On the way he asked if I was going to ask them to force-feed him with a tube - oh bless. I think he was really worried - although he did a very good job of covering it. Although - he has this last few weeks been getting infected fingers which I was wondering whether it was due to a reduced immune system. He does have the added problem in that he doesn't do pain - and will go out of his way to avoid pain. So - with pus-filled, swollen fingers he will not allow any puncturing at all so we have been using magnesium sulphate and big dressings and plasters and bandages. Anyway - I am digressing.
So - I took along an eating diary for him which looks like this:
As you can see his diet has become extremely limited which causes no end of frustration.
A Typical School Day
Breakfast
Large bowl of coco pops with full-fat milk
Sometimes a glass of milk too
Snack
Penguin Biscuit
Milk
Lunch
3 Scotch Pancakes
2 Strawberry Frubes
Water
Tea
Half baguette of par-baked bread (has to be just cooked – so white, not brown)
Frubes
Water or Milk
Things he has occasionally:
waffles (not the potato ones)
pancakes – with butter and sugar
ice-cream – but has to be Mr. Whippy style, not scoop
other cereals – rice crispies, cornflakes
tunnocks tea-cakes, wagon wheels
if we go out for pizza he sometimes has a deep-pan base – with nothing on it
nutella (but only on a spoon, not on another food item)
Things he will not touch:
pasta
rice
potatoes
vegetables
fruit (except the strawberry in the frubes)
meat
fish
cheese
fruit juice
nuts
The appointment was at the *huge* hospital in Livingston where, having already taken Ruaridh recently (oh must blog about that one too), I knew to expect the parking to be dreadful. So we arrived at the car park half an hour early to allow for parking which actually only took 10 minutes of driving around until I eventually followed someone walking across the car park. I felt like a car-stalker.
The appointment went really well. Morgan had a new Dr. Who magazine with him to occupy him in case of any long waits. I was glad of this as the waiting room was clearly normally used by people a lot older than both of us. We saw the dietician and a student.
They saw I had the food diary with us and went through it in detail and I need to do some measurements for them tonight - how big is his bowl of rice crispies, how much milk does he have on them, how big are his pancakes and so on. They will analyse everything he is eating and determine if he is missing out on any key vitamin/mineral groups. (Probably Vitamin C and Iron.)
In terms of what to do next there was a number of things we will do.
Firstly they will analyse his current diet and supplement if necessary. They have a soluble, tasteless one that could work for him. (Every other child-supplement I have seen in a Chemist has always been fruit-flavoured which Morgan would not take.)
Secondly they are sending me some information on a slowly, slowly approach to introducing new foods. Something we have thought about doing before but never really got very far with. She insists that this be done with just one new food at a time and to choose something, with Morgan, that he does not see as too challenging. So I think we are going to start with carrots as this is something he has looked at before.
Finally he will probably be referred to a psychologist. First though we need to get the Aspergers diagnosis - so I need to push this with the school/GP. If he does not get the Aspergers diagnosis this time then she will refer him for a psychology appointment from a diet point of view. So it's reassuring that it will not be the end of the road if we get another no.
All in all a fairly positive appointment - I went in not really expecting a solution but more just some ways to possibly go. Morgan was okay through most of the appointment but was clearly getting stressed by the end as he was spinning around on his chair. It was incredibly hot in there too - I have never understood why hospitals have to be heated to incredibly high temperatures - insanity.
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