It always makes me feel better when I put my emotions down on paper…er computer. It’s a great release. I don’t like the direction that my blog goes at times because I tend to write a lot of me fears, worries, and anxiety about food allergies and homeschooling. But that’s life. That’s really how I’m feeling. With that being said, this whole ‘son not eating’ thing is almost driving me crazy.
I googled ‘child not swallowing food’ and the majority of it seems to be psychological. I’ve read comment after comment from parents experiencing the same thing with their children. The internet is such a double edged sword. Now I can’t help myself from thinking of the possibility that it’s all just in his head. Is he possibly just scared to eat? The GI doctor seemed to be leaning towards EoE (an esophageal disease that effects many children with food allergies) I just won’t know the truth until the endoscopy in August.
In the meantime, he refuses soup, oatmeal, shakes with seeds (chia seeds, strawberry seeds, any small seed type things) anything that has any type of lump or has to chew. Because of his upper GI yesterday and his being prone to constipation I need to keep him off of any binding fruits, apples and bananas. Both of which were the main ingredient in the shakes I’ve been making.
Now, here I am struggling with the emotions that go along with your child not eating. He was already an underweight child due to his many food allergies. Now he’s refusing to eat? What the heck am I to do? Thoughts of feeding tubes clog my brain. I absolutely cannot go there. No way, no how!!!
I guess my action plan will be to continue the high protein, oily shakes to keep his calories, protein and fat up. If it is psychological, I guess he’ll get sick of those shakes at some point. If it’s not psychological, then we should at least have some answers in the next couple of months. In the meantime, let’s just hope I don’t go crazy by then.
Lindsey says
It's a long journey, it's a stressful journey, but girl, you can do it! We went through similar things before Maya was diagnosed with EoE. She's a very unique individual unlike any other story I've ever seen so don't let our story scare you. A friend of mine just discovered that her son's EoE counts are zero after an elimination diet and he won't need to go elemental/feeding tube. That's how most of these stories go 🙂 If a tubey is needed, trust me when I say it's not as bad or a big as it seems. You're always welcome to chat with me as we've walked this road 🙂 The waiting stinks, but wait we must and I'm here if you need to vent to a Momma that truly gets it 🙂
Elizabeth from EasyBreezyLife says
Thank you Lindsey. Ryan seems to be doing much better now. Not exactly sure why… I'm very curious to see what his EoE counts are though. How is your daughter now? Still on a tube?
Raul Cruz says
Even with the challenges and uncertainties, the kids are lucky to have such a strong Mom like you; very lucky!
Elizabeth from EasyBreezyLife says
Thank you Raul. 🙂