The other day we made a trip to see Sarah's GI specialist. She sees him every four months. And he is not that happy with her weight. Not alarmed, but seemed to want me to offer her liquid supplements inbetween meals. She weighs 69 pounds and is holding steady at that weight. Her appetite is good. He wants a few more pounds on her.
He says that for people like Sarah, with her high level of disability ie-no walking, that as they get older through the teen and adult years, they have a harder and harder time maintaining their weight. He said there are three levels of intervention in this case. The highest level is a gtube. The next level would be supplements and the first level would be adding calories/encouraging larger portions of food usually eaten.
He could see that I was not willing to change anything I was doing right now. She eats well and has a pretty balanced diet as far as I can tell. So he backed off. LOL. He could see the Mama Lion beginning to roar.
This is what I told him:
If I give Sarah a liquid supplement inbetween meals, she will not eat her next meal. She will be full. He said that if she was eating a half slice of bread and cheese curls for her next meal, he would rather she had the supplement.
But she eats WELL. Good food. Cheese, meat, vegetables, pasta....
So he let it go. I told him I would rather she ate food than drank liquid. And he appeared to agree. LOL.
And, if someday she does require a gtube for adequate nutrition, I will seriously look into giving her a blended diet of regular food through the gtube, rather than canned nutrition. If at all possible, that is what I will do.
But we are not there yet, I don't want to jump the gun. Right now she is OK. She has finished growing taller, she is maintaining her weight and we shall see.
I pray to the heavens she is still at 69 pounds at our next visit. Ha!
