Sikcell: People living with Sickle Cell

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Help caring for a sickle cell baby

Yousef is one year old and has sickle cell. We started having problems with vomiting since he was 6 months old, he refuses to feed and would vomit as soon as he is done feeding or within a few hours of doing so.

The biggest problem is that if for instance if he feeds without vomiting in the morning and then takes his second or third meal that day, he would vomit and the food he eat in the morning and it would still be undigested.

We took him to see pediatric gastroenterologist, who prescribed Nexium but didn’t do any good. Yousef now survives on only a high calorie milk based shake that is all he is going to take, he refuses everything else.

He is on penicillin and folic acid daily as prevention for infections as he is sickle cell diseased. Since he was nine months he has been getting high fevers of around 39 degrees twice a month where he would need to be hospitalized and have all sorts of blood works, urine, and stool cultures done to rule out a bacteria infection. All these tests were negative for bacteria so he would be put on iv fluids for re hydration and sent back home within a few days of observation and the fever was attributed to a viral infection.

We are starting to suspect that there is a link between the vomiting, the fevers and the refusal of food.

We would appreciate it if anybody can share their experience with a similar case or can guide us to what we should do next.

Thanx and Regards

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Permalink Reply by Harriet A on December 23, 2012 at 12:06am

Dear Khalid,

My 13 months old daughter was recently diagnosed with sickle cell. She also vomitted frequently from 3 months. What helped is my persistence to ensure that she likes food and patiently burping her after every meal. Try burping her for minutes after every meal (this takes patience as it might take longer compared to other babies). I took extra time to cook variety of meals in as attempt to figure out what she likes. This worked - If she vomits, i rehydrate her with fluids and refeed her with another type of food within the same hour.

Be strong and all the best with Youssef.

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Permalink Reply by Judith Farah on December 24, 2013 at 12:51am

Dear sir it is exactly 1 year ago since your 1st post I see. I hope you have learned how to deal with the daily challenges As a nurse would like to understand your perspective
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Ask for Judy farah or team member
Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Tamekia Cardell on January 23, 2013 at 6:49pm

Hello. One of my daughters (twins) has sickellcell and until reading now I never thought her throwing up was related to her diagnoses. She will throw up easily, but more so often if she's over feed and not burped after each feeding. ( like other babies that don't have the Sickellcell) Like the other person mentioned we keep her hydrated. She hasn't lost any weight :) alot of people don't BELIVE in giving babies water so early but they both have been drinking since about two months. I also give her pedicare to help with her hydration.