaking up on me at times and it makes me want to scream! I despise the fact that life revolves around food. I was in a funk the remainder of the evening at work because of how terrible I felt for not having a fun food for Nathan at his class party. I felt like I let Nathan down, and it was a rotten feeling. A radiologist I work with came into the department that night upset over how he and his wife just discovered that their three year old had a skin reaction to peanuts. He was devastated at how they had to rearrange their grocery shopping and all the snack foods that they have in their house. He went on and on about how it's just not fair for a three year old to be on such a restricted diet by avoiding peanuts. I just sat there in silence and actually had to get up and leave the department. Honestly, I do feel terrible for them and I know it stinks. Food allergies are inconvenient and worse, terrifying if they are life threatening. But that wasn't the night for my sympathy. Typically, I would have handled the situation much better and it wouldn't have gotten to me like it did, but it was just one of my not so good days I guess. Thankfully I don't have many of them like that.

Below are some more photos to catch you up on the last few months. Enjoy!