Weight GAIN- and THRILLED about it!

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-02-2003
Weight GAIN- and THRILLED about it!
7
Sat, 03-06-2004 - 6:39pm
So it's not MY weight gain, it's Rina's!

Last April my daughter had viral meningitis and it was terrifying. She had blinding headaches, kept NOTHING down, was weak and fragile and eventually had to take all nourishment through an IV. She was 5 years old and got down to 23 lbs.

Since her recovery it's been hard to get weight on her. When we moved here in August she weighed 32 lbs.

I weighed her today, and she's up to 52 lbs!!! I think it's all the cheesy potato soup my MIL feeds her.....

I just had to share- I am so thankful, and SO excited!

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2003
Sat, 03-06-2004 - 6:47pm
I'm so glad she is doing better. That must have been a horrible experience for all of you. sharla
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Sat, 03-06-2004 - 7:59pm
Thats wonderful Mel =)

  Shawna-- Proud Cl for 100 Pounds or More to Go 

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-02-2003
Sat, 03-06-2004 - 8:37pm
They wanted to do a spinal tap on Rina. When I asked exactly what that would accomplish, they said nothing, it would just clarify the diagnosis. They already HAD the diagnosis from her bloodwork and her other tests, but wanted to do that to "check again". With 4 dr's concurring I wouldn't sign the paper for the spinal tap. She'd been petrified during the MRI's and had to be strapped to the table to finish the test because she tried to climb out screaming, she'd had the Xrays, she'd been pricked and poked and I just couldn't do it, so I don't blame you at all!
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-04-2004
Sat, 03-06-2004 - 9:57pm
I'm glad she's feeling better and gaining some weight. That's great news, Mel!

~~Linda

~~Linda

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-2003
Sat, 03-06-2004 - 11:04pm

Oh God bless you all!


How harrowing that must have been! I would have been out of my mind with fear. Children are so sacred. It really disturbs me to see

Deb 270/228/145ish  (updated 4/19/04. Next weigh-in: 6/1/04)

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-02-2003
Sat, 03-06-2004 - 11:35pm
Yes- she's fully recovered now. She was weak for a long time, because she lost so much weight. The worst part from her, aside from the tests, were her headaches. She would just cry and cry and the lights hurt her, loud noises hurt, and she had a high fever that made her really uncomfortable too. Her neck and shoulders were really stiff and she hated that too.

One thing about Rina- she's NOT a creampuff. She broke her arm 2 years ago and we didn't even take her to the hospital for 2 days because she never cried! She tripped over Rob's feet while running through the house to maim her brother for some reason and hit her arm on the side of my parents' solid wood couch frame. She was mad that she fell, but never cried. My best friend, who's a nurse, was there and I had her check it out and we wrapped it in an ACE bandage and put some ice on it. The next day we left it wrapped. The day after THAT we went to Lake Michigan and Rina was slipping on some ice and Sarah grabbed her arm to pull her back up and Rina said Ow, Aunt Sarah! That kinda hurt! When we got back to the car we unwrapped her arm and it was so bruised and grotesque it made my stomach turn. We drove to the hospital and X-rays revealed it was broken in two places, but the child never whined a bit! She thought it was cool that she got a colored cast and that people could sign it, and she liked using it to "accidentally" smack her brother, but other than that it didn't phase her. She learned to write her name with her left hand and 7 weeks later was back in action. Blood, broken bones, NOTHING phased her.

When she was SCREAMING because of her headache and begging the nurse to please give her more medicine for her head and please make the dr. leave the light off I wanted to strangle everyone who wasn't listening to me when I was telling them how serious it must be for her to be behaving that way. I'm generally a pretty mild person, and I don't yell at dr's etc...til then. It took 3 weeks for them to run the tests, and I was driving them all crazy calling EVERY day and telling them how high her fever was, how she couldn't even keep water down, how she couldn't turn her head. They only did the tests to shut me up, but then when they realized it WAS serious they treated her like gold. One of the nurses in the pediatric ward even made her a makeshift parasol to keep the light out of her eyes.

These days she's better than ever. She is a fierce little girl, and when she had her last check up the only concern was that her feet are flat. Oh darn- give my baby a reason not to join the military like she says she's going to....I wasn't upset at all. LOL!

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-17-2004
Sun, 03-07-2004 - 11:08am
Mel ~ so happy your daughter is doing better!

Kerry