"It was scary," his mother Kasey Hunter told Daily Mail Online. "Watching your kid sit in a hospital bed and not being able to help him is a mother's worst nightmare. It was scary."
An esophageal tear is an uncommon, but serious condition that is usually repaired surgically. It can be life-threatening if left untreated. According to Mayo Clinic, the most common cause of an esophageal tear is injury to the esophagus during a medical procedure.
After the sandwich incident on May 21, Alec was scheduled to have surgery two days later to repair his esophagus. But that was delayed after doctors discovered he was septic and had an infection in his chest.
Other causes include tumors in the throat, physical trauma or injury to the neck, violent vomiting and ulcers in the throat caused by gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Instead of having his esophagus repaired, Alec was admitted into the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit where he had two tubes inserted into his chest to act as a drain and a feeding tube.
In June, Alec received a blood transfusion and had larger chest tubes inserted after the originals were clogged.
Later that month he had an eight-centimeter stent inserted in his esophagus to help it heal.
"It acted as a lattice for new tissue to grow around it," Hunter told Daily Mail Online.
But his conditioned worsened.
In July, Alec was septic again and he was taken to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City where more procedures were performed.
Some of the chest tubes were taken out while others were put in due to clogging issues. The stent in his esophagus was removed, but another one had to be put in because they found another hole.
A month later, Alec's esophagus finally healed. However,doctors discovered he had an infected and inflamed gallbladder, which needed to be drained.
Surgery to remove the organ was scheduled on September 1. But because the gallbladder was so inflamed, they couldn"t remove it until October 19.
Alec, who lives with his mother, stepfather and two brothers, was finally released from the hospital on September 3, after 106 days of treatment.
The whole ordeal was tough on his family.
However, Hunter said her son's behavior during those days were admirable.
"He had the greatest attitude through all this," she said. "He didn't complain that he was stuck in the hospital. The nurses loved him."
Alec was finally diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis on November 2.
"Years prior to this he would choke on his food," Hunter said. "But we always chalked it up to eating too fast, or talking while he was eating. We never thought about it too much."
Eosinophilic esophagitis occurs when eosinophil — a type of white blood cell — builds up in the lining of the esophagus. Normally there are no eosinophils in the esophagus.
This buildup can inflame or injure the esophageal tissue, leading to difficulty swallowing or food getting stuck in the tube. In some cases it can also cause the scarring and narrowing of the esophagus.
The disease is more likely to occur in people who live in a cold or dry climate, and people who have asthma or food or environmental allergies.
Eosinophilic esophagitis is a rare white blood cell disease, occurring in an estimated in in 1,500 children, according to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
However, Mayo Clinic says the disease is becoming more common "parallel to the increase in asthma and allergy".
Because eosinophilic esophagitis is a chronic, relapsing disease, treatment for it is ongoing.
Treatment usually involves dilation or stretching the esophagus to make swallowing easier, dietary therapy to relieve symptoms and reduce inflammation, and medication.
Some patients are prescribed Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI), an acid blocker to prevent acid from backing up into the esophagus. If people's symptoms don't improve after using PPI, they will be prescribed a topical steroids such as fluticasone or budesonide, which is a liquid that is swallowed to treat eosinophilic esophagitis.
Doctor's primary treatment for treating Alec's condition is dilation. His esophagus was initially three millimeters, the doctors stretch it to approximately 20 millimeters.
In addition, Hunter said Alec modified his diet to include more soft food and "no crunchy stuff" for safety.
"He eats mac and cheese, pastas, ground burger and potatoes," his mother said.
Food like crackers, chips and even bread have been removed from his diet to reduce his risk of choking and damaging his esophagus.
Hunter said she isn't sure how long she will have to continue the softer food diet.
The teen, who visits the hospital at least four times a month for monitoring, has also started leisurely picking up soccer again.
"He's hoping to get in shape so he can play high school soccer next year," Hunter said.
