If he has to get a g-tube, you could get him a tubie friend: [link] Grace has a bear (Honey Bunny) that has a gtube and a trache.

YAY Mr Purple Dana!

I am sorry for the hard days, Consuela and Kat and Homer & Jesse and other people who had hard days.

You know, I seem to remember not being exhausted and spoonless by the end of the day, but it's beginning to be a foggy memory.

After hoping we'd gotten through at least some of the day okay, and sending some Haldol to Mom around 7, I called around 8 PM and she was still full of rage and paranoia. Blames me, doesn't believe me, etc etc. Lovely.

Well, I have made a cake, which is better than drinking too much.

I don't know how we'll get through the weekend.

Is he not gaining at all? Are they planning on doing round the clock feeds? Or will they still keep him eating orally and then feeding through the night?

Without knowing the details, I'd be hesitant unless it's medically necessary because he won't eat, not just that he's not eating enough. Is the weight loss due to other things like reflux etc. I'd ask for a consultation not just with a GI, but also a nutritionist.

At 10 months they are still feeding him around the clock. They started him on fortified solids but it's not enough to make a difference. He's just barely over 9lbs and only gaining an ounce or two a week. Not enough to catch up to where he needs to be. Lori's been fighting the G-tube this whole time--worried that it will set him back. They've been meeting with a nutritionist and an OT that specializes in infant feeding. I think the combination of the lactose allergy and his physiology. I am hoping that once he gets on it he can gain the way he needs to--I know L is terrified no matter how this turns out. If he gains, she'll kick herself for not doing it sooner. If he backslides on oral feeding, she'll beat herself up for agreeing to the g-tube.

I have so many feels about Consuela's parental situation. And will not be expressing them. (many of my feels are angry and uncharitable) But gurl, I am sorry you are dealing with this. You don't deserve it at all, no matter how much you're told otherwise.

Consuela, I'm so sorry.

I know at a certain point with my grandmother's Alzheimer's they got her to quit smoking (which she'd been doing heavily since she was fifteen) by telling her she'd just had a cigarette each time she asked for one. (It was more a matter of fire-hazard than lung-health that she quit). She was aware of being forgetful so she just believed them.

I have no idea if that could be helpful or not, but it sticks with me. Hang in there.

I am sorry for the hard days, Consuela and Kat and Homer & Jesse and other people who had hard days.

So much this. I know that life includes incredibly difficult stuff, but there really needs to be more great stuff for balance. Solution and strength ~ma all round.

One of our new division heads just wrote that our floor is either the most festive or most insane group of people he's worked with. And we've only had one division party so far this month.

... I know what I'm going with.

We haven't done this in a while, and it seems needed: What is the last thing that made you smile unexpectedly?

The boxer I am dogsitting (Craig) who is currently engaging in such dramatics because the cat is sitting on the end of the couch that he thinks he would like to sit on.

As with Darby when the cat starts eating her food, this is all focus on getting me to do something about it. Apparently neither one of them has the stones to take it up with her directly.

(In about a minute it'll get annoying, but for now it's making me laugh.)