Odette hasn't been eating food for a very long time.
She would eat a little every day, but never enough for her to grow.
She is suppose to eat at minimum 900 calories a day.
I can eat that in a couple of bites!
Currently it takes 6 feeds of 5 ounces each time to reach her minimum.
She has had a feeding tube since the first of July last year.
She never learned to drink out of a bottle or cup because I was nursing her when she got sick.
She used to love mashed potatoes and gravy.
It was one guaranteed thing she would eat.
Then Thanksgiving came.
High dose of ARA-C chemo.
Hasn't eaten anything by mouth since then.
Everyday we try to get her to eat.
Odette thinks that squishing her food is what you are suppose to do.
She thinks it is great to hold it close to her mouth and say "Mmmmm".
But it never goes in.
Every now and then we get lucky.
She will drink some water out of her sippy cup.
Not any calories.
We have got all sorts of fun dishes and silverware.
Some bowls stick to the tray so they don't get thrown over.
She has figure out how to get the suction to break and over it goes anyway.
We have tried sweet things.
Sometimes a sucker gets a lick before the floor gets it.
Since she likes to put all food on the floor, we have tried putting it there to begin with.
She kicked it all over.
I think one cheerio got licked.
To her, food is a toy.
Or a choking hazard.
One time, I was making dinner and she wanted the tomato.
I gave it to her.
She played with it.
Licked it.
Sucked out a little juice.
Gave it back to me.
Most of the time, she thinks food is meant for rubbing on her head.
I wish that it would give her calories this way and I wouldn't worry.
Odette's feeding tube is getting annoying.
She doesn't want to hold still.
It only has a six foot radius.
She has figured out how to get out of her high chair.
I thought she would eat if she could imitate her siblings.
So far no luck.
I have been told that steroids make you feel hungry.
As of late, they just make her grumpy and mean.
Not hungry.
I want her to eat.
Life could be easier.
We could go to places.
Like Disneyland.
Until she decides to eat consistently,
I will still continue to give her food to try.
Even though it is hard for me to throw it all away once she is done playing with it.
Maybe someday she will do something other than this with her food.
She would eat a little every day, but never enough for her to grow.
She is suppose to eat at minimum 900 calories a day.
I can eat that in a couple of bites!
Currently it takes 6 feeds of 5 ounces each time to reach her minimum.
She has had a feeding tube since the first of July last year.
She never learned to drink out of a bottle or cup because I was nursing her when she got sick.
She used to love mashed potatoes and gravy.
It was one guaranteed thing she would eat.
Then Thanksgiving came.
High dose of ARA-C chemo.
Hasn't eaten anything by mouth since then.
Everyday we try to get her to eat.
She thinks it is great to hold it close to her mouth and say "Mmmmm".
But it never goes in.
Every now and then we get lucky.
She will drink some water out of her sippy cup.
Not any calories.
Some bowls stick to the tray so they don't get thrown over.
She has figure out how to get the suction to break and over it goes anyway.
Sometimes a sucker gets a lick before the floor gets it.
Since she likes to put all food on the floor, we have tried putting it there to begin with.
I think one cheerio got licked.
To her, food is a toy.
Or a choking hazard.
One time, I was making dinner and she wanted the tomato.
I gave it to her.
Licked it.
Sucked out a little juice.
Gave it back to me.
Most of the time, she thinks food is meant for rubbing on her head.
Odette's feeding tube is getting annoying.
She doesn't want to hold still.
It only has a six foot radius.
She has figured out how to get out of her high chair.
I thought she would eat if she could imitate her siblings.
So far no luck.
I have been told that steroids make you feel hungry.
As of late, they just make her grumpy and mean.
Not hungry.
I want her to eat.
Life could be easier.
We could go to places.
Like Disneyland.
Until she decides to eat consistently,
I will still continue to give her food to try.
Even though it is hard for me to throw it all away once she is done playing with it.
Maybe someday she will do something other than this with her food.
Oh, I feel for you! My sister had premature twins at 27 weeks and they had feeding tubes since they were born, so they never learned to swallow. When they were big enough and she started to try to feed them by mouth, they had major gag issues. She went from a NG tube to a G tube because as they got older the NG tubes were a major pain! She blended up all kinds of things and fed them through their tubes. And it caused major messes anytime one got unplugged wrong. Needless to say, they had major feeding issues until about 4 years of age. And the smaller of the two twins is still on growth hormones because he's so small (He's 5 now and my 3 year old Crew weighs more than he does). Anyway, I'm sure she has a million tricks and pieces of advice she could give you, but you've probably already tried them! It will get better, maybe not right away, but I'm sure it will at some point! Keep trying! Someday you can tell her all about it!
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