My five-year-old son, Li’l D, complained of a stomachache when he awakened the Wednesday before last.
He was fine soon after, but awakened with the same complaint on Thursday. This time, he threw up, leading him to join his dad at work instead of going to school.
“Morning nausea in kids can be a sign of terrible things, hon,” I told my husband, Anthony.
“He does not have cancer, Deb,” he replied.
(I’ve read about this symptom in cancer parent blogs that I’ve shared with Anthony. (Bless his heart, he actually reads them.)
“But he could. We just need to keep an eye on it, okay.”
I awakened at 3:30 Saturday morning to the sound of vomiting in the bathroom. I ran to Li’l D and took to rubbing his back while he finished up. I escorted him to my bed afterward, then soothed him back to sleep before consulting with Dr. Google.
When Anthony awakened a couple of hours later, I explained why I’d been up since 3:30 before showing him my search results.
“Well, shit,” he murmured after reading the Celiac disease common symptoms list and overview in an article I can’t find right now. “This all sounds familiar.”
Food sensitivities and intolerances–among others–are also common causes for these symptoms. Regardless of the particular source, the link was strong enough that Anthony supported me immediately starting Li’l D on the Paleo diet I use to ease my own sensitivities. The benefits of doing so while waiting for a doctor visit heavily outweighed any costs.
Li’l D ate Paleo all Saturday. He awakened vomiting on Sunday, but seemed more energetic and happier. He ate Paleo Sunday, too.
Avocado in him, not on him, though
Monday morning was a kind of amazing we haven’t seen for months.
Instead of having to drag a moody Li’l D out of bed ten minutes post alarm, he joined us in the living room fifteen minutes pre-alarm without nausea and with enormous zest. “Good morning!” he shouted while flinging his arms around me. “Can I watch TV?”
Anthony and I gazed wide-eyed at each other.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning were repeats of Monday. On Thursday, Anthony and I let Li’l D eat cupcakes with his class, deciding the social costs of depriving him the experience were probably greater than the health costs of a single cupcake.
He was berserk and inattentive that evening. It was like we’d gone back in time to the Thursday prior.
Yesterday morning was nausea free, but marked by nervous energy and lack of focus.
Now it’s early Saturday morning. Anthony and I are awake after having done as we did in our early dating days: watched and critiqued bad horror. (Oh, Ouija. You should have been five minutes. Maybe six.)
Li’l D came up in post-movie conversation. “It sucks,” said Anthony.
“Yeah, well, when you come from a baseline of thinking ‘cancer’ immediately, it doesn’t seem so bad.”
Glare.
But that’s the truth. As one who now knows how dramatically food can impact health, I’m pretty OK trading unhealthy foods for health.
That doesn’t mean I don’t indulge. It’s just more sparing. See, e.g., yesterday morning.
Li’l D will see his doctor soon. In the meantime, his dad and I will enjoy a sweet, upbeat, focused boy displaying little to none of the gradually grown gloominess we’d attributed to his having to share his parents’ time and attention with a littler one.
I began Li’l D’s first week Paleo scared. I go into week two with optimism evident in my last few posts, both thankful and ready to document here Li’l D’s food journey.
