[tri-med] Re: Seeking Help

Hi Aimee, is it possible that Rachel is putting her fingers in her mouth and
down her thought to make herself gag?  Some times we think Morghan does that
when he is working on, or needs to have a bowel movement.
Faye

-----Original Message-----
From: Meierlaw [mailto:meierlaw@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: 01/23/2004 1:19 PM
To: Tri-Med@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [tri-med] Seeking Help 


Hi, Everyone:
My name is Aimee and I am new to the list.  My beautiful Trisomy 18
daughter, Rachel, is 33 months old.  Rachel is a "full" T-18, but she
presents as mosaic and is considered "mild and high functioning";
nevertheless, she is still significantly delayed in her development.  My
husband and I absolutely adore her. 

The issue I am writing about is Rachel's frequent gagging and throwing up.
There doesn't seem to be a pattern to it, although we think there might be
some correlation between the gagging and bowel movements because she often
has this problem within hours before or after a bowel movement.  In
addition, our pedi advises us that Rachel has large tonsils and that they
might be triggering the gag reflex if she moves her head in a sudden or
awkward position. Rachel has mild sensory issues and likes to bang her head
on the floor and this can precipitate gagging, also.

My question to the group is whether or not anyone else has a child with this
problem and what you do about it?  We have taken Rachel to a
gastroenterologist and had an Upper GI done - which showed her anatomy to be
normal.  We are also investigating the possibility of Reflux.  I have an
appointment with an ENT to discuss the tonsil theory.  Rachel can be
perfectly fine and then, all-of-a-sudden, start gagging.  She will either
recover, dry-heave for awhile or throw up.  It's pitiful to watch her
struggle this way.  We can often go for a week without any throwing up, but
we can also have four out of seven days with problems.

Any suggestions or experience you have to share would be most welcome.  We
put Rachel on Miralax about a year or more ago to help with constipation and
that seemed to help a lot, but it did not eliminate the gagging.  This
problem has been going on for two years or so and we can't take it anymore.
We are seeking help and answers.

Many thanks!

Aimee in Cincinnati
(wife of Bob; mother to Rachel 2-1/2, Jillian 1-1/2 and Ian 5-1/2 months)
                  Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
                       www.trisomyonline.org
                  Families Helping Families On-line


                  Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
                       www.trisomyonline.org
                  Families Helping Families On-line

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