Cauliflower Part 2

Ok, where did I leave off? Oh, yes. Carter was sleeping peacefully . . . until 8:30. He woke up withering in pain. I brought him downstairs and he just laid his head on my chest, drew his knees up into the fetal position and kept pushing on his tummy. There were a couple, “My tummy hurts” and then it happened. A full stomach emptying vomit session. Even at a moment like this, Carter still managed to make us both laugh. “Plu-yuck! It doesn’t taste good!” Followed by, “I feel better” with a big smile on his face.  How I love this little boy!

You may be asking how I knew it was an FPIES reaction and not the start of the flu or a stomach bug. There are two things for Carter that are a dead giveaway. The first one is his mood after he throws up. He is immediately happy. He throws up and then starts jabbering away as if nothing even happened. The second giveaway is the up and down cycling his body does. Sometimes he may only throw up once, but his body cycles between a happy jabbering UP and a lethargic, unresponsive DOWN. It is as if his body is fighting itself, trying to find the balance again.

Carter ended up in the shower with Daddy. I went in to check on them, and Eric said I needed to look at Carter’s belly because something didn’t look right. When Daddy gets concerned, I know there’s something wrong! Carter’s belly was HUGE! It was descended and his belly button had gone from and innie to an outie. I have never seen his tummy so swollen! I later learned that the sweet, fermented smell of the vomit and the swollen stomach are from the candida overgrowth in his system. The very thing that we are trying to kill off using the GAPS diet. The candida literally started to ferment the offending food, producing an enormous amount of gas.

His stomach stayed that way for almost 3 days and the dumping diarrhea continued for 2. All of this from cauliflower. Less than a quarter of a cup eaten over 3 days. But there is good news!!! If we had trialed cauliflower before the introduction of the GAPS diet, I am sure we would have ended up in the ER and would probably still be there, trying to keep him hydrated. I am amazed at the difference we have seen in only 3 short weeks. The hard work is paying off!