Ammon and the Poopocalypse

*Don't read this while eating*

Birthday number 6 just passed and he is still in diapers. Before you gasp in shock, let me just tell you, we already have. Every day.

Obviously, this is somewhat of a problem, so we traipsed off to the GI doctor to find out why.

I didn't know what to expect and Ammon certainly didn't either. Previous to this appointment we found out he is highly allergic to all dairy. Also included in that list is beans, peanuts, and baker's yeast.  I don't know what else to feed the kid, although his allergy test suggest he would do best eating a diet of sardines, beets, and blueberries. Gluten and eggs are on the iffy side. We cut out gluten at age 2, and it resolved the severe constipation and encompresis. We thought if we cut out the highly allergic foods, the potty training would magically resolve itself. It didn't.

Ammon was put into early intervention at 2 for speech and autism. He was very high functioning, but he had some problems that we couldn't pinpoint to disease/disorder or living in a family of autistics and special needs. At 4 he fell out of the opening of the trampoline "safety" net, landed on concrete and suffered a skull fracture, brain bleed, and cochlear concussion. This set him back some, and while he healed slowly, we put him in a special needs Pre-K, which he followed onto in Kindergarten. They plan to keep him in small group instruction, OT, and PT until 3rd grade. Mostly the school indicated this was because of him not potty training, and most first grade teachers aren't going to change diapers.

Once we figured out the food allergies were causing uncontrollable diarrhea, we thought for sure that was the solution to all things Ammon: cut out the allergic foods and the pooping will fix itself. It didn't. Schedule toilet time. No. Reward him with treats/toys. Nope. Have to stop at a gas station for an emergency bathroom break for you? Yes. (*shivers*....really? You would rather go in a disgusting gas station bathroom than in the relatively clean bathroom at home?) Try reading on the toilet. Absolutely not. Timers. No way. Wear underwear because he will then be forced to feel the wetness and grossness? Doesn't care...but he likes the feel of undies.

No choice but to go the GI Clinic.

They examined him. What the.......????? Poor Ammon. He jumped everytime someone touched him the rest of the day. They asked him questions about poop. Not a topic of interest for him. We discussed nutrition, psychological problems, Mega Colon (sounds like something you don't want to run into in a back alley), nerve damage (that's the problem), timers, how to get him on the toilet, and lastly: a colon cleanse.

Up to this point, I was starting to doubt myself as a parent. Did I really potty train 5 other kids? Didn't they give us hints they had to go? Did I do anything unusual for them? Why can't I remember what worked for them? Thank goodness for the baby because I see all these things in her. Ammon gives no signals. I have held him when he pooped and didn't know until I smelled it. I think because he has had diarrhea for so much of his life he doesn't recognize the signals. There is no regularity. He still can't get to the toilet in time to pee, much less poop. So, ok, I'm understanding some stuff about Ammon, getting more compassionate, feeling like we.can.do.this.

The Colon Cleanse. Their suggestion was to do this for three weekends straight. Get everything cleaned out and then we start over. For the record, this kid poops several times a day. I highly doubt there is any poop left in him by the end of the day, much less anything hard that might be blocking anything up. But I went home, armed with bottles of Magnesium Citrate, mineral oil, Miralax, and extra Pull-Ups. (He is too big for diapers now).

First weekend: it is a mess.
Second weekend: NO ONE told me the kid would LIKE Magnesium Citrate! He had 1 cup, sneaked into the fridge, and drank the rest of the bottle. He effectively gave himself a double dosage of it, plus had Miralax on top of it. What has been seen cannot be unseen. It was a Poopocalypse. It was horrible. We had one person cleaning him up, another on the floor, another on the carpet, another on laundry, and another on any trails we missed. And yet, not once, did he ever make it to the toilet. My house smells like poop. Ran out of diapers. Ran out Pull-Ups, Ran out of wipes. By the end of the weekend, it wasn't even poop anymore. Just water. Still nasty.
Third weekend: Nope. Shut this mess down. I'm not doing it and you can't make me. Besides, I don't think he had recovered from the last weekend.
One time a month after the Poopocalypse: No.

How.....why.......Why would anyone prescribe that for a kid that has diarrhea all the time?! It was so harsh for him, but even in the middle of it, I asked him if his tummy hurt, and if so, that was when he needed to get to the bathroom. He told me it hurt is tummy, but I never heard him cry or complain or saw him wince. It's almost unreal and inconceivable that a little kid wouldn't respond to that kind of discomfort. He was scared too! There has got to be other ways to do this. Literally scaring the poop out of him is not going to fix the problem.

So, fine. He will go to the other school, which is totally fine by me because I know he needs help in many other areas too. Maybe we haven't been on the allergen diet long enough for his body to heal? Maybe we haven't quite gotten everything his brain injury has affected? I don't know the answer, but I suppose it's time to find one.

I don't have any words of advice for other families with kids that don't potty train, but I'm open for suggestions.