It’s the part of the day Joint Base Lewis-McChord spouse Brandy Brandenburg dreads.
While her husband, Staff Sgt.Joshua Brandenburg, is in the midst of a year-long deployment, it falls on Brandy's shoulders to get her 19-month-old son Weston to take a daily puff from his inhaler.

"I have to hold him down," said Brandy, a 28-year-old Denver, Colo., native. "I didn't know a 19-month-old could be so strong. He fights it."

The life-saving puff from the inhaler is to help Weston fight a battle with eosinophilic esophagitis, an inflammatory condition in which the wall of the esophagus becomes filled with large numbers of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell. The major symptom of the condition is difficulty in swallowing solid food. Specifically, the food gets stuck in the esophagus after it is swallowed. The condition also routinely comes with food allergies; Weston is allergic to dairy and eggs.

"He will die if he gets those foods," Brandy said.

The family's fight with the condition has been a struggle since they PCSed to JBLM a little more than a year ago. From the time Weston was six months to about one year old, he didn't gain any weight. He also cried often due to the abdominal pain and acid reflux that come with the condition.

"We had no idea why he was in so much pain," she said. "His doctor was worried. Nobody could figure out what was going on."

After a bevy of tests and visits with several different physicians at Madigan Healthcare System, doctors were finally able to diagnose him - the day after Joshua left on his deployment.

"It's a new disease," said Brandy, who lives in DuPont. "They don't have a lot of information about it."

Since the diagnosis, life has improved, but Brandy is still shouldering much of the burden.

"Would it be easier if Josh was home? Yes," she said. "But this has given me more faith that I can do it. I don't really have a choice."

The family, which also includes daughter Penelope, 5, has worked hard to change its eating habits in an effort not to single out Weston because of what he can't have.

"He's at an age when he can recognize (when it's happening)," Brandy said. "Now all of the sudden we can't eat the way we were eating anymore."

That means there are less trips to restaurants, more cooking at home and lots of studying ingredients on labels.

"Brandy is totally committed to changing the way we eat so Weston will rarely, if ever, feel like he is left out when it comes to food," Joshua wrote in an email from Afghanistan. "She has researched this disease and talked to other parents that are in the same situation to know what to expect and what to do. She is the best mom Weston could ask for."

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