So, my son has Herpes in his mouth extremely bad. He was sent home from ER with alot of medicine, none of which he is excited about taking. The doctor yesterday afternoon said if he fought with us over the Tylenol with Codene and the Anti-viral, it was no biggie if he didnt get it into him. He does however have a mixture of May-lox, Benedryl and Lidocaine that we are to paint over the sores. He is letting us do at least that...but only when he says. We are walking on egg shells with him right now just to keep him calm. He doesnt understand why his mouth hurts or is bleeding as bad as it is. So, doc said egg shell walking was ok at this point.
All this being said he is STARVING. We have tried giving him banana, Popsicle's and just about anything to get him to drink. Nothing that is TOO acidy.
Everything hurts. Is there something we have not tried that you think would work?? Yesterday when we were told we HAD to get back up to the hospital we passed a Macdonalds and he goes...''Oh, mommy I am so hungry, can we get old macdonalds please..'' This broke my heart...Then he like three minutes later (after I said maybe later to the McDonalds) goes..''Oh, and mommy I want some Pizza too''...I cant give him either obviously.
He has also had the pukes, but has not thrown up since Thursday evening. He has had diarrhea, but we are thinking it is one due to the fact he has had no ''Solid'' food now since Thursday and two from the Anti-viral he was given yesterday(we are not going to continue AV mediciation because he lost all control of his BM's with it and he was even more miserable and embarrassed on top of that)
Here is the list of tried and failed so far...Failed meaning it hurt him too bad and/or cause his sores to bleed.
Toast
Banana
Seven up
Dry bland cereal
Crackers
I do have Cream of rice Cereal that we offered to him, he said he didnt want it. We are having to give him even water through a syringe right now. Even that is hurting his mouth.
Any other thoughts on stuff to try. He is only four so he tends to be picky about what he eats...So idea's on how to mask that we are trying things he may normally not eat would be great too...even though he is so miserable, he still has kept his picky'ness:)
I forgot to add he is allergic to milk...so dairy stuff is out...which stinks because it would help with SOME of the pain even if it could sit in his mouth for a moment. He does drink coconut milk..but the ER doctor said we should try and hold off with that for a few more days.
He is in better spirits this morning..Which brought me to silent tears..as he grabbed his big dinosaur and tried playing with him. It was short lived but more then what he was doing a day ago:)
OH he wants a slurpee...I am not sure how well it will do on the sores but we are gonna give it a try!!! Diane I will pm you when we get back from 7-11:)
We got him a Slurpee. Blueberry flavor:) he drank more then I though he would and I bought a bigger one to keep in the freezer for later. He did try and nibble a powdered donut...which he didnt get much in...I am trying stuff as he asks for it and I think it will be ok to give.
Noodles are a great Idea..I will try and OVER cook them as much as I can...I will cook them in some chicken broth to give them some extra flavor...probably should be sodium free now that I think about it though....
Thank you guys for all of your suggestions and willingness to help me through this. Never in my wildest dreams would I have seen a stomach bug blowing up into something like this.
He is back resting on the couch, but has gotten alot more personality back in him...even since this morning when I posted this:)
Both egg ideas we are going to try. We are making scrambled now and then I am going to do your idea too Beth:)
Lesley.....You got my thinker working with the Sugar water....We just got half a dose of pain meds into him...The other half was sprayed all over my poor husband arm. We think he would be onto just water with sugar...We are going to make some Chamomile Iced tea for him and maybe I will try to make just a small amount sweeter and keep it off to the side...and for the next dose of pain meds we can try using that!!!! GREAT IDEA!!! We have been having to give him water with the syring now still all morning so hopefully he wont think anything of the iced tea in it too.
Sunshine and Rachel Y...Both great thank you!! When I told him he got the syrup from the honey bear(his name for the stuff)he was like...''Willly?''(he can use his lips right now because they are rock hard from the sores...so everything is with ''W'' right now:() I am Finally happy to report that he is up and wanting to walk around. My neighbor's daughter graduated yesterday and they have a ton of left overs...So, when I go pick them up he wants to come with! I dont know If I am gonna let him I dont want him to poop out too much:) We will see though:)
If you google low acid foods, you can find a list of foods that are more alkaline based (opposite of acid foods). Good luck!
This isn't about foods but I get nasty cold sores on my lip and have for decades. Lysine helps a LOT. I always keep some in the house because cold sores can come up in a matter of hours sometimes. It's just an amino acid (part of a protien) and is in many foods. You can get it as a tablet in the vitamin section of the store. You could crush a tablet in applesauce or some other food when he is eating better. I take 2-3 tablets twice a day (up to 3 tablets, 3 times a day when I first feel a cold sore starting) so you might start him on half that amount. It helps the cold sores heal a lot faster and on some occasions it can keep one from comming up fully if you take it right away at the first tingle. There are also some over the counter treatments (like Zilactin) that make a seal over an open sore but I am not sure how well that will work inside his mouth. It works well on a lip sore, stays on for 8-12 hours and you can eat most things without as much pain. I hope he is feeling better soon.
Maybe a soft scrambled egg? I know when my kids are sick a scrambled egg is one of the first things we try. It's soft, easy to digest, doesn't require a lot of chewing and has a lot of protein. Maybe rice or noodles cooked in broth?
I am so sorry. I will say a prayer for your sweet boy and his Mommie :)
Blessings!
L.
Oh, your post made me cry for your little one! I am so, so sorry this is happening.
This is just a thought, so feel free to disregard, but have you given him any raw coconut oil or raw honey on a spoon? That might soothe his mouth a little and the coconut oil might coat his mouth long enough for him to be able to eat something without as much pain.
Again, I am so sorry. My heart goes out to you and your husband too. It's so hard to see our kids suffer! You are in my prayers!
Time for almost melted SOY vanilla or chocolate milkshake through a straw. Don't worry about nutrition right now. He just needs calories. Have him sip it so that he won't throw it up. Even if he does, it's never as much as it looks like. I had a doctor tell me once that so long as food is going in, they are getting nutrition even if they throw up. If he can do Almond milk, you can mix it with frozen bananas and soy powder for flavor and vitamins and mix it well in a mixer to get it real cold, almost slushy. Or get some soy ice cream and mix that with the almond milk.
I am so sorry to hear this. This made me so sad to read=(
When I was little, my dad would soft boil eggs and mix it with toast in a cup (Typical Dad meal, right?). It is really soft and easy to eat. Would he like that?
How about chicken soup? I'm thinking something like Campbell's Chicken & Stars because they are tiny. You could get a fat straw like they have at Mc Donald's and let him drink it- you might have to take out the pieces of chicken though.
Poor little guy! I hope he feels better soon!!!
I really don't know, but try and have him eat some protein, since that is what he will be lacking.
What about "Pediasure" drinks??? It is a 'meal' drink for kids, and has vitamins/protein/and fiber in it.
Chill it, or room temperature, depending what he likes or can drink.
You can find it at grocery stores, in the kid/baby aisle.
It tastes like a milk shake.
And comes in different flavors: chocolate, vanilla, strawberry.
BUT I do know know, if it is dairy based or not.
How about malt-o-meal? Most kids like the chocolate flavor.
Poor guy. Can you give him things through a straw? Maybe that would bypass most of the sores by getting the food to the back of his mouth?
I'm thinking also a great kids' supplement that will boost his immune system and contain all the nutrients he needs but with no dairy. I give it to a lot of kids I work with nutritionally. It's helped a lot of people with herpes and many other issues - let me know if you want more help.
I would anything requiring chewing would be too painful and would be in the mouth too long. Toast, crackers, cereal, etc. - I'm sure he asks for them because he's hungry, but I'm sure they hurt. Would applesauce be too acidic? Can you make a smoothie with some non-acidic foods?
I feel so bad for your guy! Sounds so miserable!! I really hope he gets some relief soon.
What about noodles? can he eat those? They are soft, and maybe if he can get them down then it will keep him full for awhile.
I hope you did get him a slurpee! I love those things. Fruit smoothies, are good too.
Like others have said what about an Ensure for kids drink?
I dont have many ideas but just wanted to send some love for you and your son. Tell him to hang in there, you too girl.
If you could get at least one dose of the Tylenol into him he would realize that it helped it stop the pain. Maybe, mask it in some water with sugar? I am assuming it is a liquid med.
Anyhoo, have you tried jello?
What about a fruit smoothie? Frozen fruit and juice whirred through the blender so it is really smooth. The cold may help soothe his mouth also.
Can he drink soy or almond milk? Just a thought.
Poor baby.
I hurt for him.
God Bless
Can you make some finger jello? If you use the Jell-o brand, I think the recipe is on the box. I used to make it with regular gelatin and use my own juice for the liquid-you could probably even use Kool-Aid. Have him pick the flavor he likes. And have him pick out a favorite (like dinosaur) cookie cutter, or let him cut it into pieces with a butter knife.
Hopefully by now he is feeling better. My daughter went through this when she was 18mths old. We were in the hospital for 4 days and she went from Friday to Thursday without eating and almost 3 days without drinking anything. Since they weren't sure if it was just the herpes virus, they tested her for a bunch of different things and she was put through alot of un-needed paid. Don't really have an answer for you, but I hope is feeling better. I know this is an awful thing to go through.
Oh the poor little thing! My boys get ulcers all the time and I know how THAT bothers them so I can't imagine what he is going through-or you either for that matter. Its so tough when you can't feed them b/c everything hurts. I would always fall back on milk shakes but it doesn't look like you can do that. Can he eat soy milk and ice cream? If so try making him a shake with that. I would also get him a slushee-not nutritious but it might feel nice and cheer him up a bit.
