I have had anemia off and on most of my life so it was no surprise to me last year when my Pediatrician told me that my middle daughter, Sarah, was also anemic. I figure either my eating habits or a hereditary factor would play into it.
When we found out, she went on medication. Easy medication because she was too young to really know what was going on and it only lasted a short time.
But when she tested positive for anemia this time, it was much more severe! And to add to the stress of dealing with it with one daughter, my youngest daughter also was anemic. A total surprise to me.
Their numbers were so low – over 50% lower than they should have been – that the back up Pediatrician got a call from the lab requesting that he contact us immediately.
So, on a Saturday, we got a call asking if our children were tired, pale, lacking energy, or had any change at all in activity levels. And did we know where the nearest pediatric emergency room was in case one of them passed out.
*shiver*
I was scared.
Luckily, my Pediatrician, who had already consulted with a Hematologist, had a prescription called in for both girls by the time this call came in. But while we waited for the Pharmacy to track down that much medication, we worried.
Because we knew that Sarah had not grown in 9 months. And we knew that we now had to worry about a life long battle. And we knew that, somehow, we had to get 8ml of Ferrous Sulfate a day into Sarah and 6ml into Megan. I was stressed out and tired just thinking about it.
And I blamed myself. If I had fed them better, been more careful with their milk intake, or let them have juice when they were young so I could slip meds into a juice box, this would not be happening – or at least be easier. If I had done my job RIGHT!
But the Pediatrician assured me that I was fine and some kids were just anemic, no matter what precautions you took. They did do a test to see if it was something they inherited from me but the results were shaky, at best.
We picked up the medicine and the daily fight began. Megan was OK. She could at least be tricked.
But Sarah… my too smart for her own good, can tell when the taste of her yogurt, mac and cheese, spaghetti sauce, and any other food has been altered, strong willed little girl, was determined not to take any of the medication.
She was awful. She had to be held down, twice a day, by two people, with a napkin ready for what she spit out. Terrible. Torture. Guilt.
But we did it. We had to give her a chance to beat this once and for all.
For two weeks, we diligently forced her meds on her and prayed that, though she spit out most of it, she as getting enough to help with the anemia.
And then her teeth started to turn grey, a nasty side affect to the iron. Like rotten teeth that people have right before they fall out. I was upset. Very upset.
My babies perfect little white teeth looked horrid.
And then Megan’s started to turn and it was about all I could do not to call the Pediatrician screaming at the top of my lungs!
So we started to brush their teeth with washcloths. It actually was a lot easier than a brush! And we noticed the stains lighten slowly. They are still grey, but not so… gross looking!
Finally making it to the 2 week mark, I took my girls to the Lab for their second intravenous blood draw in as many weeks. The girls did great! A few tears but overall, impossibly impressive!
And then the wait.
Did Sarah get enough to help raise her numbers and keep her from more ‘serious’ treatment? Treatment that I was terrified to even ask about! Did Megan get enough to prevent further blood draws and tears in her big brown eyes?
Were the days of torturing poor Sarah over?
Would their teeth be white again?
The call came in tonight and I braced for the results. I even asked the Nurse to wait a moment while I took a deep breath.
She said, “Per the Doctor, tell the Mom that the numbers have vastly improved and that there is no need for any more intravenous blood draws! But… she wants them on the meds for two more months and then a finger prick to make sure the numbers are still good!”
Two. More. Months.
More fighting. More struggles. More grey teeth.
But, I suppose in the end, it is not that bad. If we get this done and take care of their teeth, then we *hopefully* will be done with this! And in six months, it will be a distant memory!
In the end, iron deficiency in children is nothing to take lightly. It can rob them of so much if not treated. And I can not let my fear of the struggle do that to them!
I am their Mother, after all!
Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry that you’ve had to endure this. I completely understand…When my baby girl was born she was severely jaundiced. That can sometimes happen, right? Well, I have a blood disease that also caused me to be severely jaundiced at birth. I had to have a blood transfusion at two days old. Imagine my guilt when my perfect little baby was stuck in the NICU for a week because of my disease. In the end we weren’t positive on whether she had it or not, but I still felt awful. But these things, these struggles, teach us so much and allow us to be better because we’ve seen worse. I’ll be sending my prayers.
Thank you Lisha!! My girls were jaundiced too but not nearly as severely as yours. I am glad she is ok and sending prayers back that she has no more issues! Yes, this will make us stronger! We have no choice really! ;D
Oh, I do not envy you at all! I couldn’t even get my 2 year old to finish antibiotics the last time he was sick. And my 4 year old is deathly afraid of shots. You will get through it though, I know! And please don’t blame yourself!
Thanks! As long as it is amoxicillan, we are good on AB’s. But this stuff is- well – icky! LOL As far as the blood draws, I was shocked that they did so well! PROUD for sure! ;D
I’m so sorry! I’m anemic and so is my oldest. So far, Little Guy is OK. I learned that there are tons of foods that are high in iron or fortified with it. Cereals, oatmeal, and many granola-type bars are great for this. Try asking your Dr. what the best foods are or even Google it. It’s got to be better than trying to get the Rx stuff down. Plus, Flintstones has an “extra iron” version of vitamins. You may even be able to give two per day instead of one. I’d really ask the doc – there have got to be easier ways to get iron into your kids without the fight and gray teeth. Please keep us posted!
What a great idea Alicia! I knew about the cereals and am trying to get them to eat them, but I did not think about the vitamins! They take fiber vitamins, I am sure I can find some with extra iron! YEA! I love you guys!! ;)
I am sorry you are going thru this. It is probably harder on you then the kids! Hopefully in time their levels will improve and they won’t need the meds or the blood work any more. Until then Lori be easy on yourself!! You are your own worst critic and so hard on yourself! You are a great mom, I can tell how much you love your girls in your writing.
Thanks Rachel!! I am trying not to blame me – after all, these things happen! But I always want them “OK” you know? But i know it could be a TON worse so I am happy that their numbers look a million times better! YEA!
Oh my gosh! That would freak me out too. I didn’t realize that it was this serious!
To give you an idea, Sarah’s level was 16 at diagnosis and after 2 weeks it is over 200 and still needs to climb! Megan’s was at 19, and is now over 300! The Doctor said she was surprised I never had one of them pass out! SCARY!!! Thank you for reading!!
I feel your pain. Ash was born with hemolytic anemia compounding and complicating his preemie issues, and it turns out he’s intolerant of iron to allergy-level severity. We were forced to suppliment to help save his life, but it was truly torture to him, and that was before there was even an issue of how to get it into him. He was so hypersensitive to iron that he even reacted horribly if *I* took the iron suppliments and he got the extra iron, pre-digested, through my milk. We’re talking about 7 hours straight of screaming without longer pause than the refilling of lungs (then pass out for a half hour, then repeat), and it seriously looking like a pod of alien spawn were trying to writhe, push and claw their way out of his torso. As he got older he desensitized, and now it just gives him constipation of doom unless that is successfully combated, but it was “fun” for quite a while.
Some tricks: As others have mentioned, aside from straightforward Rx stuff (which does look, smell and taste horrible), there are extra-iron and just-iron versions of vitamins in chewy, gummy, even powdered forms you can hide in things. You can also use all those fortified cereals and such in indirect ways. Crunky flake cereal can be crushed and used as breading on chicken nuggets. Fragmented Kix can be mixed with a small amount of melted chocolate to make homemade crunch bars that are mostly iron-rich cereal but come across as pure fun indulgence. Lists of iron-rich foods can be found, and sometimes those can be hidden in other things as well…
WOW! Those are really fantastic tips, Rhiannon! I can not believe you went through all of that with your son! How heartbreaking. And what an amazing woman to come through it stronger and so loving! I will certainly be trying to chicken strips and your other ideas! Thank you so much for reading!
I feel like my anemia is worse. I’m taking iron and eating more iron-rich food and all the symptoms are still there: sleepy and groggy, low energy, pale, dark undereye circles, trouble concentrating, headaches, getting dizzy and lightheaded. It kind of feels like I’m never going to get better and it’s really disappointing to try and get myself to work out only to have to stop because the room is spinning and my head hurts.
It isn’t like I’m pushing myself super hard, I only really lift weights at about 30-35 lbs and don’t run because I don’t feel ready for it yet, it’s just that some days my body refuses to cooperate and I usually end the day in bed because my head is pounding so hard I feel like I’m going to be sick.