Tag Archives: Eosinophilic

Here’s to 2015

The First Hurdle

Our GOSH admission had three key stages, the first of which was to dis-impact M’s bowel and prepare him for a repeat pellet study. We knew that when the original transit study was done at our local hospital 18 months ago, he was chronically impacted and there was some debate over whether the results, that suggested his transit was relatively normal, were accurate or not. My honest opinion was that he was not struggling with a slow transit colon, but the gastro team at GOSH wanted to be certain and were more than happy to admit him for this test due to the issues we’ve experienced with our unsympathetic local hospital over the last 12 months. My instinct was that nearly 9 years of unrelenting diarrhoea meant that there had to be another root cause for his problems that was still waiting to be discovered and it would just take some persistent looking to find it.

Courtesy of ebsta.com

Unfortunately, the first hurdle – after the resolution of the whole missing bed saga – proved to be far tougher than any of us had anticipated. After his amazing courage in facing all the health and medical challenges of the past year, and despite knowing that he needed to have a NG-tube, M showed just how stubborn he can be and steadfastly refused to co-operate with the nurses who were trying to pass the tube. Wednesday evening saw 5 different nurses, 4 attempts, a flurry of unsuccessful negotiations and 1 small boy, who pulled the last 2 attempts out himself because, according to him, the nurses weren’t listening when he asked them to stop and then told them to go. Having kept the other occupants of the 4-bed bay awake until past midnight with his cries and screams, we all finally admitted defeat and decided to leave it to the next day’s nursing team to remedy the situation.

Thursday morning arrived far too quickly, with a disturbed night’s sleep for M and an uncomfortable one for me. We talked about the tube and the need to have it in place as soon as possible so that we could start on the first round of treatment, the dreaded Klean prep – a highly effective laxative that would start the process of clearing his system. M knew and accepted all the reasons for the tube, but at the heart of the matter was the fact I had a small, scared 8 year old, who had endured a great deal since his scopes last October and was evidently close to saturation point.

Courtesy of The Royal Ballet/ROH Johan Persson

Even the lure of tickets to go to see “Alice in Wonderland” performed by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden that very afternoon looked unlikely to be sufficient draw, but my boy’s love for all things theatrical combined with my own enthusiasm for going to see anything at the Royal Opera House eventually overcame his worst fears and won the day. He agreed to let one of the doctors pass the tube and with 4 of us holding his head, arms and legs, another distracting him whilst it happened and the doctor doing the deed itself, we finally got the tube in place. With that hurdle tackled, M and I rushed to get ourselves ready and a bag packed for our trip to the theatre. We went by taxi with another little girl from the ward and a nurse and arrived just in time to take our complimentary seats in a box before the ballet began. The performance was an amazing visual feast and proved to be a more than adequate distraction from all the tears and trauma of the morning. M loved the outlandish costumes of the Mad Hatter and we had a lot of fun trying to work out which of Alice’s family and friends were depicted by each of the fantastic characters we met throughout the rest of the ballet.

Courtesy of The Royal Ballet/ROH

Naturally, as I’ve come to expect when dealing with anything to do with M, nothing was as straight-forward as we might have hoped as we headed into that all important first full day of admission. The stress of the tube placement led to him being violently sick within 10 minutes and he spent the rest of the day retching and bringing up bile, meaning the Klean prep couldn’t be started until much later in the day. He reacted to the Duoderm, a dressing usually used to protect the fragile skin of the face by forming a barrier between the cheek and the tube and tape, which meant there was no alternative but to tape the NG-tube directly to his face. The final straw came in the middle of the night, when after I’d finally got my tired chap to sleep, the quantity of the Klean prep being pumped in at the speed it was upset his system and he woke to be sick for the second time in less than 24 hours.

By the time Friday morning came around, we were both feeling emotionally fragile and physically exhausted and M refused point-blank to move from his bed. We sat quietly on ward, with M plugged into the television via his headphones and I immersed myself in the escapism of a good book. It had been a bumpy start, but finally we were on our way.

Merry Christmas!

The Mystery of the Missing Bed

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Courtesy of http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk

It sounds like one of the Enid Blyton stories that my children have been listening to at bedtime recently. M and G have been loving the adventures of Fatty, Buster and the rest of the Five Find-outers gang, but this was a mystery set to challenge even the hardiest of intrepid adventurers.

Having received our summons to GOSH less than 24 hours earlier, and laden down with suitcase, backpacks, Lego advent calendar and the ever-present Cat, M and I found our way across London, through those infamous front doors and up to the long-term gastro ward. We approached the nurses station and were greeted by a bemused looking senior staff nurse, who seemed uncertain as to who we were and why we were there. I gave her M’s name and that’s when a look of complete panic swept across her face. His name wasn’t on her master list, she hadn’t been expecting him and at that precise moment of time, there was no empty bed ready and waiting for him.

With profuse apologies and a promise to get hold of the ward administrator, the nurse in charge and the bed manager, M and I were left, with our bags, in the somewhat small and cramped playroom, whilst the mystery of M’s missing bed was investigated. After the early start to our day and an emotional goodbye to G, I barely held it together as I called Mike with a slight hysterical edge to my voice. The play co-ordinator found a circuit board kit to entertain M and I got chatting to another patient and her Mum, who had just been turfed out their room and were waiting to hear where they were being moved to. We all sat there for nearly 2 hours, whilst those in charge negotiated, discussed and settled the bed situation for all involved.

Courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

I might never know why the mystery of the missing bed happened or how it was resolved to everybody’s satisfaction, but I’m delighted that, thanks to the hard work of the nurses and the obviously determined look on my face that meant I wasn’t going to take no for an answer, M’s bed miraculously appeared in the “bay” and we could finally get ourselves settled in for the duration.

Waiting

Beating the Bullies – Anti-bullying Week 2014

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Courtesy of www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk

Courtesy of http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk

November’s proving to be a busy month, what with Armistice Day (11th), Children in Need (14th), World Prematurity Day (17th) and this week it’s the turn of Anti-bullying week (17th-21st). The aim of the week is to raise awareness of bullying and encourages children, young people, schools, parents and carers to come together and work towards stopping bullying for all. There are no official statistics about the prevalence of bullying across the UK, but recent reports state that almost 45,000 children spoke to ChildLine about bullying during 2013, a worryingly high number and one that’s unlikely to scratch the surface of the problem.

Bullying is defined as “Repeated incidents of physical or mental abuse (teasing, taunting, name calling, threatening, isolating) of a weaker person by a stronger person.” Stronger is not necessarily defined by size, but also includes those who are more confident or more able to pinpoint a weakness in the person they are victimising. The sad reality is that this naturally makes disabled children or those with special educational needs a prime target for bullies and they are more likely to experience bullying in school and in the wider community that other groups. The focus of this year’s campaign is to eradicate bullying for these vulnerable individuals in particular.

Courtesy of http://www.theguardian.com

This focus has struck a particular chord with me this week as M has been dealing with some bullying over the last few weeks at school. Some of the boys in his class have been teasing him about his allergies by saying that they are allergic to him and then pretending to be physically sick. This has had a knock-on impact in the playground, where the same children have then been avoiding playing with him, leaving him feeling isolated and on his own. He has some good friends, who have stuck by his side and defended him when he’s felt unable to do it himself; and his big sister has lent her support too by watching out for him whenever she can and inviting him, and his friends, to join in games that she’s playing with hers.

Unfortunately, M’s complicated needs – dyspraxia, dyslexia, EGID and food allergies – make him an obvious candidate for attention from bullies, who only need the smallest difference to focus in on and attack. We’ve taught him to stand up for himself without being aggressive or rude, to ignore whenever possible the comments made and to walk away when the going gets tough; but it’s not an easy issue to tackle. Right now, he’s anxious about their response when he finally has his tube fitted and is even worrying about how things will go next year, once G has moved on to secondary school. Don’t get me wrong, his teacher and the school have been proactive in dealing with the bullies, but they can’t take away his fears or his belief that he’s not being heard.

Sadly he’s not on his own. Children with complex medical needs can feel isolated by their illness as they struggle with feeling different and the questions of why they can’t be like their friends or why they are so frequently absent from school. Even those with better known conditions, such as T1D or asthma, may have limited contact with others of the same age who are dealing with the same issues and I can only imagine how much harder it is for those with rare illnesses, who may know no-one else with the same diagnosis in their area. A lack of true understanding about their medical needs and the impact on their everyday life can add to their frustration and the sense of being on their own. Adding bullying to that already tumultuous mix is often a burden too many and these children may head into a downwards spiral that can result in poor self-confidence, depression and even self-harm.

Courtesy of http://www.sciennes.ik.org

What can we do? I don’t have an easy answer to that difficult question. As a parent I can educate my children to respect the differences of their peers and not to belittle those who don’t conform to society’s notion of “normal”. I can encourage them to enjoy friendships with everyone and not just those who have similar interests or hobbies. I can teach them that sometimes they won’t see eye to eye with their classmates and that those differences of opinion is what will challenge and shape their own beliefs.

And as a parent to children who stand out from the crowd, I can help them find their feet in our world, to stand strong when challenged and to see the value in their very uniqueness.

Busy days

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Now that Halloween and Bonfire night are behind us and Christmas is fast approaching, there’s finally a little time to look back and reflect on the start of the new academic year. September seems like a lifetime ago and yet was a busy month with appointments right, left and centre that have had a lasting impact on decisions about M’s long-term care. We had appointments with GOSH, a new community paediatrician, M’s OT and with CAMHS; and I needed to be the thread that linked them all to ensure that M remained at the centre of their focus and that all agencies were working together to provide the best support they could.

Courtesy of travaasa.com

The OT’s review was everything we needed it to be and she has already started going into school once a week to work with M on his handwriting skills. The clinical psychologist he meets with fortnightly through CAMHS is slowly building a relationship with him and gently pushing him to talk about how he feels about life with EGID and the frustrations he experiences. As for the new community paediatrician, who was recommended by our local hospital, well, lets just say we won’t be rushing to meet with her again. Her complete lack of understanding of his condition was glaringly evident as she suggested that regular toileting and a sticker chart were the answers to all our problems. How I refrained from saying something very rude is nothing short of a miracle!

The most important of all these, for us, was our regular appointment at GOSH with the gastro team charged with M’s care. The restricted diet and increased medications over the last 3 years have not brought about the results we’ve been aiming for and M continues to be symptomatic a lot of the time. We have become increasingly concerned about his emotional well-being as he struggles with the impact of EGID and multiple food allergies on his daily routines and I was determined to come away from that appointment with a tangible plan in place. Despite our best efforts with the challenging treatment suggested by the local consultant leading into the summer, our worst fears were realised when the registrar told us that M appeared to be impacted again and we would need another course of fairly heavy-duty laxatives to empty his bowel.

That led into a lengthy discussion about where we’re headed and what the most sensible next steps for M’s care are. Short-term plans are all well and good, but we now need a long-term care plan put in place. He agreed that we can’t keep limping from one appointment to the next and promised to discuss M’s current situation with our consultant. Medical terms such as “pellet study“, “elemental diet” and “manometry” were bandied around and I am glad that, thanks to the support from other FABED families, I have a reasonable layman’s understanding of what all these terms actually mean.

We left the hospital feeling that we were beginning to making some progress in dealing with the problems that continue to dog M’s every step and a short-term plan that would start to deal with the current impaction issue. The longer term decisions would be discussed both internally and with us before anything was settled on for definite. A follow-up appointment with the consultant herself was made and our step was just a teeny bit lighter as we felt our concerns were being heard and addressed.

Courtesy of abercrombierealestate.com

However, since that day, over 7 weeks ago, I have spoken to GOSH at least once a week and almost daily over the past 10 days. The improvements expected haven’t happened and so the decision has been made to admit M into the hospital for further testing. We need to understand whether his bowel is working as it should or not as that will give us a clue as to the direction we need to head. We have also agreed with his consultant that the diet and medicines just aren’t helping his hugely allergic colon and so have made the decision to remove all food from his diet and follow the elemental diet via NG-tube for a while. This should give his bowel and body some much-needed time to rest and recuperate, something I believe it so desperately needs.

The Message from “My Man” at the BBC

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Three weeks on from that episode of the BBC’s hospital drama, Holby City and I’m still reeling from the amazing response to my blog post and the unexpected bonus of two phone-calls with series producer, Simon Harper. When I penned my heartfelt response to what Mike and I had watched on-screen, I expected to reach a few more than my usual readership and dared to hope that I might beat my previous “top score” of 186 readers in a 24-hour period with my letter to our local hospital. I never dreamed that over 2,000 people across the world would read, comment on and share that plea for responsible portrayal of chronic illness in the mainstream media. As well as sharing my thoughts through my blog, I made a formal complaint to the BBC and, through the wonder of Google, managed to track down Simon Harper and sent him an e-mail, expressing my concerns about the inaccuracies about EGID portrayed in that episode.

Courtesy of bbc.co.uk

I didn’t expect to hear anything back, so you can only imagine my surprise and absolute delight when Simon not only replied to my e-mail, but also offered to pick up the phone and discuss the matter with me. We agreed a day and time to talk and I spent the week making notes and talking to fellow EGID parents through FABED and other on-line forums to get their points of view on what I needed to raise in my conversation. That first phone-call lasted for around 30 minutes and at no point did I feel that Simon was keen to close down the conversation and finish the call, He was genuinely interested in learning more about EGID and understanding why this episode had caused such distress in the on-line community. We spent a long time discussing the difference between “intention” – what the program was trying to portray – and “perception” – what the viewing public understood – when it comes to producing a drama for television viewing and here Simon explains it in his own words:

The intention: “the guest character’s general allergies were a dramatic smoke screen to the actual underlying cause of his pain, neuralgia – but that in no way were those allergies supposed to suggest a condition as specific and, as I now know from talking to you, severe as EGID. In no way was the story supposed to say that EGID was in fact just neuralgia!“.

The perception: “I think it comes down to one scene where Zosia (the doctor) mentions that Nigel’s eosinophils are up – due to his general allergies – and she then goes on to mention “his eosinophilic gastro-enteritis”. What I can see maybe wasn’t clear was that Zosia, excitedly bandying round theories and possible prognoses at this stage of the story, is in fact supposed only to be raising EGID at a possibility at that moment. A possibility that, in fact, turns out not to be the case. But I can see that the phrasing “his” – combined with the fact that dramatically speaking, we never see Zosia rule out EGID (a moment we assume happens off-screen) – could have given the wrong impression. It’s a tough call with medical drama – you never play on-screen every single beat of medical treatment that would happen in real life, choosing the moments which best serve the story, and sometimes rely on the audience’s imagination to assume and deduce. It’s a delicate balance, and there is definitely a lesson to be learned here, because evidently, missing out that moment has in this case given the wrong impression.”

I also mentioned my concerns that a range of inflammatory bowel diseases had appeared to be ruled out through a simple ultrasound, whilst those of us living with this family of illnesses know, from our first-hand experiences, that endoscopies, colonoscopies and biopsies are the only reliable ways to confirm a final diagnosis. The conversation ended with an agreement that Simon would spend time investigating what research was done, talking to the consultant concerned and checking out the ultrasound situation before phoning me back a week later to talk some more. I was struck by his commitment to unpicking where and how things went so wrong and have to confess to being cheeky enough to send another e-mail, thanking him for his honest discussion with me and pointing him in the direction of various EGID websites, so that he could truly understand what our families deal with on a daily basis.

A week later and that second phone-call happened. Another 30 minutes valuably spent clearing up those outstanding points, including his agreement that the discussion regarding the ultrasound came across as far more definitive than was their intention. I have to say I’m impressed with the research into EGID he had done during that week and appreciate that he took the time to properly review the research done originally for the program. Finally, and definitely most importantly, he has sent a huge apology to our EGID family and I truly believe it is a heartfelt one.

Courtesy of psmag.com

“I repeat, I am absolutely aware that despite all this, an upsetting impression was given due to the way EGID was referenced and never ruled out on-screen and there is absolutely a lesson to be learned there for the future. I can’t undo any upset caused, I realise, but do so hope I have been able to reassure you that we take the medical research aspect of HOLBY with the utmost seriousness and that in this instance, it truly was not an instance of inaccuracy, but, I think, a point of clarity that had an unforeseen impact on how the story came across.

I truly have enjoyed our conversations, as not only did I get an education on the condition that your son, you, your family and many others are so courageously living with, but, as a producer, it is always absolutely invaluable to get insights on how our story intentions actually translate to an audience member – that gives us great help in the way we tell our stories for the better to make HOLBY an entertaining but hopefully also stress-free hour! And I do hope that you will continue to watch and enjoy the show.“

A big thank you to Simon Harper for his willingness to be open and honest about the research done for this storyline, the errors of judgement made in the production, to talk to me not just once, but twice and his apology for the upset unintentionally caused. As one of my fellow EGID Mums asked (and I wholeheartedly agree):

“Any chance they’ll get Mr Allergy (grrrrrr) back and do a proper episode on EGID?“

Simon, I wait for your answer!

The Great ‘Flu Vaccination Debate

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It’s that time of year once again, when the NHS starts talking about ‘flu vaccinations and those of us with chronic illnesses – or who fall into one of the other qualifying categories – attempt to book our appointment before winter’s half over and we’ve already been laid low by the ‘flu. Somewhat astonishingly this year, both my GP’s surgery and I were quick off the mark in being organised and by mid-September, not only had my appointment been booked, but I’d also had the injection itself. They had checked my medical records and found that it didn’t appear that I’d ever had the pneumo-vac, which led to the unexpected double whammy of a needle in each arm during my 5-minute appointment. The only years I’ve not had the ‘flu jab in the past 29 years of my T1D life were those when I was pregnant and that was down to personal choice. My one experience of the ‘flu, caused by an inability to get an appointment before November, saw me laid low for the best part of 2 weeks by a bad bout of the ‘flu and Mike and my Mum were let to rally the troops on a daily basis. For me, the ‘flu jab is not an option – its a necessity.

Since having M’s diagnosis with EGID and learning more about the long-term nature of his condition as well as knowing firsthand all about life with a chronic illness, I started to investigate whether he should also be having an annual ‘flu vaccination to help keep him healthy. Our GP offered no opinion on whether he should have it or not, though he was more than happy to agree if we wanted to go ahead, and our GOSH consultant thought it a good idea, but something that needed to be actioned by our GP. It quickly became evident that Mike and I would be the ones making the final decision and so the hard work began. I started researching the pros and cons of the vaccination for M, but with one thing and another, including his admission to GOSH for more scopes, last year just passed us by and as we had survived the onslaught of winter colds and bugs reasonably well, I shelved the idea for another time.

Courtesy of blog.fromyouflowers.com

This autumn has sneakily crept up on me and with its arrival has come the need to revisit that discussion and make our decision. One of my main concerns was M’s egg allergy as the vaccines given are grown in hens eggs, which can cause an allergic reaction and that is something we need to avoid given M’s delicately balanced state of health right now. However, reading more on the subject (and trust me there’s a lot of information out there), the fact that M does not suffer with anaphylaxis, but rather a delayed reaction to egg combined with the availability of ‘flu vaccines with low or no egg content, I was reassured that it would be safe to give it to him.

Next I needed to consider whether to insist he has the traditional injected vaccine or if we should try the new nasal spray vaccinations, which are currently being rolled out across the UK for all children under 4. Whilst the nasal spray would certainly be easier to administer, the current NHS recommendations are that this is not given to children with a known egg allergy as there is simply not enough evidence to conclude whether it is safe or not. Much as I feel M needs to be protected against the ‘flu, I am not yet prepared to take an unnecessary risk whilst there are still alternatives available. We are struggling with his EGID at the moment anyway and adding an unknown to the mix could lead to repercussions that could affect us all for months.

So, it would appear that the debate has been settled. I have requested with our new GP that M is given the ‘flu vac and am waiting for the phone-call back to confirm that a low/no egg vaccine has been delivered to the surgery. Fortunately, M is astonishingly stoic about having injections, so I’m confident that he will take it with the minimum of fuss – it would be a whole other story if the child in question was G, but luckily we don’t feel she needs to have it too for the time being.

EGID – the real story

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I am still reeling from the astounding response to my last blog post, Dear BBC Controller. When I asked you, my wonderful readers, to share what I had written in a hope of raising some much-needed awareness about EGID, I have to admit to only expecting the odd person to possibly share the link on Facebook with a few of their friends and nothing prepared me for what happened next. From the 20 shares that I know about, that post gathered momentum and I experienced a fantastic demonstration of exactly what social media can do. Within 48 hours of publication, that blog was viewed by over an amazing 1,800 people across 33 countries and the statistics are still creeping up on a daily basis. I have been humbled by this response to my plea and I can do nothing more than extend my heartfelt thanks to you all.

One of the things I realised, however, is that I have never given a comprehensive explanation of EGID and that my last blog post may have left new readers wondering what on earth all the fuss was about. Those of you who follow my blog will have an understanding of how this chronic illness impacts our lives and for those who know our family personally, you have probably had a brief explanation of the disease along the way. In that last blog post I didn’t want to go into the finer details of what exactly EGID is, so now I want to set the record straight, so to speak, and explain in a little more detail M’s condition.

EGID, or Eosinophilic Gastro-Intestinal Disorders, are a complex and chronic group of digestive system disorders caused by an abnormally raised level of eosinophils within the gastro-intestinal tract. Eosinophils are an important type of white blood cell, which normally help the body fight off certain infections and parasites and are typically involved in attacking the causes of allergic reactions, thus protecting the body. In some individuals, the body produces too many eosinophils in a particular part of the GI tract, which leads to chronic inflammation and can cause extensive tissue damage in that area. It is currently thought that there is both auto-immune and genetic involvement in EGID, but further research will be needed to confirm these links. Like many inflammatory bowel diseases, EGID is a classic waxing and waning condition, meaning that the symptoms and their severity can change on a daily basis.

This family of rare diseases is diagnosed depending on where in the GI tract the elevated eosinophilic count has been found:

Eosinophilc Oesophagits (EE or EoE) – in the oesophagus and is the most commonly diagnosed form of EGID
Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis (EG) – in the stomach and/or small intestine
Eosinophilic Enteritis (EGE) – in the small intestine
Eosinophilic Colitis (EC) – in the large intestine (colon)

This last one is the type that M has been diagnosed with, which means he has, in typical M-fashion, a relatively rare type of a rare chronic illness. Statistics are not readily available as it was only first recognised during the first half of the 20th century, but over the last 20 years, cases have been recorded in the UK and there are currently in the region of 700 cases looked after at Great Ormond Street Hospital. This suggests around 2,000 diagnosed cases across the UK as a whole and there are also known cases of EGID in other countries, including Australia and Canada, with a starting point of 3,000 people diagnosed in the USA.

Symptoms of EGID include:

Diarrhoea
Constipation
Blood and/or mucous in the stools
Stomach pains
Lethargy
Mouth Ulcers
Rash
Asthma attacks
Sore throat
Joint Pains
Headaches
Vomiting
Nausea
Reflux
Failure to thrive
Sudden weight loss
Loss of appetite
Mood swings
Excessive sweating/body odour
Loss of colour in the skin
Dark rings under the eyes

None of these symptoms is exclusive to EGID and not all are experienced by all patients. We had noticed a number of these with M in the years leading up to his diagnosis and it was the odd combination of them – diarrhoea, poor weight gain, joint pains, mood swings, excessive sweating, body odour and dark shadows under his eyes – that led to our conclusion that this could well be what he had.

As eosinophils are part of the body’s response to allergic reactions, it comes as no surprise that many people with EGID also struggle with a varying level of food and environmental allergies. What makes it even harder is that these allergies can also wax and wane and therefore can change over the years. When M was diagnosed we were asked to put him on a MEWS (Milk, Egg, Wheat, Soya) free diet, which is a common starting point for those with EGID. Over the years, we have also had to remove gluten, potatoes, raisins and raspberries from his diet to try and alleviate his symptoms and we still don’t seem to have the answer to whether this list is complete or not. Some of the lovely families we have met through FABED have had to go a step further and remove all foods from their child’s diet due to a constant flare-up of their EGID. These brave children are now tube-fed an elemental diet in an attempt to help them feel better and grow stronger.

These families have to cope with numerous hospital visits, regular hospital stays, invasive diagnostic procedures such as colonoscopies and endoscopies, tube-feeding, colostomies, huge amounts of medicines daily and the unavoidable emotional fall-out from children who long to be just like their peers. All of this is why it’s important that the media realises that EGID is not about “Mr Allergies” and why such factually inaccurate portrayals of chronic illnesses are problematic for this EGID Mum.

If you are interested in finding out more about EGID, you can also look at these sites:

***Breaking news – today I received an e-mail response to my complaint from the Holby City series producer. He has offered to look into the research done for this story-line and will discuss it with me, over the phone, later this week***

7 years to diagnosis

Searching for an answer

Tag Archives: Eosinophilic

Here’s to 2015

The First Hurdle

Merry Christmas!

The Mystery of the Missing Bed

Waiting

Beating the Bullies – Anti-bullying Week 2014

Busy days

The Great ‘Flu Vaccination Debate

EGID – the real story