Prayer Request

My son has reflux, IBS and a few (small) anxiety issues. His reflux and IBS are kept under control by diet with occasional medication thrown in here and there. For the most part, he lives a normal happy life.

However, two summers ago we drove to Atlanta on our way to Disney World. During the trip, we discovered (the hard way) that he developed motion sickness. The trip was rather traumatic for him (and mom) and he and I spent a lot of time just walking around Disney World, not riding anything. Now, you have to understand that I am no stranger to anxiety issues. My daughter has had panic attacks for many years. She has an attack, recovers and moves forward. The Boy is a little different. He develops a few "tics' that present when he has anxiety. And he avoids the thing that caused the anxiety. Another thing you need to understand is that when reflux people get sick, it causes their reflux to flare up more. Which causes pain and that sensation that you are going to be sick again. So that summer, The Boy stopped eating. Because he was afraid if he ate, he would get sick. Oh, he would eat some crackers or some cheese and drink ensure, but overall he ate very little. He ended up losing twenty seven pounds and looked like he was starving. We made several trips to the doctor, tried different medicines, (had the nurse accuse him of being anorexic...which he wasn't.) did daily weigh ins to track his weight, avoided trigger foods, and finally, after three months or so, he began to slowly eat more normally again. (He really did want to eat, he was just afraid to.) So for the last year or so he has been the typical teenager. Eating, grazing, whatever you want to call it.

Until Christmas. I guess he was eating foods that he normally shouldn't or wouldn't and apparently that caused his reflux to start acting up again. Which triggered some anxiety. Which I was aware of. What I didn't know was that he apparently has stopped eating. Again. Because he's afraid he'll get sick. I know it's only been a few days, but I can tell (now that I've noticed) that he is losing weight. So tonight we talked about restricting his diet to avoid the trigger foods, taking his reflux medicine, carrying meds with him for his IBS, weighing in, and anxiety. Which is really the culprit here. He did eat some plain toast and drink some water. I guess tomorrow I will get some Boost. And if things don't improve over the weekend, we will be off to the doctor's on Monday.

So if you get a moment and would be so inclined, I would appreciate any prayers you might offer our way.