Good medical news about Mia? Uncanny!
Yes, it's true - we have some good news about Mia in the medical field, which doesn't happen that often. Huzzah!
Last Monday we all went to see a child psychologist (Krys had off from work as it was a bank holiday). After she talked to us both with and without Mia, she decided that we could try a few strategies, none of which were all that novel, to get her to eat more. The one we thought would work is giving Mia a set time limit (20-30 minutes) to finish a box of the high-calorie drink we give her. She can easily finish one in that time (the box is the size of your typical juice box), and if we give her one in the morning, one in the early afternoon, and one in the late afternoon/evening (plus whatever she eats in the interim), she'll get a good amount of calories. The doctor said that's a sound strategy, and we may or may not try it. Right now, we're concentrating on our other strategy, which is making sure she has access to food pretty much all the time. This is most important at school, where they finally hired another aide, so the aide they hired to help Mia can do it all the time. They also got a small table to keep next to her, so that she always has food right there. Her aide says it's helping a bit, but we'll keep an eye on her, because if it doesn't work, we'll start with the time limit.
The doctor also prescribed some medication for her. The first one she said we should try is mirtazapine (Remeron), an anti-depressant. It stimulates the appetite, as well. We've been giving it to her for a week, and it seems to have helped quite well. It also makes her drowsy, which is kind of annoying. It wasn't too bad last week, because it was Fall Break and so she didn't have to get up for school, but it was a pain this morning getting her up. Her speech therapist was on Remeron several years ago and she says the drowsiness doesn't last, which would be nice. The doctor said the next med she would try is Zoloft and then, as a last resort, an anti-psychotic they use for anorexia, but I don't think she'll need those. She seems to have gotten a bigger appetite already (and the doctor said it should work right away, so we don't think it's just an anomaly). Today at school she drank two complete boxes of the high-calorie milk, which is superb, so let's hope that continues.
On Wednesday last week we took her into the gastroenterologist's office to weigh her, as it had been about a month since she had seen the doctor and the doctor wanted a weight check. She was 43 pounds, meaning she's gained a little over two pounds in about five weeks. The doctor was perfectly satisfied with that gain, so she's going back in a month for another weigh-in. No, 43 pounds isn't great (as Friend of the Blog Roger points out, his daughter is two inches taller than Mia and outweighs her by almost 30 pounds), but it's progress. Norah, by the way, is 45 inches tall (three inches shorter than Mia), 40 pounds, and almost three years younger than her sister. So Mia has a way to go, but she's on her way ... we hope.
So there's some fairly decent news about Mia's medical problems. We'll take them in as little increments as they want to come!
Last Monday we all went to see a child psychologist (Krys had off from work as it was a bank holiday). After she talked to us both with and without Mia, she decided that we could try a few strategies, none of which were all that novel, to get her to eat more. The one we thought would work is giving Mia a set time limit (20-30 minutes) to finish a box of the high-calorie drink we give her. She can easily finish one in that time (the box is the size of your typical juice box), and if we give her one in the morning, one in the early afternoon, and one in the late afternoon/evening (plus whatever she eats in the interim), she'll get a good amount of calories. The doctor said that's a sound strategy, and we may or may not try it. Right now, we're concentrating on our other strategy, which is making sure she has access to food pretty much all the time. This is most important at school, where they finally hired another aide, so the aide they hired to help Mia can do it all the time. They also got a small table to keep next to her, so that she always has food right there. Her aide says it's helping a bit, but we'll keep an eye on her, because if it doesn't work, we'll start with the time limit.
The doctor also prescribed some medication for her. The first one she said we should try is mirtazapine (Remeron), an anti-depressant. It stimulates the appetite, as well. We've been giving it to her for a week, and it seems to have helped quite well. It also makes her drowsy, which is kind of annoying. It wasn't too bad last week, because it was Fall Break and so she didn't have to get up for school, but it was a pain this morning getting her up. Her speech therapist was on Remeron several years ago and she says the drowsiness doesn't last, which would be nice. The doctor said the next med she would try is Zoloft and then, as a last resort, an anti-psychotic they use for anorexia, but I don't think she'll need those. She seems to have gotten a bigger appetite already (and the doctor said it should work right away, so we don't think it's just an anomaly). Today at school she drank two complete boxes of the high-calorie milk, which is superb, so let's hope that continues.
On Wednesday last week we took her into the gastroenterologist's office to weigh her, as it had been about a month since she had seen the doctor and the doctor wanted a weight check. She was 43 pounds, meaning she's gained a little over two pounds in about five weeks. The doctor was perfectly satisfied with that gain, so she's going back in a month for another weigh-in. No, 43 pounds isn't great (as Friend of the Blog Roger points out, his daughter is two inches taller than Mia and outweighs her by almost 30 pounds), but it's progress. Norah, by the way, is 45 inches tall (three inches shorter than Mia), 40 pounds, and almost three years younger than her sister. So Mia has a way to go, but she's on her way ... we hope.
So there's some fairly decent news about Mia's medical problems. We'll take them in as little increments as they want to come!
posted by Greg at
4:34 PM
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