Submission To Peace

On Friday (April 9, 2004), we had the opportunity to visit a sick brother in a Hospital in East York, Canada. This brother had an infection in his stomach which caused it to explode. As a result, the doctors had to remove half of his stomach through an operation. For seven days, he is unable to eat or drink anything. Nutrients are being provided to him by using specialized methods. During our visit, we told him to be patient and pray to Allah for quick recovery. At one point, the brother made a very important statement. He said, "Now I have understood that if Allah doesn't want, we cannot eat even one grain of rice."

Being able to eat and drink is a great blessing of Allah. How costly and difficult it is to digest one meal without having a stomach! We should thank Allah again and again for letting us digest many meals without having to go through these difficulties.



writer: A brother in Islam

Maham S

TFS!

Mamaof3

This is an issue dear to my heart....I pray for all those who for whatever reason cannot or do not eat. Eating is a joy, a life-giving gift and those of us who are able to enjoy it are truly blessed.

Kikoy

^^ Mama...I wanted to ask...is your son now eating?

hareem01

My nephew was born with esophageal atresia and wasn't able to eat with his mouth until the age of 1 year, it was very difficult for the parents to see their child in that condition, all the family members did so much dua and after his riscy operation Allah made him healthy and now he can eat with his mouth, (his age is 2 years and few months now)

Mamaof3

Thx for asking aly He is eating better since being treated for Giardia. But still not enough, we're still supplementing with high-calorie additives and instant breakfast and still having to encourage each and every bite he takes. At least he has maintained his weight and not lost any with all the viruses we've had this winter! Now that spring is here, I am SO hoping to get a little meat on his skinny bones!

Kikoy

Thats great Mama...I too hope that he will eat normally soon.

Just asking if its Ok with you, how did you used to feed him when he could not eat? Was it like forcing him or just whatever he can manage? Was it like mashed/blended food all the time?

hareem01

What is Giardia?

Mamaof3

aly...it was so difficult. At one point, I was spending 5 hours a day to get a minimum amount of food in him. I didnt force him, that wouldnt have worked, so I would use toys as a distraction and/or reward for taking a spoonful of food. It was stage 2 baby foods or pureed table foods mixed with a bit of olive oil or melted butter for extra calories. He learned to chew at a specialized childrens hospital when he was 3 but even today, it will take him as long to eat one potato chip as it would take you or I to eat a hamburger. Its a great challenge for him. Eating will never be one of his joys which is kind of sad. My hope though is that he becomes comfortable enough with it that he will willingly eat enough on his own. Aside from the fact that its exhausting to get enough daily calories in him, its a very scary thing to know that if he were on his own, he would truly prefer starvation over eating.

Mamaof3

Giardia is an intestinal parasite. It causes all kinds of GI upset - fat malabsorbsion, reflux, diarrhea and/or constipation, gas, bloating, low-grade fevers etc. It is water-borne so you can get it from contaminated water or you can get it from feces of infected animals. It is quite common in the USA and VERY common in Pak.

My son was diagnosed with reflux and the docs gave him meds for it when he was 2. It wasnt until he was 7 years old that we found the Giardia. The reflux meds helped the Giardia thrive because of the lower levels of stomach acids and all the extra calories I was adding to his food - ie., the fats - were fuel for the parasites.

hareem01

Thanks for the info. May Allah protect all the children from it.

Kikoy

Thats really so sad and difficult situation. I do wonder though how children manage to survive on bare minimum food.

My daughter has an eating problem...but its nothing physical. she's fine as per what the doctors say. Also I feel she is fine cos she does not get constipated or gassy...shes very regular. She used to be a great eater upto just 1 year and a bit. Then she went on a "strike". the only foods she ate were fruits milk and cereals...slowly she started refusing cereals/porridge. It was/is horrible....

And yet i could not explain to the doctor cos looking at her, nobody would say she dont eat...when doc tries to examine her, she gives him right kicks that would shame a black-belter...and doc himself said look at the strength she has...and you say she dont eat. They all thought i was the kind of mum who wanted her to eat like 2-3 rotis plus rice etc and so I was just being fussy.

I have been giving her some homeopathic remedies now...essentially cos she could not talk...and somehow that seems to have helped her eat little better...also she trying to talk now.

I pray she eats well...I see her looking longingly at some food but some emotional block keeps her from eating. And i feel she gets hungry.

I will pray for your son when I pray for my daughter...and I know they will both be fine....Inshallah

hareem01

How often do you talk to her? Because my older son started speaking late and the reason for that was no one was talking to him enough.

Mamaof3

aly, something that i learned at the childrens hospital we went to is that when a child doesnt eat, its usually due to an underlying medical condition or problem that makes eating an unpleasant experience. If your daughter is limiting what she eats - as far as variety or volume - and if she is limiting herself beyond other kids her age - take her to a Pediatric Gastroenterologist. THere are so many conditions that can cause eating to be a bad or painful experience and a really good GI doc can help. Way back when my son was around 2, I didnt realize that he was constipated - he would "go" every day. Yet his movements were too hard, llike consistency of play-doh when they should have been like thin oatmeal. That should have alerted his docs. So you should maybe try a Ped GI and see what they say.

Anyway, I will keep her in my prayers, right next to my son!

Mamaof3

...another thing I should mention here...Hareem is on the right track. When a little one doesnt eat, they miss out on development of oral-motor skills and this can and will delay their speech. My son has more issues than that but even a simple case of reflux or constipation if left untreated can cause a speech delay. As early as 6 months old, a baby can figure out that eating causes pain. They stop eating so they arent using their mouth muscles the way most kids do. So they cant speak as readily as other kids - their mouth isnt used to moving in the way that the other kids mouths do. My son was so very orally defensive that he'd get absolutely hysterical if anyone other than me tried to get near his mouth. One doc needed to look at his throat one time that he was sick - he got so hysterical and screamed so hard that it took 2 nurses and a doc to hold him down and he actually cried tears of blood because he screamed so hard that it burst blood vessels in his eyes. That was the last time we saw THOSE docs who kept on giving me useless, basic feeding and care advice.

baigette

wow,
and to think i wont eat sometimes beacuse i thnk i "shouldn't"
im on certain diets occasionally - and that totally shines a light on things.