When a child won’t, or can’t, eat

June 7, 2010

I’ve been tested as a parent many times before, and I expect I will be tested many, many more times. But, this weekend ranks up there as one of the toughest.

One of my children has stopped eating. I will not reveal which one this is, nor will I talk of gender, so please excuse the liberal use of “they/them”.


There were signs leading up to this crisis but things came to a head on Thursday when very little was eaten and it was obvious this wasn’t going away soon. On Friday, I took this child to the doctor for a full exam in the hopes that this could be fixed with a pill or shot or instructions to rest and take it easy. Don’t worry, it’s a stomach bug would have been music to my ears.


Instead, I was told that this was likely anxiety based—a fear of eating caused by one traumatic incident involving public vomiting. Not entirely uncommon according to this doctor and Dr. Google, and with a high cure rate, though drastic measures are sometimes needed if too much weight is lost.


In the meantime, I was sent home from the doctors with instructions that we should just try to help our non-eater work through their fear without shame or punishment.


Oh, and don’t let them lose more than 5 pounds.


There were glimmers of hope this weekend. Food was eaten. There were smiles and laughter and running around the yard. But all too often, there was a stomach clutched, tears in the eyes, mommy, help me, I want to eat but I can’t. I’m so hungry.


Is there anything worse for a parent than to watch their child suffer and not know how to fix it?


This morning, even though I am pretty certain the doctor is right in his diagnosis, we ran every test possible to make sure there is no medical reason for this pain and agony. The doctor agreed that if we tested for everything, and they all came back negative, perhaps this child would realize this is something they need to overcome themselves.


One call with test results has already come back: Negative.


Shit.


I mean, phew!


But, shit, if there is no medical reason for this, if this is all a fear of eating! I will be charting unknown waters, just when I was feeling like I was getting a hang of this parenting thing.


Wish us luck.

Email, RSS Follow
Filed Under: Fairly Odd Kids, Health n Food Talk 34 Comments

Getting my double D’s

May 14, 2010

Something is definitely wrong with me.


Every morning, for the past weeks, I wake up tired. Halfway through the day, I need to lie on a couch while I beg the kids to give me just a couple of minutes to rest. Coffee does nothing, even in the middle of the afternoon or late at night.

I can’t think, I can’t write, I can’t run. It takes me hours to craft a single review and then I’m done for the day. One weekend in NYC (with my child! no partying!), and I need a week to recover. I look at the house and sigh at all the projects that I want to do, but just. can’t. do.

And so after checking in with Dr. Google and freaking myself the hell out, I called my doctor’s office and asked them to check my blood. They took five vials, presumably to check for everything from thyroid disease, to Lyme, to much, much worse.

I called for my results on Tuesday, nervous that I’d hear a kind-but-serious voice telling me to please come in ASAP. Instead, the nurse told me that all looked well, but my Vitamin D levels were very low.

My what?

Yes, Vitamin D.

Turns out that while I’ve been busy slathering on the SPF 30 on my face every morning this winter (thank you Dr. Dermatologist), I’ve been shielding my body from absorbing those sun rays our bodies need. Add that to the cloudy-all-the-time summer we had in ’09, and I can see how I might have become deficient in that area (and I know I’m not alone).

So every Tuesday, for the next eight weeks, I take prescription doses of Vitamin D that are so high, I’m not posting them here for fear that the FDA will confiscate them. And then I’ll be on a maintenance plan of calcium/Vitamin D.

Oh, and, I’ve scrapped the face creams with sunscreen in them, at least for the time being.

I’d rather have wrinkles as I run around town, than a smooth face that doesn’t feel like doing anything.
Email, RSS Follow
Filed Under: Fairly Odd Me, Health n Food Talk 24 Comments

Wordless Wednesday: The Long Spring

April 14, 2010
Photobucket

He’d like you to know that there is nothing funny about a broken humerus, especially when there are bikes to be ridden, swings to be swung and trees to be climbed.

Email, RSS Follow
Filed Under: Fairly Odd Kids, Health n Food Talk, Wordless Wednesday 33 Comments
« Previous Page
Next Page »