The paediatrician

Well, after the debacle of the last appointment we finally saw the school paediatrician.
As was told to me she was lovely. A natural rapport with J, calm, understanding, and easy to chat to.
I had to laugh when she said we may not see her next time, but could see X. I told her X was the reason I was seeing herself as I had requested no more appointments with X due to the non active manner she had and lack of understanding and care.

 

As J has dark blood coming out with his vomit we are being referred to the hospital for a camera down his throat. Of course (well I hope so) he will be put under general anesthetic for the procedure.
The paed suggested we go for genetic tests whilst he is under.
I have agreed, although I know the likelihood of anything coming out from these tests are very slim.
I have requested a first appointment of the clinic session so as he does not get hyper, manic and screamy having to wait.

 

When J was invited into the room to meet the paed he perfomed exactly as I said he would. He went straight for the toys. Then when she wanted to look in his ears and eyes he cowered in the corner, repeating the phrase "goodbye guys", and looking very frightened. As the paed said, his "goodbye guys" was echolalic as he had heard it being said by someone else, but he was using it in the correct context as he was trying to stop her from trying to look at him.

 

We discussed his eating habits, yet again. Even though he has such a limited amount of food he will consume, he is not underweight by any standard. In fact he is on the high level of weight, but as he is tall also this does balance slightly with the BMI chart she used.
Unfortunately I find that because he is such a good weight the issue of food is not really taken too seriously by professionals and friends/family.

 

But, when he has not eaten any vegetables for five years or any fruit in its natural state (not pureed form as we buy from Fruitapura) for four years, no fish for five years and no meat (apart from the little bit of chicken in a nugget) he is not meeting the nutritional guidelines of healthy eating.

 

His daily eating is as follows -

 

Breakfast
- two slices wholemeal toast, butter, marmite.
- two Petit Filous yoghurts
- one Fruitapura fruit pot (made for weaning babies)


Lunch
- Sandwich made with Nutella spread or Marmite
- one Fruitapura fruit pot
- one Ambrosia custard pot (strawberry/chocolate/plain)
- handful of breadsticks or small bag of Twiglets


Tea
- Fishfingers (untouched) / Chicken nuggets (nibbled)
- Mccain Smiles / French Fries
- One Fruitapura fruit pot
- One Soya milk pudding pot


Snacks
- Pom Bear crisps
- Jaffa Cakes


Drinks
- Semi skimmed milk / water (he won't drink squashes or juices)


Now it may look like he is eating well, but this is the same everyday. No changes to the structure and point blank refusal to try anything else offered.
He either makes retching noises or makes himself sick if he smells or has other foods near him.


One visit (and our last outing for a meal with him) to TGI Fridays ended with him nearly vomitting over the next booth peoples food as it was placed down on their table. He peered over the booth and smelt the food and gagged in their faces.
Needless to say I was mortified and no matter how many times you apologise you just know they were thinking how he had ruined their meal out and why were we out with him in the first place if that is how he behaved.


Just today, when I had no choice but to take him to Boots the chemist as I had no-one to help me with the children, I had placated him with allowing him to hold (and to buy) some chocolate, so he was queueing quite well with no "uhh uhh" noises. But, he then let out a huge burp, in the earshot of the couple in front. I immeadiately said "pardon you, don't be so rude", but when a boy who looks like he is aged twelve because of his height, belches like that next to you, it does make you feel disgusted.
I could'nt very well start to explain his autism and his lack of social awareness and verbal communication could I?
So I had the feeling of uncomfortableness from everyone, including the man standing behind me, holding his baby son, and most probably thinking "my son will never be so rude" ( did'nt we all think our child, our first born baby, would never be like those toddlers we saw charging around, hitting, snatching, screaming etc?!)

 

 So now we are awaiting an appointment to come through to meet the specialist at the hospital. I feel quite positive that he will not be patronising like the A&E doctors were, and he will listen to me and understand that the only way anything will be performed on J is when he is under a general anesthetic. The procedure can be performed with a mild sedative to calm the patient but keep them awake. This would not be suitable for J and I would worry his brain would be screaming out in fright at what they were doing to him, but he would not be able to move.