Gabriel and the case of the Itchy's

For about 2 weeks now, Gabriel's been fighting off mild reactions to a food that we haven't been able to pinpoint.  He lies about having diarrhea, and casually mentions 'throwing up a little bit.'

I know that these are all signs of bigger things to come- so I'm trying my best to find to culprit, and remove it from our lives!
 With a diet that is limited to about 20 foods, you would think the detective game would be easy, but delayed responses, an embarrassed 5 year old, and working full time makes it harder than you'd think.
The fear is bigger than the symptoms.  On the inside of a little boy with Eosinophillic Esophagitis, problems are bigger than they appear.  Gabriel's esophagus could be growing smaller everyday.  It could be lining its self with scar tissue, making it harder and harder to swallow.  It could be ineffective, and passing all food through his GI tract, without absorbing any vitamins or nutrients.  And it could cause permanent damage and affect his ability to eat.  So we continue to play this game, log his food, record his symptoms, and cross our fingers that we figure it out sooner rather than later.

This morning, Gabriel sat on the couch, watching cartoons.  He stretched his arm over his shoulder and scratched his upper back.  I watched him as he started to wiggle his itchy skin against the back of the couch.  "I'm Itchy!!!!!"  he yelled.  And so it started.  Gabriel drank his first dose of benedryl, and let me rub hydrocortizone on his back.  He whimpered, and begged me to scratch where he couldn't reach.  For Gabriel, The itchys are not like itchy dry skin, or an annoying mosquito bite.  The itchy's, for Gabriel, are a whole body, painful itchiness that can not be relieved.  If you've had chicken pox, or poison oak, and you've suffered from the painful to scratch, unsatisfiable, distracting, burning, taking over kind of itching, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. Gabriel cried, and was in more pain by the second.  I was out of ideas, and desperate to help.  "quick, lets jump in the pool,"  I'm still not sure if I was hoping to wash him off, or distract him long enough to keep him out of misery.  He ran outside, and dropped his pajama bottoms as he ran to the pool.  As he swam, I could see his back turning redder and redder- and growing bumpier and bumpier.  He didn't complain for two whole minutes.  Then the wiggling started again.  "Its not woooorrrrrrkkking!"

I was out of ideas and didn't know how to help him.  Dose number 2 of benedryl.

I keep thinking about the white blood cells that cluster into bumpy itchy patches on his back- and imagine what they are doing to his insides.  For now the itching has passed, but his scabs, scratches, and bumps still cover his back, and remind me that there is something bigger going on inside his belly.

On days like these, I remind myself how well Gabriel is doing.  These days are much fewer and farther between.  There was a time, when itching would have been a blessing compared to what he faced.  So, for now, I'm just hoping this doesn't bring us there again.