Preparation Day, Part I

Cherish is on a clear liquid diet all day today in preparation for her upper endoscopy and colonoscopy with biopsy tomorrow morning. (They will take place at 10:20 a.m. in the operating room of Wolfson’s Children’s Hospital.) The diet today includes no grape juice, no orange juice, no milk, no red dyes (thus, no orange, purple, pink…), etc. She may have chicken broth (with no pulp), other juices without dye, dye-free Tylenol (Thank You, God!), jello (green, blue, and yellow), tea, and Gatorade and ice pops without the red dyes.

So, Monday night I made jello in various forms: regular jello, jello jigglers, and jello ice pops (because the stores were full of lemon—a flavor she doesn’t like, and grape, cherry, strawberry, orange ice pops—all made with red dye mixed in).

In preparation, last night I told Cherish she was going to have a “Special Day” and she could have jello and an ice pop for breakfast. Guess what? She didn’t like the blue OR yellow jello—in any form—and now doesn’t want to even try the green. Failure so far.

I gave her apple juice and tea, then we were off to the doctor’s to be cleared for sedation. The doctor played the “bad guy” to inform mommy and Cherish that Cherish was not allowed to eat any food today—“not even one Cheerio that she may find on the floor.” So, today is a day of mommy obeying the doctor. (I didn’t want to tell her earlier, because I knew the news would be hard to take.)

After the appointment, I went to the health food store and found pear juice, fruit juice, & ice pops without dye. However, when we got home I realized the ice pops had coconut MILK in them! Ugh! No ice pops allowed!

When we got home, we dressed up in lots of jewelry and tiaras, got out the China that we purchased in China, and I warmed up the chicken broth (hoping to tempt her…). We proceeded to have a “fancy tea party” with tea and broth. It was a success!!! She drank a lot.

Diarrhea began at 1:30 p.m., and the laxatives begin at 5 p.m. Poor thing! She is going to be so sore!

Updates to come...