NoTube Eating school day 11 (chapter 2)

One more day to go and then the eating school is finished already! This time we don’t feel the anxiety like we did last year. We have more confidence in ourselves and in Elodie. We have come a long way, and she has been making little steps.

She has tried new foods every day, and only lost 200 grams if I don’t feed her during the meals when she doesn’t really want to. So we were quite happy with the results.

It’s good to hear that all parents see that their children have made progress and the journey continues while at home. What all the families value is that NoTube looks at the family dynamics around eating and during mealtimes. You can’t only fix the child, and leave out the parents in the process, it goes beyond that. Giving the parents tangible advice and guidelines is crucial.

There is a family with an almost 8-year-old daughter here, and they have seen many medics (psychiatrists, therapists etc.) in their daughters entire life to no avail. They said that they only started to understand their daughter thanks to NoTube, and they now feel they can make progress, they feel enlightened. If only they had been here 4 years ago, the mum said, that would have saved them so much misery.

We have seen this last year as well. Doctors keep telling that at 2 years old he will be better, then at 4 years old, and then at 6 years old. But it doesn’t happen miraculously. Or the parents get blamed that they are not educating their child properly. In the meantime instead of finding the root cause of the eating disorder the local doctors give the kids a tube, and the problem is ‘solved’. As time goes by no effort is taken to wean the child. They go for easy fixes. Yet parents are longing for a tube free life. I understand that in some cases it is necessary to have a tube and that it also provides relief. I am just stating what I have seen here at NoTube.

That’s the biggest difference between NoTube and other doctors. NoTube gets to know the child and solves the root cause of the eating problem, whatever it is. They also help the parents understand how the child feels, it is not the parent’s fault. Most children have (sensory) problems after many traumatizing experiences like reflux, thrush, doctor visits, wrong therapy or treatments. These kids are not stubborn, they really can’t eat due to different reasons, and it’s so wonderful to see that with the right help they overcome their fears of eating.

We are really happy that we came to NoTube as soon as possible. I can’t imagine dealing with it for 8 years (like one of the parents), 2.5 years was already terrible to go through. NoTube has cured Elodie’s food aversion, and has saved me mentally, I was in a very dark place. They take care of the entire family not only the child, they understand it affects everyone in the family. We are not at the end goal yet, but she is making steps.

Today there was a camera crew from German television to document anorexia in various aged people: toddlers, teens and seniors. The families who didn’t want to appear on television had their workshops in other rooms. I am happy to see there is exposure on this. Unfortunately I haven’t seen anything about this topic in the Netherlands. The families who didn’t want to be on television were not interviewed or filmed.

This time the eating school brings more closure. We don’t feel the need to come a third time. That we were able to come a second time was fantastic, and we took the most out of it. We will also have an aftercare program of 60 days, so we will definitely be in touch with the team. We have shared around 300 messages since last October (in 9 months time). They answer 24/7, where else can you find paediatricians who are available to help to such an extent? As I have mentioned before, they have a special place in our heart, we are so grateful for their existence and for their work.