Thursday, November 8, 2012

Facing Fears, Paxton Week 6 Feeding Therapy

The Doctor at the feeding clinic said something last week that got me thinking.  She said, "the only way to help Paxton move past his fear of food is to help him face his fears".  This morning, as I was speaking to a group of new employees at Orientation, I thought back to the moment she told me that.  At the time, I just nodded in agreement, but I realize now how true that statement really is.  For example, I used to be terrified of public speaking.  I'm shy anyway, but put me in front of a group of people and I'm a mess.  I used to sweat profusely, stumble on my words, and talk really fast.  Now, I really could care less.  I've faced my fears so many times that even speaking in front of 100+ people really doesn't bother me. 

Paxton is facing his fears too.  He seems to be doing better this week.  Even with the "hands down" restraining technique, he isn 't as fussy about eating his crumbs now.  The first week of this new technique was brutal.  He screamed and cried for us.  My heart broke.  While he still doesn't like it, he seems to be tolerating it more.  I'm hoping that means we are heading in the right direction.  This is our last week at therapy, but I'm hoping we make progress on an outpatient/weekly basis as well.  Although this has been inconvenient in many ways, I can see a difference and I wish they could continue for at least another 2 weeks, but there is a waiting list of kids just like him so our turn is almost over.  If you have a child who has or has had a severe feeding disorder, please feel free to share any ideas or tips you may have! 

1 comment:

  1. This post really caught my eye, only because I have a very close friend who has a son who had feeding problems. I do not know all of Paxton's story (I did see he had two holes in his heart when he was born though.) Anyhow, my friend's little boy was born with Prune Belly Syndrome. He had a super tiny kidney that was doing nothing and another kidney that was working enough to keep him alive. He was in the hospital for months with a feeding tube, eventually had dialysis until he got a kidney transplant. Long story short- he struggled with food for a long time (and still does). I think around 2 yo or so he started eating mushy food (maybe even closer to 3). After therapy he has finally learned to swallow and can eat food pretty well. If you would like some other recommendations of things to do at home that helped them, I could ask my friend about it, or see if she minds emailing you?

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Would love to hear from you,
Karen