6!!!

[This photo is a year and a half old}


Elizabeth has gained about six pounds in the last seven weeks! This is huge!! Extra caloric drinks like Boost and Ensure are difficult for Liz to handle because they contain so much sugar and dairy...things that make her sick due to her Dumping Syndrome. The in-house nutritionists at the hospital and her doctors have ordered many different kinds of the drinks for her, but she has trouble with them all. Besides, it is daunting for her to be told to drink so many of them a day in additon to eating her usual meals. We've tried adding calories to her meals by using oils and powders, eggs and protein, but she often has a difficult time with quantity.
She is now on an appetite stimulant called Periactin, which has been working well because it is increasing her hunger in a way that has her eating small amounts many times during the day (and usually 10 minutes after she has been tucked into bed for the night...grrr!). This prescription medication is usually given as an antihistamine for allergic reactions. A side effect of this medication is increased appetite....the reason it has been prescribed for Liz. Even with her nausea and retching, the Zofran helps with that and allows her to feel hungry after the nausea has passed. Being an antihistamine, Periactin makes a person drowsy. Liz tried his medication a few years ago, but she was just too tired on it. Her doctor adjusted the dosage and for now the fatigue is manageable. I am not sure how she'll do once school starts, but even if she has to be pulled off of the drug because of being too tired, she's had success with weight gain and that makes us happy!!