Evan's episode

7/21/2009

Well, first off, I have been exclusively breastfeeding my son Evan for 7 months. Once in a while, maybe a total of 5 times, I have given him either rice cereal or oatmeal. He always threw up, but I always assumed it was something else; maybe he was full or he wasnt quite ready. Well, Tuesday, I was over my sisters house and she went ahead and gave him custard, which I was fine with. He did fine for 2 hours.....and then the scariest moment of my life happened....not right away. He projectile vomited one time. I cleaned him up and put him in the tub. I took him out and he kept on throwing up....awful. I knew something wasn't right. I laid him down in his crib and I noticed he wasn't as alert as usual. He was limp, completely lethargic. His breathing was fast but short breaths. His eyes were little slits. I took him out and tried to rouse him....nothing. He kept throwing up and I decided after 40 minutes from the beginning to take him to the hospital, where they insisted it was a stomach bug.....I knew better. After 2 hours, YES 2 HOURS, they finally gave him fluids intraveniously. After the whole bag (10 hours), he was much better, no fever throughout this whole time, from the time it started to the time he started improving was about 6 hours. Then I remembered the custard......
So, I finally got home at around 3 am, but I couldn't sleep. I knew ot was something else. I googled allergy to custard, lactose intolerance....then, I found FPIES and read about it......to my surprise, I pretty much knew right then and there that FPIES was most likely the problem..... I was scared. I took him into Boston to see an allergist and he was diagnosed with FPES (food protein induced entrocolitis syndrome)....scary as hell.....So, I am still breastfeeding Evan, and probably will have to until I can't anymore....but I have to do what I have to do...and that's all I can do. So for now.....I am relieved with a correct diagnosis from Childrens in Boston. I am not looking forward to trying anything else....but for now, he cannot have dairy, rice, oatmeal, apples, sweet potatoes and bananas....it will be a slow process but I know I have a great support system and I just have to have faith that we can do this. It may be hard, but not impossible.....