On our first day, we were told the chili was safe for Josh to eat. I printed out business card sized allergy alerts and distributed them each and every time we ate - just to make sure that everyone knew that Josh had eosinophilic esophagitis and could not eat wheat, soy, rice, oats, rye, turkey or peas.
The chili ingredient read "beef base" - it was wheat.
Josh ate the chili on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, he had an acute flare. The gagging and retching. We immediately stopped all food intake and just gave Josh his EO28 Splash for 24 hours. http://www.neocate.com/aaa_neocate/703-neocate-products-E028-splash.html Here he is 24 hours after his flare began. Notice how slowly he can swallow his nutritional supplement. His esophagus is SO inflammed, swollen and abscessed. I cried. He spent most of Saturday in bed, in pain.
Our first night in Disney, we dined at Chef Mickey, a character dining restaurant in our hotel.
Josh delighted the characters with lots of communication and smiles.
It was a great way to end our first day.
Josh and his dad exploring Lido Beach in Sarasota, Florida.
With temperatures in the mid-eighties, we donned shorts and t-shirts.
Using the beach wheelchair provided by our resort (Sunspree), we walked for an hour watching the sunset on the Gulf of Mexico.
Josh was so calmed and captivated by the beauty.
Watch Josh deliver a few of his lines on stage last night.
A star is born!
After this scene, the buzzards quietly leave the stage to put on their grass skirts for the finale. Well, that's the plan anyway.
Shannon (Josh's assistant) had a heck of a time getting him off the stage. He kept grabbing his wheel and/or planting his feet to keep his wheelchair from moving.
And then after the finale and the curtain went down, Josh tried the same stunt.
He LOVED being on stage!!!
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/westernsprings/news/671357,ws-shtjungle-112907-s1.article
Read the article about Josh and his role in the local community theater group.
