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!