Tyler Savage: he is fed through a tube in his stomach
Posted on 10/02/2007 3:51:14 AM PDT by 8mmMauser
Tyler Savage: he is fed through a tube in his stomach
A boy of 12 suffers from so many allergies that he is able to eat only five foods.
Tyler Savage is violently ill every time he is given dishes containing dairy products or wheat, gluten, eggs, lactose and soya.
The sole foods he is allowed are chicken, carrots, grapes, potatoes and apples.
To help him survive, minerals and vitamins are pumped directly into his stomach through a tube.
Tyler started to fall ill at the age of six when even a morsel of food would leave him writhing in agony from sickness and diarrhoea.
His mother, Lynne Savage, 43, said: "We asked for help but kept being told that he was suffering from a stomach infection. As a result his weight dropped drastically.
"He ran out of energy really quickly and couldn't do the things other children were doing. He just seemed to be getting worse and worse.
"It's been a real struggle. We didn't know what to do."
Tyler - from Earls Colne in Essex - was seen by a paediatrician at Chelmsford's St John's Hospital and had his appendix removed in December 2005.
Although the operation was a success it failed to solve the problem and he was referred to Colchester General Hospital for further tests and treatment.
That shed no light on the mystery illness and in April last year Tyler was sent to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London for checks on his stomach and bowels.
The tests led to a diagnosis of eosinophilic enteropathy, a rare and condition in which the intestines produce too many white blood cells.
These act as a miniature immune system and attack food passing through the gut to the stomach.
The condition saw Tyler's weight drop to barely three stone.
"He was becoming malnourished," said Mrs Savage, a married mother-of-three and housewife.
At first, Tyler was fitted with a nose tube to help get food direct to his stomach, bypassing the rogue blood cells in his gut.
Then, this May, he had a tube inserted into his stomach allowing him to be fed for up to ten hours through the night.
"Even though this will continue for the foreseeable future, it is a godsend," said Mrs Savage.
"Last year he was only at school for about ten days, but in the first two weeks of this new term he's only missed one day.
"We've got a long way to go but at least we're now getting some answers."
In the day, Tyler, whose father, David, 60, is an engineer, can eat the five foods he is not allergic to.
8mm
Ping...
Thanks!
You have to wonder if they've truly tested all foods that are available. Often those allergy tests only cover our Western foods, not grains, veggies and fruits found elsewhere.
I'm personally not able to eat gluten, dairy, corn, eggs, peanuts, pecans, and most beans, but still find a vast variety of foods I CAN eat, largely by shopping at the international grocery store.
Regardless, I AM glad that a feeding tube can help this boy. Hopefully they'll find other ways to help him as well that he won't always have to be on one.
..............................
A 12-year-old boy from the U.K. is allergic to so many foods that he must exist on a diet of chicken, carrots, grapes, potatoes and apples, according to a report in London's Evening Standard. Tyler Savage, of Earls Colne in Essex, becomes violently ill every time he eats food containing dairy products or wheat, gluten, eggs, lactose and soy. Tyler was first diagnosed with a rare condition at age 6 when even a morsel of food would cause him sickness and diarrhea. At first though, doctors were stumped, the boy's mother said.
Report: 12-Year-Old Boy Allergic to Almost Every Food
8mm
That list sounds like a missing digestive enzyme ~ ~ I hope you’ve seen a doctor on the corn part. I’ve noticed that numerous “corn products” also have a gluten additive as well, and sometimes for no apparant reason.
Tyler Savage, 11, has been fitted with a tube that allows him to receive controlled food and nutrients straight to his stomach, allowing him the chance to recover from many years of illness and lead a normal lifestyle.
Tyler benefits from special operation
8mm
Thankfully he lives in England and not Florida.
They would yank it, saying it was extraordinary life support.
They may not have medically tested every food, but probably the boy’s family has experimented with what brings on symptoms and what doesn’t.
At least his parents aren’t insisting that the government ban all the foods he’s allergic to.
Potatoes would stand out as odd in the line up of ‘approved foods’ to me.
He’s being kept alive artificially. Cut the tube.
/s
I missed the part about every school in Earls Colne being forbidden to allow any other child to eat normal foods...
I have a hunch that some of them I’ll be able to reintroduce. I think the major culprit was gluten, which I’ve since found out is genetic. Having eaten it most of my life probably created enough immune system upset that I’ve reacted to the other things. At some point I’m going to try reintroducing them one at a time.
I’m curious what symptoms you had that cleared up when you eliminated gluten, etc.
Mine were migraines, brain fog, muscle aches, low energy, cold feet, anxiety, mood swings ... in other words, not a fun time! :)
Easiest thing to do is peal them.
Your T-cells should eventually calm down but "dough conditioner" can irritate them just like you'd been hit with gluten.
I can remember when children who used feeding tubes sent Terri Schiavo greeting cards.
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