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Old Sat Mar 31, 2007, 01:22 AM
AZDreamer AZDreamer is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Northern California, CA
Posts: 1
Red face Any ideas on getting kids to Drink their fluids?

I'm a relatively new member to the forum and this is my first post. My 8 year old daughter was diagnosed with Severe Aplastic Anemia in April of 2006. As you can probably relate, it turned our lives upside down. She underwent a round of ATG (Horse Serum) and it failed. We were faced with the difficult decision of trying additional round of ATG (Rabbit) or BMT. The doctors advised us that they didn't think the ATG was going to do anything the second time around. Our other daughter (3 years old) wasn't a sibling match, so we decided to try and find another donor. We were extremely fortuneate and lucky as five potential donors were initially identified as matches for her. After reviewing their medical history's, etc... it was determined that a 37 year old male (CMV negative) would be the best donor. 10/10 match. So we proceeded in the month of September 2006. It was a very long road and we are far from over. The BMT did work, but she has had several setbacks so far to name a few.....severe GVHD in the gut (dx in November), Epstein Barr Virus (mono) was positive and treated with Rituskin, and recently it was determined that her kidney's are only functioning at 50%. Prior to transplant they were at 90%. She has been on CSA since April of last year and the other meds she's on is a low dose of Prednisone daily, Septra (2xday), Folic Acid, and Vitamins. Not much now compared to right after transplant.

My daughter recently returned to school, after being out for almost one full year, and just completed her second week. She must drink 2 Liters of fluid per day. This can be Otter Pops, Jello, Pudding, Ice Cream, or someething to drink. It's been a struggle to get that down her when she was at home, but she did it. Since she's returned to school she cannot remember to drink as much on her own. I've tried to involve the teacher, but it hasn't really worked out. I ordered a watch for her that will vibrate at whatever pre-sets I set it at, so she can wear it at school and act as a reminder to drink. It should come in next week. Is there anything that you guys can think of to help me figure out something that will work to get her to consume 2 Liters per day?

I don't think she fully gets how serious this is and have tried to talk with her, reward systems, as well as not providing her with rewards (like going to a birthday party if she doesn't comply) That last one sounds harsh, but I'm at a loss for what to do....... Her Creatine level was 1.7 today. (Her baseline usually runs 1.2 or 1.3). She has the beginning signs of Renal failure and I don't know what to do.... I have to get her drink alot this weekend and then she's going back in on Monday to get retested again. Platelets have been in the 230,000 range for quite some time, Hemoglobin just recently climbed from in the 7's to the 9's by themselves, WBC and ANC are still unpredictable and range from 1500 to 3800. Her catheder line came out two weeks ago as it was infected and she also wanted to go back to school. So we can't just hydrate her easily overnight. The doctors are talking about potentially putting and NG tube in her. That poses all types of other issues..... HELP......
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