Caden throws-up, a lot!

We're now in west Texas visiting Collin's parents.  It's so good to see them and we are enjoying our visit.  However, Caden continues to throw up, a lot!

The short version is the vomiting has caused Caden to become a little anemic. I am crushed! Absolutely crushed and feel like a failure. We try so hard to give him a balanced diet but when he throws up almost everyday and sometimes multiple times a day, most nutrition is lost. Please pray for him. The background and how we're handling this is below.

The excessive vomiting starting around Thanksgiving last year. For Thanksgiving we went to Paris and thankfully he didn't throw-up on our vacation there. But once we got home he threw up everyday, multiple times for over two weeks. We took him to the doctor it seemed like every few days and they did some tests. He caught a virus and had an infection. They did some blood work and gave him some medicine. After a few months of this, he stopped throwing up everyday. Although, sometimes he does throw-up everyday of the week. So the problem is not completely solved, we are just better prepared now. We keep a bowl on every floor in case he throws up. There's not necessarily any one thing that triggers this. At his 18-month well baby and 24-month well baby the doctors said he's growing fine and is verbally advanced for his age. Since he exceeded the 24-month assessment and is gaining weight, the doctor didn't seem to think there's a concern, especially since he doesn't have a fever. She said, sometimes kids get upset and they feel it in their stomachs, other kids just throw-up. Caden is very smart and sensitive and happens to be a child that throws-up.

Since we were coming to the U.S., we decided to try and get another opinion from a doctor here. Sadly, we couldn't find a pediatrician to see us but we're referred to a specialist. The appointment lady told Collin twice that she wouldn't give us an appointment since we lived overseas. Thankfully, Collin finally got us an appointment with a pediatric gastroenterologist. I really like this doctor. I'm so sad that we have such limited time and have to do several tests in such a short amount of time and are unable to get certain things tested. We started with blood, urine, and stool tests. His stool and urine are fine but we found out he is a little anemic. I am so sad about this! I want to cry! I'm not surprised since he throws up so much but it is heartbreaking to hear that your two year old is anemic. Especially, when I try so hard to give us all a balanced diet. We had to turn in some more stool today so they could do a hemocult stool card (to check for blood in his stool). The doctor wanted us to take his blood again to make sure Caden is making enough red blood cells. We hated for them to take more blood because he's so little and they seem to take so much. We were told to give him an iron supplement (ferinsol) for 30 days. I was reading about anemia and the importance of getting enough iron. He was breastfed for the first year of his life (never had formula which is fertified with iron) and at 9 months he got 3-day fever and was really sick. They checked his blood then and his iron levels were fine - of course he loves Cheerios which are fortified with iron. At 12 months when they typically check iron levels they said since he was fine at 9 months, they didn't need to do any blood work, which we were glad about. Caden eats really well, most vegetables and every fruit but melons. Since we primarily don't eat meat, the doctor told us to give Caden two servings of red meat a week and that, along with the vegetables, should give him enough iron. He also eats iron-fortified cereals. Of course if your child throws up most of the good meals, then most of the nutrition is lost.

I'm glad we are back in Texas and close to specialists and able to get this checked out. We are enjoying family and Caden loves all his extended family and friends. Once I find out the test results I'll let you know. Please say a prayer for Caden. Just this morning, I took him down the street to the park. We were walking and he stopped to throw up. Most of the time it is very random. He threw up yesterday after lunch in the parking lot of Red Lobster. We're just at a loss for what is causing this and hopefully will find out soon. Thanks for reading this long post and for your prayers.