went to doctor again today

[Jena]

hi

the saga continues...... difficult child gained 2 more lbs. doctor was happy. difficult child was happy. still on restriction isn't allowed to ride bike, scooter, horseback ride or anything strenuous or long activties just short walks for now. i kinda knew that yet she's all revved up and wants everything yesteday..... hmm where does she get that from??

they want her to gravitate towards healthier foods because i said to them ok we know we can get the weight back and we'll keep on going yet all she's eating is pure sugar, all the shakes are loaded with-them.

i've had to titrated the medications up higher to combat sleep and mania that is being triggered by all that sugar!!

so, now i mentioned some ideas i got here, Marg mentioned stew i think. so i said i wanna try stew? can i get approval for that pleeese. so this weekend i'll make chicken soup and stew. difficult child was not pleased at all about this turn of events.

she's gravitated more towards shakes past two days. had one pancake today yet openly admitted she's tiring of the battle to eat and how long it takes.

doctor said if by next week she isn't getting more soft foods in and shakes and softs are taking as long we have to do the barium swallow test to double check medical. i personally wanted that today. i mean why not at this point? it would only ensure difficult child that throat's all good also.

she got mad at me today again about hospital, dr tried to devert her and say hey mom did the best she could it's supposed to be a great place. yea for aneroxic or bullimia patients. ok let's not go there again!

so it seems we are back to 4 hour sittings. i got a break past few days becasue she's been drinking shakes with-o assistance.

also got cbt place going, Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluation coming for Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) to confirm and learn brushing and also tutors are being set up.

i'll be in the house all winter long!! except for dr runs. i know i know i love her yet i guess i'm feeling some jen pitty a bit. mos ago was talking about returning to work, etc. had no idea what was down the road.

sorry to anyone if i've been short lately. i'm pissy and openly admit it. husband and i are still at odds, it's been so taxing to say the least. thank goodness he isnt' here much would be harder. dog's even acting up. everyone is still doing there what about me bs......

thanks for all the support

 

[Marguerite]

Jen, with the stews, soups etc, push the flavour. Not just "to tempt a jaded palate" but because flavour can become a focus, when you are short on what you can get into yourself.

A trick I do with stews (to avoid it drying out nastily) is long, very slow cooking. I have found crock-pot cooking can be dry and flavourless; or maybe I'm just lousy at it. But I brown the ingredients first, then set up a long, slow simmer. The surface should be barely shimmering, no big bubbles happening. Maybe the occasional tiny bubble. Don't add too much liquid, just observe. On slow heat, it shouldn't catch anyway. But some liquid is needed. I simmer like this for at least three hours, sometimes up to five or six hours.

Example recipe - begin with a classic sofrito - finely chopped celery, carrot, garlic & onion, cooked until soft and translucent. Take it out of the pot and set it aside. Brown the meat (for long simmers I use gravy beef for preference or chuck steak, cut into 1" cubes) then put the vegetables back in. Add some liquid at this stage, about a cup of liquid to 2 pounds of meat. Liquid to add - a tin of mushrooms, or tomatoes. A glass of red wine. Fresh herbs - oregano, marjoram, thyme, bay leaves. Maybe a few sprigs of tarragon an hour before cooking finishes. Herbs such as basil should be put in no more than half an hour before cooking finishes.
A good flavour finish is gremolata - a classic one is finely chopped garlic, mixed with finely chopped parsley and grated lemon zest. Stir it in right before serving, to a tomato-based beed casserole. Go easy on the garlic to begin with, but some is good.

That's a fairly generic recipe, mix and match as you need. An ingredient I sometimes add is a small amount of Moroccan salted lemon - I make my own when lemons are plentiful because it costs a fortune to buy them. You just use the finely chopped peel, and cut back on salt you might add elsewhere in cooking.

You mention she's been really taking to the sugary stuff - generally, it's also highly flavoured. So maybe switching to strongly flavoured casseroles could make the change to savoury, easier for her. And of course, everyone else should enjoy it too.

The thing with long slow cooking - there is a great deal of nourishment just in the gravy juices. I thicken mine with cornstarch (mixed with a little water to avoid lumps) but if this texture is a problem for her, she could have it before thickening. Also, a lot of liquid comes out in cooking. You might only add a cup, but there will be about four cups by the time it's done (if you keep the lid on during cooking, that is!)

Marg

 

[Jena]

i learned today that her palate is ruined partially from the malnutrion for that long period of time. so i have to push on easy with-the flavors and try to put in stuff she actually likes. funny thing is she never ate stew before or chicken soup should be fun.

were starting easy with-mac and cheese tonight

 

[Wiped Out]

Jen,
Glad to hear she is gaining some weight but sorry to hear things are so difficult right now. Sending caring hugs your way.

 

[Jena]

Sharon thanks.

yea we tried mac and cheese tonight, let's just say that didn't go well lol. i'm laughing yet it's not funny at all. she totally freaked out!

 

[DammitJanet]

The custard I talk about is loaded with eggs...egg yolks. Very good for her. It is also soft.

Yogurt. Will she eat tuna fish? Maybe just pick at little pieces of that. If she ever liked squash then baby food squash could be good...just heat up and add some butter and a bit of salt. Oh....speaking of that...maybe some spaghettio's? Those are like soft mush to me...lol.

 

[graceupongrace]

Hi, Jena.

Glad she's gaining; sorry she's struggling. With difficult children, it seems like it's always two steps forward, one step back (and sometimes vice versa). I was trying to think of soft foods with lots of nutrients. Would she eat any of these? Scrambled eggs, refried beans with-cheese, oatmeal, mashed potatoes (you can add cheese for flavor) or yams, pureed vegetables (cauliflower is really good pureed with a little butter and salt & pepper), cottage cheese, egg drop soup.

I understand how everyone (even the dog) wants a piece of you, but I hope you can grab a few minutes a day of quiet "Jena time." It's not self-indulgence; it's self-care.

Lots of gentle hugs.

 

[Bunny]

Jena, instead of shakes, how about fruit smoothies? I make for them for my kids with yogurt, fruit, and a splash of milk. Could could try a bannana, vanilla yogurt, and a little milk and mix it all up in the blender. The bannana will get all mashed up so there won't be any large chuncks of fruit for her to deal with, and if it's too thick you could add a little more milk. It might be a better alternative to the shakes if they are loaded with sugar.

Pam

 

[susiestar]

Given the need to still make the flavor agreeable (aka sweet) and still get protein into her, have you used any of the protein powders? They can be VERY handy. Given the way I react to artificial sweeteners, I have searched for protein powders with-o them. While there are not many protein powders with-o artif sweeteners, Walmart sells one that is very good. The brand is EAS and it is available in both vanilla and chocolate. The chocolate isn't nearly as good as the vanilla, to my taste at least. The vanilla blends well with other flavors and works well in many other recipes (cake, brownies, shakes, pudding, oatmeal, etc...).

Just a thought.

 

[Shari]

I was also going to suggest ice cream without added sugar. They aren't sugar free, but they are very reduced...use that to make her shakes.

You can do a lot with the shakes and cut the sugar and increase fruits, etc.

And with regards to being mad at you about the hospital? Well...she is trying to eat now, and is gaining weight. While I agree the hospital was a bad situation, something good did come out of it...her resolve to not go back...

 

[Marguerite]

Don't beat yourself up over the hospital. Or anything. You made the best decisions you could at the time, based on what information you had. If she had been eating normally, you wouldn't have needed to find a hospital. If you said this to her she would probably say, "Not being able to eat is not my fault," to which you can reply, "It's not mine either."
This is not a fault issue and blame should not come into this anywhere. What is, is. You both have to deal with what is, and adding in a whole lot of "mgt have beens" only adds to your workload. You did your best. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. Some consequences can be surprisingly useful (as Shari pointed out).

Now, my main note here - the subject of fruit shakes. They are a good alternative. You can still hide an egg in there if you think she can handle it texture-wise. Make sure you use a blender, not hand-beters or a hand whisk because only a blender can really mix the egg in without chunks of egg white causing problems. Alternatively, separate the egg and just hide egg yolk in there. BUT - don't think of fruit shakes as being lower in sugar. You can reduce the sugar somewhat, but the problems with sugar all translate to blood glucose levels. Oranges (and therefore orange juice) are loaded with sucrose, which is the same as the white stuff in the sugar bowl. It breaks down to fructose and glucose. Weak acids (such as citric acid, found in acidic fruits and stomach acids) increase the rate of breakdown.
Other fruits also contain sucrose and also fructose, in various amounts. Fructose does taste sweeter than sucrose, it is an isomer of glucose which means it has the same atoms in its make-up and chemically is very similar. But because it tastes sweeter than sucrose, which is where we (with our Western diets) get our sweet tooth 'fix' needs met, substituting fruit could help reduce the blood sugar problems you're currently dealing with, when she's ingesting a lot of added sugar. Just go easy on the orange juice. Fructose plus sucrose (or plus other sweeteners) tastes a lot sweeter than the components. So again - fruit shakes, using no added sugar whatsoever, could be a way to give her the sweet taste but not the same level of sugar high.

However - there still will be some level of fast sugar hit, unless you can lower the GI somehow. Adding fat in some degree (such as the egg yolk) or even full-fat ice cream (one small scoop should do it) should help. Or even a dollop of cream.

A good fruit shake to try, if she can handle the texture - 50:50 water and pure juice (no added sugar, no added anything) - about half a cup in total. Half to one banana. Other fresh fruit, especially strawberries (only two or three), maybe mango if you have it, passionfruit if you have it (strain out the seeds if they will be a problem for her), fresh pineapple and kiwifruit in extreme moderation (because of the enzyme problems in those fruit). If you want, a single raspberry will give this a deep sunset colour.

I lived on shakes like this years ago, when I as trying to cut back on calories. The problem was, it was too high a GI and I already had insulin resistance. It also left me ravenous my mid-morning. I've since found that adding a tablespoon of cream would have helped (ironically) to lower the GI.

Instead of ice cream you can get fruit-based desserts which can be added to give extra flavour and chill. Also, if you want chill (plus want to use out of season fruit) you can use frozen fruit, with a strong blender. I use a Bamix stick blender, it can handle frozen fruit. I've often turned out a fruit blend, no added sugar (that includes no added honey) which could have been eaten out of a cone. Or you can freeze the mix as ice pops (just put a stick in as you freeze it) and nutritionally, it's the same but it gives her a different texture to deal with. She also has to eat it before it melts - could speed things up. If she finds it too difficult, she can put it back in the freezer to keep it solid.

Something I did for my kids when they were teething, was frozen bananas. Use the ripe ones, where the skins are yellow and beginning to get spotty. Peel them, cut them in half and push a stick into the cut end. Freeze on a flat tray, then store sealed in the freezer (so a frost-dree freezer won't dehydrate them). They really are delicious and have enough natural sugars in them (mostly fructose) to taste sweet enough. Bits don't break off, so they're ideal for babies who need something cold in their mouths on those sore gums. But texture-wise, could be reassuring for difficult child too.

Also if you can, add some acidophilus powder to the mix, to try to ensure her gut flora are in balance. You can buy it in capsules but I prefer to buy the stuff in the powder form and add a quarter tsp to my breakfast cereal. You just have to keep the acidophilus in the fridge to keep the bugs viable.

But fruit shakes alone - high GI still. BOLO, in other words.

Marg

 

[HaoZi]

Could you also just add some yogurt instead of cream? Maybe even Activia or one of the other yogurts that has fiber in it.

 

[Jena]

hi

i use yogurt alot, i also already do smoothies. i now drain out the pieces from the fruit.

 

[bby31288]

The other thing you can add to the shakes for protien is powdered (sp) egg whites. It is flavorless, but add protien to whatever you add it too. When husband first had his gastric bypass we used a lot of powdered egg whites to yogurt, etc.

 

[Jena]

that's a good idea. thank you