Monday, January 19, 2009
Thank you
Thank you for the comments ya'll, I appreciate them! We had some success tonight and I got her to eat 4 bites of mashed potatoes, and a promise to eat more tomorrow!!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Family Quote
Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible - the kind of atmosphere that is found in a nurturing family.
- Virginia Satir
- Virginia Satir
Struggling
Where do I even begin? Forgive me if I'm rambling in places, but my thoughts are a bit disjointed.
Beyond all the other crap that is going on, the major life wrench we are dealing with at the moment is a situation with Ariana. She hasn't eaten anything but pudding pops, pudding, juice, or a milkshake in almost two weeks. I left on the 4th for my last week in Madison only to have a phone call that night sharing that she swallowed a small choc chip from her ice cream and was freaking out. Many nights that week I listened to her cry to me on the phone that she was scared. And it broke my heart.
About a month ago, she and I had a discussion about choking and I told her that I had choked on a piece of candy when I was about 10yo. She was fine when we discussed it, but the chip episode flared up a huge, no ginormous, fear of choking for her. She is refusing to eat anything that resembles solid food. No mashed potatoes, no jello, no Little Debbie heart-shaped snack cakes, etc. She literally freaks out when you ask her to try a small, tiny bite of food. And I'm lost about what to do.
We visited the pedi on Monday (great first day on the job BTW...oh yeah, I need the afternoon off to take my daughter to the doctor, boss.) and there's nothing physically wrong with her. No bumps in the throat, nothing stuck in her esophagus (had an xray to make sure), no yucky throat, etc. So, we are seeing a therapist as the pedi thinks it's anxiety-based. Thank god we have state insurance now and I don't have to pay a freakin' copay for something I already know. Can you tell I'm having issues with this? I'm glad we took her in, but we are incredibly frustrated. The therapist can't see us until Feb 9th. So basically my daughter is supposed to just freak out until then.
I'm fucking pissed at the situation, pissed at myself, pissed at my husband, pissed at her even. Not that I let that show to her, she's got enough shit to deal with without me acting like a douche to her. To have my last week of out of town training filled with anxious thoughts about what's going on at home, knowing she's crying on the phone and that your husband's patience have run out. It was not my best week. Things were not handled in the way I think they should have that week, but we're dealing with that now.
Monday I picked up pediasure to help get some nutrition in her, but she thought it tasted "yucky" and at $11+ for a 6 pack, that was absolutely thrilling to hear (little shit). But I came up with the idea of a milkshake which she now drinks about 3 a day. We can't afford to keep her on pediasure for a lengthy time, so we started them out thin and have been making them more thickly so she'd maybe try some oatmeal or malt-o-meal with success. Yeah, about that...not working. I don't want to push her as I don't want the anxiety to rocket up, but I want to be firm that she needs to try something. At this point, I don't know what to fucking do. And neither does my husband.
Which is a whole nother issue. He and I haven't been seeing eye to eye on most of this up until the last few days and quite honestly it was very rough going. Touchy for a moment or two. I'm not happy with how he handled things initially and it pains me to know that while I was doing something very necessary for our family, I wasn't there to help her with this. And that I can't seem to do anything now to help her. I'm not even going into the depth of feelings I have and I won't, so don't worry. I just want my little girl to get better.
I googled "children's fear of choking" and found some info. There's an actual diagnostic term for it and while I don't know for sure this is what she has, lots of things fit. Small incident of choking (or vomiting), sudden fear of eating. On a message board I found there are kids who have had to be hospitalized and have behavioral conditioning to eat again. You can just fuck me if this gets that bad. I think I will lose my mind if it would come to that. I didn't share some of it with Jason as he was in alarmist mode and I was in my "let's take care of it" mode, but he did find it himself and was pretty stunned to read some of these families stories.
She's been wanting to play school lately, so the other evening I was the teacher and she wanted it to be pajama day at school. I had a light bulb moment and asked my class what kinds of foods they'd eat for dinner at a slumber party. Pizza, hot dogs, popcorn and lots more made our list. After each shout out, I'd ask if anyone had eaten that food before. And then I'd asked if anyone had choked on that food before. Then I'd say it must be a safe food if you take small bites and chew it up well. Brilliant idea if I say so myself, but didn't fucking help one bit.
I feel like a big piece of shit as a parent. I think Jason does as well. To not be able to help you child and wonder what you did wrong. Why her? Why? Is there something wrong with her noggin and she needs help for it? I've always wondered about her sensory issues, others have questioned possible ADHD, and she's so damn sensitive at times about things. At what point do you stop saying "that's just who she is" and start saying "what is wrong with her?" I hate that word, wrong. Hate it with a passion. But let's face it, no one ever wants something to be wrong with their child. I feel proud and worried about her uniqueness. I worry most that at some point she won't fit in because she does have her quirks. I just want to help her be the best person she can be. We all have issues and shortcomings, it's how we deal with them and view them that can make the difference of a positive life.
I sit here typing with tears rolling down my face. Worried about my daughter. Worried about the relationship between myself and Jason. Trying to hold it all in when the damn just wants to let free.
Beyond all the other crap that is going on, the major life wrench we are dealing with at the moment is a situation with Ariana. She hasn't eaten anything but pudding pops, pudding, juice, or a milkshake in almost two weeks. I left on the 4th for my last week in Madison only to have a phone call that night sharing that she swallowed a small choc chip from her ice cream and was freaking out. Many nights that week I listened to her cry to me on the phone that she was scared. And it broke my heart.
About a month ago, she and I had a discussion about choking and I told her that I had choked on a piece of candy when I was about 10yo. She was fine when we discussed it, but the chip episode flared up a huge, no ginormous, fear of choking for her. She is refusing to eat anything that resembles solid food. No mashed potatoes, no jello, no Little Debbie heart-shaped snack cakes, etc. She literally freaks out when you ask her to try a small, tiny bite of food. And I'm lost about what to do.
We visited the pedi on Monday (great first day on the job BTW...oh yeah, I need the afternoon off to take my daughter to the doctor, boss.) and there's nothing physically wrong with her. No bumps in the throat, nothing stuck in her esophagus (had an xray to make sure), no yucky throat, etc. So, we are seeing a therapist as the pedi thinks it's anxiety-based. Thank god we have state insurance now and I don't have to pay a freakin' copay for something I already know. Can you tell I'm having issues with this? I'm glad we took her in, but we are incredibly frustrated. The therapist can't see us until Feb 9th. So basically my daughter is supposed to just freak out until then.
I'm fucking pissed at the situation, pissed at myself, pissed at my husband, pissed at her even. Not that I let that show to her, she's got enough shit to deal with without me acting like a douche to her. To have my last week of out of town training filled with anxious thoughts about what's going on at home, knowing she's crying on the phone and that your husband's patience have run out. It was not my best week. Things were not handled in the way I think they should have that week, but we're dealing with that now.
Monday I picked up pediasure to help get some nutrition in her, but she thought it tasted "yucky" and at $11+ for a 6 pack, that was absolutely thrilling to hear (little shit). But I came up with the idea of a milkshake which she now drinks about 3 a day. We can't afford to keep her on pediasure for a lengthy time, so we started them out thin and have been making them more thickly so she'd maybe try some oatmeal or malt-o-meal with success. Yeah, about that...not working. I don't want to push her as I don't want the anxiety to rocket up, but I want to be firm that she needs to try something. At this point, I don't know what to fucking do. And neither does my husband.
Which is a whole nother issue. He and I haven't been seeing eye to eye on most of this up until the last few days and quite honestly it was very rough going. Touchy for a moment or two. I'm not happy with how he handled things initially and it pains me to know that while I was doing something very necessary for our family, I wasn't there to help her with this. And that I can't seem to do anything now to help her. I'm not even going into the depth of feelings I have and I won't, so don't worry. I just want my little girl to get better.
I googled "children's fear of choking" and found some info. There's an actual diagnostic term for it and while I don't know for sure this is what she has, lots of things fit. Small incident of choking (or vomiting), sudden fear of eating. On a message board I found there are kids who have had to be hospitalized and have behavioral conditioning to eat again. You can just fuck me if this gets that bad. I think I will lose my mind if it would come to that. I didn't share some of it with Jason as he was in alarmist mode and I was in my "let's take care of it" mode, but he did find it himself and was pretty stunned to read some of these families stories.
She's been wanting to play school lately, so the other evening I was the teacher and she wanted it to be pajama day at school. I had a light bulb moment and asked my class what kinds of foods they'd eat for dinner at a slumber party. Pizza, hot dogs, popcorn and lots more made our list. After each shout out, I'd ask if anyone had eaten that food before. And then I'd asked if anyone had choked on that food before. Then I'd say it must be a safe food if you take small bites and chew it up well. Brilliant idea if I say so myself, but didn't fucking help one bit.
I feel like a big piece of shit as a parent. I think Jason does as well. To not be able to help you child and wonder what you did wrong. Why her? Why? Is there something wrong with her noggin and she needs help for it? I've always wondered about her sensory issues, others have questioned possible ADHD, and she's so damn sensitive at times about things. At what point do you stop saying "that's just who she is" and start saying "what is wrong with her?" I hate that word, wrong. Hate it with a passion. But let's face it, no one ever wants something to be wrong with their child. I feel proud and worried about her uniqueness. I worry most that at some point she won't fit in because she does have her quirks. I just want to help her be the best person she can be. We all have issues and shortcomings, it's how we deal with them and view them that can make the difference of a positive life.
I sit here typing with tears rolling down my face. Worried about my daughter. Worried about the relationship between myself and Jason. Trying to hold it all in when the damn just wants to let free.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Sinking
I had such awesome intentions on getting something good posted this week, but sorry to say it's not going to happen. I'm crazy busy with work (both jobs) and life just is sucking. A big fucking green-brown rotten egg. And I wish it would get better.
If you could send some good thoughts our way, I'd appreciate it.
If you could send some good thoughts our way, I'd appreciate it.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Wacko
I need to get cracking on planning for our awareness walk for 2009. And this is something I've been procrastinating on big-time. I need to select a walk location (anyone who's local...have any suggestions?) and start working on collecting sponsors.
Quite honestly, I feel wacko with all the thoughts and ideas I have running through my head for the walk. But I'm nervous that my plans will be bigger than the amount of people we have show up. Then I'm nervous that I'll plan for not enough walkers. Aye aye aye.
Quite honestly, I feel wacko with all the thoughts and ideas I have running through my head for the walk. But I'm nervous that my plans will be bigger than the amount of people we have show up. Then I'm nervous that I'll plan for not enough walkers. Aye aye aye.
52 Books in 52 Weeks, effort II
I thought I'd give this a go last year and just kinda petered out writing about it. But Amy over at In The Eyes of a Survivor challenged herself for 2009. I know I easily read 52 books last year, and am joining her in the challenge this year.
I'll be keeping a list of my books in my sidebar and occasionally writing about them. I really dislike writing reviews, but will share my basic thoughts on a book if I have a strong reaction one way or the other.
Anyone else care to turn a page with us?
I'll be keeping a list of my books in my sidebar and occasionally writing about them. I really dislike writing reviews, but will share my basic thoughts on a book if I have a strong reaction one way or the other.
Anyone else care to turn a page with us?
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
First quote for 2009
"The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating - in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life."
~Anne Morris
~Anne Morris
Monday, January 5, 2009
Happy New Year, version 2009
Happy New Year and all that shit. Seriously, I hope everyone has an awesome 2009 that is filled with more money in your wallet, lots of love and giggles, and tons of belly-achin' laughter.
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