Since my boys have gotten older, I haven’t updated much on here. They need their privacy.
Here are some quick updates so I have them documented/don’t forget:
Kenny graduated from high school this past May. He graduated with an IB certificate and was a National Merit Scholar Finalist. His dream college was Columbia, but when he didn’t get in, we told him he should look at schools that had good opportunities for National Merit Finalists. That’s how Alabama came into the picture. They offered him a full ride and he took it. He’s in the honors college, is currently rushing a fraternity, and is loving life (and the weather) there. We lucked out that we get to root for good college football (Alabama) AND good basketball (KU). He finished out his soccer career with his club team in May but plays intramural soccer at Bama. Roll Tide.
Luke is a sophomore in high school. He’s been a captain on both his freshman and sophomore high soccer teams. And then he plays club soccer the rest of the year. Both he and Kenny lifeguarded for me this past summer. I’m writing less about him because I feel like he’s more at that age where he likes his privacy.
Eric just hit 20 years at his police station, which means he could retire any time he wanted to. He’s only 43 so he’ll stay longer since his pension goes up every year (up to 30 years). He’s a captain now and has aspirations to be a chief next. My goal is to eventually get him out to Cape Cod. We’ve been going there for the past 6 summers and it’s just my favorite place.
I just left my job as an aquatic supervisor. It really was the best place to work, with the best people, but I’m burned out. I want to enjoy my summers, and that’s mainly when Kenny will be back in town. I don’t want to miss him (or Luke). I still work for our swim team, but the hours are pretty minimal each month. Now I just need to figure out what I want to do next.
I was diagnosed with EoE (eosinophilic esophagitis) a little over three years ago. I was having trouble swallowing, so I went to see an ENT. He scoped my upper throat and didn’t see anything wrong, so he sent me to a GI doctor. The GI doctor put me under to do a scope of my lower throat down to my stomach. He said it could be a few things, but would dilate my esophagus if it needed it while he was in there. I woke up and could immediately tell that he had. A few weeks later, the biopsy came back and that’s when I found out I had EoE. It’s all due to allergies. White blood cells form rings on my esophagus, which can lead to the narrowing of the esophagus, compactions, and choking. The GI doctor sent me to an allergist. Allergy tests aren’t incredibly accurate, but they think mine are mainly environmental allergies. I don’t know if it’s better or worse that mine are environmental allergies vs food allergies since I can’t really control mine. I started allergy shots in Dec 2019 and they say it usually takes around 5 years.
I noticed that it was getting harder to swallow things but could usually get things down with water or a Coke (the carbonation really helps). I kept meaning to call and schedule something with the GI doctor. On Friday, I warmed up a soft taco, took my first bite, and felt it get stuck. I just couldn’t get it down. Even my saliva wouldn’t. I just kept having to gag the liquids up. A few pieces of food came up, but not enough to unclog the compaction. I ended up going to the ER around 4. They tried giving me a Pepsi (didn’t work), and gave me some medicine to try to get it down. After the medicine, it felt better. I didn’t feel the pressure in my throat, and liquids would eventually go down. Kind of like a clogged drain. I could feel them sit there but then gradually drain. I couldn’t tell if all the food had gone down so they brought their GI team in and put me under. I hate being put under and this was the first time I had to have a breathing tube. They dilated my esophagus (a normal one is 20-30mm, mine was at 12, and they stretched it to 17), and it did tear a little during that process. I went home afterwards and have to eat soft foods for a week. But honestly, food just doesn’t look good right now. I have to go see this GI doctor in a week and I’m going to ask him about a medication called Dupixent that other people in my EoE FaceBook groups seem to have success with. I asked my allergist about it at my last 6 month appointment and they couldn’t prescribe it. Fingers crossed that maybe I qualify for it.
We lost our Mac, the unicorn of all dogs, in Dec 2019. He was acting lethargic so we took him to the vet, who found a volleyball sized tumor in his abdomen. We still miss him. Cain (aka Abe Froman, the Sausage King of Chicago) is 8 now, and then we added Cheesy (aka Cheesy Poof) to the mix in 2019, and Hef (aka El Jefe) in 2020. Cheesy and Hef are both 3. Cheesy is a border collie/lab mix and Hef is a Great Pyrenees.
KC Jayhawk 