On Tuesday evening, December 11, 2007, ACCFCB met with 15 month old Giovanni DeGeorge and his family.
Giovanni suffers with Eosinophilic esophagitis- swelling of the esophagus (the part of the body connecting the throat and the stomach) caused by an allergic white blood cell, the eosinophila. A form of food allergy that causes severe heartburn symptoms, nausea, vomiting, Reflux, weight loss and food impaction.
Giovanni was also fitted with a prosthetic right eye in 2007 in Rochester, New York (every 6 mos it will be cleaned & polished; every 3 years it will be enlarged as he grows).
He is developmentally delayed & gets therapy four times a week for early intervention. (Speech therapy & special ed.)
Genetic testing has not determined if there is a common cause for all of Giovanni's complications.
*6 year old sister, Shylyne had open heart surgery in 2007- she seems to be doing fine now.
Upon our visit, we found Giovanni full of youthful energy, playing and walking. He only said "BaBa"...requesting a bottle, no other words. His prosthetic eye looked good, mom said that there is slight rejection with it and doctors were notified (the body sees it as a foreign object). Giovanni tends to tilt his head to the right, almost as if to highlight the use of his good eye.
Dad, Michael is a Correction Officer @ ACCF. Dad previously served in the military and was deployed to Iraq.
Mom, Jamie works for Albany County Dep't of Social Services.
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