Under the Weather

Yum, kale. 

We do what we can to stay healthy during the flu season but it's hard. It's even harder now that Tom in is school. He has had so many more colds this year, but that school makes him so darn happy that I can't even complain.

Above you see Tommy drinking a green smoothie. Ok, that one's a little brown. But what's hidden in it is quite green - spinach and kale. Ordinarily, Tom would not be munching on spinach or kale, but in a smoothie it goes down just fine. Usually, we share a big smoothie because he loves having a "taste of Mom's drink." A sip of what the adults have must be better right? Our smoothies also have chia, yogurt,  milk, and fresh or frozen fruit. They are delicious!

Unfortunately, all the healthy shakes in the world won't stop kids from getting sick. Tom had a great day at school but came home and wouldn't eat dinner. Luckily, I have a Blendtec blender and I just blended up our dinner (roasted carrots and homemade beef stroganoff - Thanks Pinterest!) and just used a syringe to feed Tom dinner through his g-tube.

If you have a tubie, then a high-powered blender is a MUST! Meat, pasta, grains, it all comes out of the Blendtec a beautiful consistency. No more making blends that can't be pushed though his tube. You can't imagine how frustrating it is to make custom blends and then not be able to push them through his tube. That's the worst!

Yes, Tom does have Neocate Splash formula twice a day but I also like to give him real food. His body has responded so well to normal food. That was a big surprise because he could not tolerate any formulas until we found Neocate Splash, which is a formula for children with impairment of the gastrointestinal tract. The proteins in this food are already broken down into amino acids which allows the body to absorb nutrients with very little work.

Amazing stuff but it's not normal food. We were surprised and pleased to find out that he can tolerate many foods. He has some dairy sensitivity but yogurt is fine. The way he reacted to those other formulas and refused food as an infant had me expecting the worst. You really can't imagine how helpless you feel when you can't feed your child. The g-tube was such a blessing for Tommy.

Tom has got a runny nose, poor kid.

Tonight we finished Tom up with some warm tea full of raw honey and a dose of Tylenol. We will see how he feels when he gets up.