We have been so busy with therapy, life, therapy, playing, therapy, feeding, therapy…..you get the idea!!! that the blog has been a little neglected of late, so I am endeavouring to catch up on some of the happenings of the last month, so there might be a few in a row….if I don’t get distracted…

As you know Veronika has been on the RPAH elimination diet for just over 2 months….her dietitian that runs the allergy clinic at the hospital, decided after we saw her 3 months ago, that nothing else we had tried in an attempt to get her to eat had worked, so she said we might as well give it a go….it took me almost 3 weeks to get my head around ‘failsafe’ diet, and then we started. The goal was to try at least 2 weeks, but is she was going ok to go for 4 weeks….

well after 4 weeks Veronika was eating a little bit, not much, but more than she had ever eaten before…

instead of eating 1 tablespoon of soup for tea, she was eating 2-3 tablespoons of soup for tea….

so I decided to continue the diet…..the only issue I had, was that because the dietitian and I didn’t think it would make any difference, she hadn’t told me what to do if it did…so I kept going with what I could, and kept notes of things Veronika reacted too, like a babycino I ordered out of habit, and within 30 minutes her face was all red….

On Saturday I made her gluten, egg and dairy free muffins like I always have, except for some reason I put in 100mls of coconut milk, that was in the fridge….I think I decided to use it, as it was there and I didn’t want to waste it, but I just didn’t think it wasnt on her list of foods she could have….so I made 22 muffins, and Veronika ate 3/4 of one muffin…

well this was the result

Veronika was very upset, and wasnt interested in going to sleep….it broke my heart when I realized what caused the reaction, as it was ‘my fault’….but yes I know I shouldnt blame myself, as ‘these things happen’…..

but at the same time I had been SO GOOD and not ‘stuffed up’ her diet for 9 weeks, something that I was only thinking about during the week before, and was proud of myself for not giving in, and being able to ‘cope’ with her failsafe diet….

they say everything happens for a reason….

yesterday we saw Veronika’s dietitian….

and she was shocked how the diet had made a difference and that Veronika was actually starting to eat, she asked me what other differences I had noticed since starting failsafe….the 1st was that I always get told ‘people with Down Syndrome are always so happy'(which by the way is a myth….note photo above)….

Veronika is generally happy, but since being failsafe, Veronika had been happier that she has ever been. We talked about what was going ‘in’ and how it was coming ‘out’ the other end(too much info for you to read!)….

but in the mean time while we were talking Veronika continually did this

then it clicked, that it was something she used to do all the time….

and she had been doing it flat-out since her food reaction 2 days before, and the dietitian said she believed that it was a direct result of the food reaction, and expect certain behaviours to last for around a week after exposure to foods that don’t agree with Veronika…..

it was information I needed to hear to confirm that I am doing the right thing by pursuing the failsafe elimination diet, and now we are going to start all the challenges over the next 3 months before we go back to see the dietitian….

that is next week after this reaction ‘should’ be out of her system

Isnt it amazing how our diet shows in unwelcome behaviour…..