Samantha’s Story

After years of suffering, Samantha was diagnosed with EoE in April of 2007. Rounds of Flovent and Budesonide helped for a short time but symptoms slowly returned. After trying the top 6 diet elimination, Samantha’s EoE counts were reduced somewhat. Still, pain persisted. In January 2011, Samantha made the ultimate sacrifice. She gave up all food, tired of the pain, and had a G tube placed in her stomach. She would now have formula only through her G tube as her sole source of nutrition. Since G tube surgery, Samantha has thrived on her formula only diet and was given the go ahead to trial food a few months after surgery. Several food trials have proved to be a failure. Still, Samantha remains strong and upbeat. She currently has white potato and white turkey in her diet. Though she misses food immensely, she does not miss the pain, and is often content not to trial any food now and then. Ironically, Samantha is an avid cook and dreams of becoming a chef someday. She has a genuine passion for cooking and baking and does remarkably well. She is one of the top students in her Culinary class at school. Since she cannot taste her own cooking, she refers to herself as the “blind chef”. Some cannot grasp the concept of Samantha loving to cook when she cannot eat. Samantha feels it still keeps her involved with food and even family mealtime. In her spare time, she loves to read, listen to music, laugh with friends, explore space through her telescope and raise as much awareness as she can about EoE. She is a junior advocate for CURED Foundation. Samantha loves to talk and is very articulate. She is willing to tell anyone her story who is willing to listen.