We Compromised

Hannah made weight on Friday. Not by much, though. She has been at or below weight now for almost a month, so, her nutritionist, Mary, wanted to discuss what we can do.

I was surprised she even made weight. The only thing she consistently ate were pickles. However, I never stopped making her food. It really felt like I was always making her something that she either completely rejected or only took a couple bites. Somewhere in the tasting of those distasteful dishes, she kept up her weight.

Still, sporadic eating is not a real solid long term plan. She really needs protein so that she can keep those muscles around. The feeding tube would deliver that for her in a liquid form and avoid that whole yucky food thing. Liquids, however, were something that Hannah was a champ at ingesting. She drinks at least ten to twelve cups a day of apple juice or milk.

So, what Mary suggested was that we take the protein powder that makes the feeding tube formula and mix it in either apple juice or milk. Hannah would have to be able to take this "formula" by mouth instead of routing it through a tube down her nose.

It worked. She will not only drink it, but the powder can be mixed in other things too; soup, mashed potatoes, or other things that disguise the smell. That's the one problem, wow, does it stink. Insulated cups with lids and straws apparently, hide the smell from Hannah, and we are in business!



Hannah being silly!