Lorelei was always a great eater when she was a baby and up until she was diagnosed and put on medication. After that she started getting picky. We were told by the doc that her meds can cause food to taste metallic and she might just get used to it so we left it alone and continued to encourage her to eat. Over the last 4 years her eating habits have grown increasingly more difficult to manage. Food is more often than not repulsive to her. It has to be exactly what she wants at that moment or she won’t eat it and often she’s not in the mood for anything or claims to not be hungry at all. It has to be the right food, with the right texture, temperature, smell, color, size, and the list goes on. Most recently this has gotten so bad that I am concerned about her health. She refuses to eat almost at all and has lost about 4 pounds!
It has been suggested that we try an eating clinic. Eating clinics differ in approach. Some use a reward system, rewarding children for eating where others use force feeding which honestly doesn’t seem like a good option for us. Someone ramming food down Lorelei’s throat just isn’t appealing to me. The one we looked at in Philadelphia would require us to come eight hours a day, five days a week for a minimum of four weeks! As we live about an hour and a half (not counting city traffic) away, this doesn’t seem like a viable option either, not to mention she would have to miss at least a month of school which for a child that’s already behind would only widen the gap.
We took a trip to the pediatrician last night, like I said, I’m starting to become concerned about her health. With Lorelei’s weight loss the doc is also becoming concerned. Lorelei refuses to eat a vitamin so we must also worry about her getting all of her nutrients. Without an eating clinic as an option there really isn’t much we can do except to continue encouraging her to eat. Them the doc said if something doesn’t change soon that a G-tube (feeding tube) may be in her future! This is NOT something that we want for Lorelei but we may not have a choice. The doc sent her for some blood work to check her blood count, a nutrition panel, and to check her liver values. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it comes back normal. Now we wait……
Legalize for Lorelei 