Disease can’t keep Broomfield brothers out of the game

Young football fanatics won’t be slowed down by feeding tubes

On the football field, Carson and Jake Organ tackle their opponents with youthful exuberance.

Football is a way of life for the Organ family, and they’re used to tackling life’s challenges as well as their opponents on the field. After the boys developed serious food-related allergies and needed to use feeding tubes, their mother, Chanda Organ, wasn’t sure where their lives would lead.

Jake and Carson, however, are thriving while playing football, a sport that has empowered them to stay healthy as they receive support from coaches and the Broomfield Youth Football Association.

Sports have been a positive influence in Jake and Carson’s lives, especially with the support of coaches and accepting players, Chanda Organ said. The Organs want to spread some inspiration to other “tubies” through their Facebook page, which follows their active lifestyles while they use feeding tubes to manage a chronic disease called Eosinophilic Esophagitis, or EoE.

“Don’t be afraid to just try it,” said Carson, 10, who has been playing football for four years in BYFA flag and tackle programs. “If you don’t like it, you can try a different sport. … I have a feeding tube and I’ve played lots of sports and it hasn’t hurt me to play with my tube.”

The boys have an inability to eat most foods because the esophagus becomes inflamed, which can cause problems with swallowing, nausea and vomiting and other digestive problems, according to the American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders, a nonprofit advocacy group.

Though EoE can be serious, sports have helped Jake and Carson feel more normal and stay active. After the go-ahead from their doctor, they’ve enthusiastically jumped into the sport, Chanda Organ said.

Jake, 12, said he started playing football to be like his dad, who also played. Before each practice or game, he wraps his stomach with an ACE bandage to keep his feeding tube from getting snagged, but said there are no other special preparations he has to make.

Jake has been playing for eight years, and said he had one bad season where he missed practices because of doctor’s appointments and spent an important game in the hospital.

Since then, though, he said it has been easy to keep going back to the football field with his game face on, he said.

“Don’t let EoE hold you back,” he said. “Just do what you want and don’t hold back.”

Coaches with BYFA have made it possible for the boys to stay in the game, supporting them when they don’t feel well and making sure they’re truly part of the team, Chanda Organ said.

“They’ve never been told they can’t play, and (the team) doesn’t discriminate,” Organ said on a chilly Saturday morning, watching from the sidelines of Carson’s football game at Broomfield County Commons. At halftime, she walked to another field to watch the second half of Jake’s game.

Both boys use Mic-Keys, a type of “low profile” gastrostomy feeding tube meant to be less cumbersome and work for people who want to lead active lifestyles, according to Kimberly-Clark, maker of the Mic-Key.

The Organ family has a Facebook group, Mic-Keys On the Go, which posts photos of the kids playing football, inspirational quotes and even how-to posts about how to change tubes.

In the early days of her children’s illness, Organ said the Internet was vital to finding out the ins and outs of how best to handle EoE and feeding tubes. Now, they want to contribute to the conversation with tips and some inspiration of their own.

“When we started, nobody really tells you anything, but I want other parents to know it’s OK,” she said. “Football has taken them out of the pity party. Here, they’re normal.”

– Megan Quinn (source: broomfieldenterprise.com)