Courtesy of Dylan Dreyer/Instagram
‘Today’ Host Dylan Dreyer Reveals Son Calvin’s Celiac Disease Diagnosis: Health Updates
Opening up. Today host Dylan Dreyer revealed that her eldest son, Calvin, has been facing an intense health battle and has finally gotten answers. The elementary school student was recently diagnosed with celiac disease. Scroll below for more details on his treatment and condition.
What Happened to Dylan Dreyer’s Son Calvin?
Over the past year, Calvin has been experiencing constant stomach pain. The pain got so bad at one point that Dylan and her husband, Brian Fichera, rushed their son to the hospital. The couple assumed Calvin had appendicitis but were left confused when doctors found nothing wrong.
They continued to search for answers about Calvin’s condition, visiting multiple doctors to try and treat his symptoms.
“We took him to the ENT to check his ears, which were good,” the newscaster told People in May 2023. “They thought he had molars coming in, but then he also had a weird rash on his head. If you moved his hair away to look at it, his hair would fall out in chunks. All these things were happening that we just had no idea how or if they were all connected.”
Eventually, the little one underwent an endoscopy, which revealed he had a stomach ulcer. Further blood tests from a gastroenterologist determined that Calvin has celiac disease.
What Is Celiac Disease?
Celiac disease is “an immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye,” per Mayo Clinic.
There is no cure for celiac disease but following a gluten-free diet is strongly advised to combat the symptoms of diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, bloating and anemia.
After Calvin received the diagnosis, Dylan and Brian, who are also parents to sons Oliver and Russell, made some big changes to their home and diets.
“Not only is it not feeding him any wheat products but it’s also the cross-contamination risk,” the meteorologist told Today.com. “All of my stuff in the kitchen had to be thrown out, all of our wooden spoons, wooden cutting boards, anything that had a scratch in it … any rivets on the inside of the pot where the handle is. All of that had to be thrown out because gluten can hide everywhere.”
Luckily, after making the necessary adjustments to their eating and cooking habits, Calvin has been feeling a lot better.
“I’m happy to report that since we took gluten out of Calvin’s diet, his hair’s not falling out anymore. He has no rashes. His ear doesn’t hurt. He has no headache, and his stomach doesn’t hurt,” the mom of three shared.
