Only six foods on young girl's menu

[LynneSin]

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050906/HEALTH/509060324/1113/NEWS

There was a candle but no cake to celebrate Caleigh Hoban's third birthday this year.

While her classmates at Hockessin Montessori School scarfed down the cupcakes her mom brought in, Caleigh had peaches and grapes. Her "3" candle perched atop an upside-down cup instead of a cake.

But none of that seemed to affect Caleigh's celebratory mood.

"She couldn't have cared less," said Colleen Hoban, who admitted she was probably more upset than her daughter about not having a birthday cake.

But Caleigh didn't have a choice. The Newark youngster suffers from a rare gastrointestinal disorder that prevents her from eating like the rest of us. She gets most of her nutrients from an amino acid-based powder mixed with Kool-Aid or Gatorade. She can eat six foods: grapes, peaches, bananas, green beans, carrots and potatoes.

It's been like that since October 2004, when Caleigh's doctors restricted her food in an attempt to figure what foods were causing the inflammation of her esophagus, a disease known as eosinophilic esophagitis.

Five months earlier she had been diagnosed with the condition, in which white blood cells known as eosinophils invade the esophagus. The inflammation causes nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and, in the case of some older children, a narrowing of the esophagus that makes swallowing difficult.

[RevCheesehead]

1. That's a shame.

Thanks for the info. My mom has had eosinophillic pneumonia, which has brought on a chronic lung disease that builds up scar tissue. It's a horrible situation that will eventually lead to her death (either from the lungs, or the strain on her heart.)

I'm glad to read about this, because I'm wondering if there might be a link between eocinophills and diet. We've never considered this before.