A New Record!

Tom just drank five and a half ounces of water! Tom has never drank that much in his life. We have seen greater interest in food lately but this was a complete surprise.

Tom's whole life has been marked by a complete indifference to hunger or thirst. He just simply does not care.

Before Tommy got a g-tube his inadequate food and liquid intake caused many hospitalizations and confused many a doctor. No one could figure out what Tommy wouldn't eat or drink and the many tests he had (swallow test, upper GI, abdominal x-ray....) showed nothing out of the ordinary.

Gulping down that ice cold water!

With no answers and a chronically undernourished and dehydrated child, a g-tube seemed to be the best option. The g-tube allowed Tommy to get the nutrition his body needed and we saw him make serious gains in growth and development. 

I'll never regret the g-tube; however, it did not solve our problems. It took lots of therapy and lots of feeding sessions with Mom and Dad to make progress. His teachers work with him every day at school during lunch and spend almost an hour helping him eat. It takes time and patience, and even a slight illness sets us back. Then we fight to regain the progress we lost. But right now I'm just going to enjoy this milestone. 

Keep going! He's finally learning to enjoy food and drinks.

We are finally starting to see real, sustained improvement in Tom's feeding. Now he can finish an entire container of greek yogurt or a whole serving of mac n cheese, and I don't even want to tell you how many cheese balls and gummy bears he can eat. (It's a lot!) He actually asks for food- sometimes by name! 

Someone pinch me. I almost can't believe it.