Category Archives: Medicine

Printables for dressing up towers!

In my few short years of experience with Allergies and GI I have been so surprised to learn there are kids out there (and not just babies!) on NO food. Kids with Crohn’s or Ulcerative Colitis whose intestines need to be healed, and the best way to do that is with Enteral Nutrition (basically formula). There are also kids with food allergies so severe they effect the gut, and leave these children no choice but to also go onto the same types of formula until the food allergies can be tested one food at a time and sorted out carefully. Many of these children take these types of feedings through tubes (there are different types of tubies, and I do not claim to understand the differences). I am not an expert on this type of treatment at all, but I revel in complete and total amazement at the bravery of these children and their superhero moms and dads!

Can you imagine your 3, 4, 5 or even 9 year old having only formula — tube fed — and that’s it? No food, none at all, for 6, 8, 12 weeks or longer? And some kids with Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Diseases will never get to eat but just a handful of foods at all. It is totally humbling to think of these children and what they’ve done to get better — to be healthy, and to sometimes avoid other meds like prednisone. It is only SUPERSTAR families that can take on this type of treatment.

I recently “met” a friend online whose little one has BOTH of these diseases. The IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) AND the EGID. On her recent 4th birthday she had a beautifully wrapped box for a birthday cake. No food — no ice cream, no pizza and especially no cake. And her extra-brave mama says she’s happy and she’s feeling just a bit better, and not asking for food — at all!

They had a great idea to decorate her tower (used for her feeding tube) with princess stickers to make it a bit more Rapunzel tower-like. I though that was darling and offered to create a tower graphic she could add to the tower to spruce it up a bit. I of course decided to share it here so any of your kids or anyone else you know can have one, too! (And by all means, feel free to use them on the fridge, on the back of the bedroom door, anywhere! They aren’t for towers only!)

Here are the free printables to download: Rapunzel’s Princess Tower and Pirate’s Lookout Tower

(A note on printing: I’ve created the PDF as 2 pages that are 8.5 x 11, since I know most people can only print an 8.5 x 11. The 2 pages need to be taped together at top/bottom to make one long vertical poster.)

If you would like one personalized (like I did for my friend’s princess), I would love to do that for you, too! I just ask that you sign up via email for my blog updates, so I have your contact information. And then leave me a note in the comments below!

Milk and Cookie Disease

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I am a true believer that the answers will find you when you’re ready for them. Dr. Wei is a Pediatric ENT at the University of Kansas Hospital. She was the surgeon that removed Millie’s tonsils and adenoids 3 years ago. I had honestly forgotten about Dr. Wei except for a quick news story about her new book on the Milk & Cookies Disease — I meant to do some research on the book, but got busy.

While waiting in the carpool line last week I told a friend about Posey’s possible Asthma when he told me his son was also recently diagnosed. His wife — my good friend — emailed me today wondering if I had heard about Milk & Cookies when it all came rushing back!

HUGE A-HA MOMENT! (Where’s Oprah when you need her?) I am not sure Posey’s problem is this, but the allergist did say we’d confirm asthma if the asthma meds worked — and so far, they aren’t. The other possibility for her breathing problems is reflux. And that could relate back to this. I will be doing more research — will try to get ahold of this book — and maybe even talk with Dr. Wei and get back to you.

Does any of this resonate with you? Do your children have similar issues? Has anyone tried something similar?

Weekly Take Your Medicine Sticker Chart

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One of my biggest challenges as a mom is staying organized and mot missing medicine doses. (Puh-lease tell me I am not the only one who forgets all three doses of a medication each day!) Not to mention, Posey’s not always all that into taking all of her meds. I’ve done my fair share of giving her asthma meds to her teddy bear first…bribing, threatening, and chasing. So, I’ve found that a sticker chart does WONDERS. First, it helps me keep track of what we’ve taken. No more walking in the door from running carpool and not being able to remember if she had her morning dose. Secondly, it is incentive for Posey to take her meds. I stocked up on really fun stickers (Hello Kitty, teddy bears, and Snoopy) — I do not think regular old foil stars do the trick! And if she fills up the whole sheet for the week she gets a small prize. (And I do mean small. Posey has her eye on twisty straws from Wal-Mart. You really want to save your big incentive gifts for things like blood draws, medical procedures, and of course birthdays!)

So I want to share our medicine chart: Weekly Take Your Medicine Chart.

Posey takes 5 medicines each day. I have 6 medicine slots — if you need more, just put two pages next to each other! I even include our miralax on here — just to be sure! Let me know if this is helpful to you in your quest to get the meds organized! If I can do this, anyone can! Good luck!