Total Life Changer

by Jessica Miller
(Austin, Texas, USA)

Emmeline (Emmie) Johnson 15.5 months

We suspected early on that our daughter may have reflux as both me and my husband suffered as babies in the early 80's. In fact, at 9 months old I had a Nissen fundoplication after being on a feeding tube for several weeks to allow enough weight gain for the surgery.

Emmie always seemed both starving but uncomfortable when eating. We fed and held her upright during and after feedings, fed small amounts, and did frequent burps in between, but we had a day full of vomiting episodes that were such large quantities and so close together when she was just five weeks old that we were instructed by our pediatrician's office to take her to the ER for fear of dehydration. Once there they checked her for pyloric stenosis. Confirmed she did not have it, they diagnosed her with reflux and referred us to a G.I.

We were given famotidine. This was a temporary fix and really didn’t help. We were seeing a feeding specialist, thickening her feeds, seeing a chiropractor, and had her ties corrected (lip, tongue, and buccal). I should note we had lots of other typical reflux symptoms too but the crazy ER vomiting visit was the tipping point. Had been told it’s normal and just colic. She’s gaining ok so don’t worry you are just a nervous first-time mom. We finally got on a PPI and still weren’t seeing the relief that we thought we should.

I was googling like crazy because I felt like something had to be available to help my baby. Then I stumbled upon this group and started reading about Marci dosing and TC Max. We were really nervous and frankly confused about it so I set up an appointment with Dr. Prince.

This was the first time I ever felt like a doctor actually listened to what I had to say and genuinely cared about helping figure out what would work best for my daughter. I asked lots of questions to group members and had so much support. It was wonderful.

We ordered our first Marci dosed with TC Max bottle of omeprazole through a Remedies Pharmacy. We had about a month of an acid battle and realized that my child needs to be above Marci dosing to be well controlled. Once we got that sorted I decided to try at-home compounding. It has now been over a year since we have been fully controlled. We get flare-ups with teething and vaccines and we just increase to get us through the rough patches. But honestly, I have a different kid.

My kid is happy and pain-free and besides being a testy toddler sometimes she is downright delightful to be around. My only regret is not finding this group sooner and starting the proper med protocol to get her controlled. There are so many things we all missed out on because of her reflux.

I try to tell anyone I meet about this group if they suspect reflux for their kid. At the end of the day, we are all in this together because we understand how hard it is on the kiddos and the caregivers.

We all just want our kids to get to live a pain-free life so they can focus on learning, growing, developing, having fun, etc.

The bottom line it changed our lives for the better. My biggest suggestions are (assuming it is reflux) to get on the medication protocol, power through the acid battle, and lean on the group for support.

Don’t doubt yourself because you too can get your baby to a pain-free place.