Medical mystery: Iowa boy, 12, has no urge to eat, drink

[cyberswede]

Very alarming. I hope the doctors can figure things out for this poor kid.

CEDAR FALLS, Ia. – The soundtrack of daily life in the Jones household is a persistent mantra that Michael and Debbie intone for their 12-year-old son, Landon.

Take a bite.

Take a bite.

Take a bite.

Take a drink.

Take a drink.

Take a bite.

These parents have been forced to jabber away like this in the last year because of their son's mysterious illness: He lacks all impulse to eat or drink. And he might be the only person in the world burdened with this bizarre medical condition.

Michael, 43, who prods most often, is a desperate father. He's become a verbal robot in a grim campaign to keep his boy fed.

Take a bite.

Take a bite.

Take a drink.

"We feel like we're seeing him deteriorate in front of our eyes," Michael said.

http://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/local/kyle-munson/2014/10/26/landon-jones-medical-mystery-urge-eat-drink/17950935/

[Sheldon Cooper]

1. I wonder why this wasn't done sooner?

The next step will be to insert a gastronomy tube in Landon's abdomen, circumventing the boy's mouth to nourish him directly through a hole in his stomach.

I work with a guy with a gastronomy tube - he has full physical functions, drives a delivery truck, forklift, etc. I really wonder why they haven't taken this step much sooner. It's been a full year and they've still not done it? I'm curious.

[YarnAddict]

6. Well, it is invasive.

As a person who has had a number of surgeries and other invasive procedures, I think that should always be avoided, if possible. Pain, discomfort, reaction to anesthesia, possibility of infection . . .

[cyberswede]

7. Good question...maybe due to his age?

I wondered if having him eat somewhere away from the TV would make any difference.

You know, "here's your dinner, sit here in the kitchen until you eat it." The article doesn't say he feels ill if he eats or anything - I guess I don't get why not having an "urge" to eat or drink precludes one from deliberately doing so (but then, I eat all the time whether I'm hungry or not. lol).

[YarnAddict]

12. I just read the article.

It said a tube is the next step. I wonder if they've prescribed appetite stimulants.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

2. I don't understand why they have to tell him every bite.

At 12, even if you have no urge to eat, you certainly should have the intelligence to understand that to stay alive you're going to need to eat. So you'd think they'd simply be able to set a meal down in front of him and say 'eat all of this in the next 20-30 minutes', rather than having to nag him about every single bite.

[Orrex]

3. You should call them and offer that helpful suggestion.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

4. If they haven't figured it out for themselves

Then I don't hold out any hope that they'd take any helpful suggestions.

Of course, chances are that they probably don't actually have to tell him every bite, and that that occurred simply because a reporter was there - the observer alters the observed.

[Orrex]

5. That, and...

I'm sure they've already tried some variation of the "here's your dinner; eat it" method, apparently without success.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

8. I imagine they have too. I was just meeting your sarcasm with my own. nt

[Orrex]

11. Were not.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

13. Well, if you're going to simply

call me a liar or stupid, you can become #5 on my ignore list. No big loss, you've always struck me as being pretty trollish.

toodles.

[Orrex]

14. Were too.

[MissB]

9. He's lost a significant portion of his body weight.

So while you and I are only guessing, it does seem likely that the parents are trying everything. Heck, the dad apparently ate lunch with his kid at school every day last year.

It's an interesting medical mystery.

[gollygee]

18. I get Orrex's frustration here

And I've been a fan of lots of your posts, so please understand that I don't have a problem with you at all.

But I think most parents at some point have some problem with a kid and then they get advice to do the most obvious thing ever. I had a 2-year-old who kept bolting away from me, and who almost got out in traffic once, and I got advice like, "Well why don't you hold her hand?" and "Why don't you tell her to stay close?" 2-year-olds don't listen to "stay close" and they are little escape artists who can wriggle their tiny hands away. It felt really insulting to tell me to do something that seemed so obvious. Few things get a parent more annoyed than hearing something like that. I mean, if that worked there wouldn't have been a problem to discuss.

I imagine he read your response and remembered some situation where he received advice like that. It was my initial reaction to your post too, and if I hadn't remembered some really great posts you've put on DU, I might have snarked at you as well.

[Orrex]

20. +1000 (nt)

[Enrique]

24. that's what I was wondering

it looks like something is left out of the story.

[Avalux]

10. It's not clear, if this is a truly physiological phenomenon, or if it's psychological.

The boy was ill, had pneumonia...maybe the illness affected him psychologically in some way. There is nothing wrong with his sense of taste and smell, and he isn't reporting any kind of adverse effects when he does eat. He just doesn't want to do so, even if he's telling his parents he does.

I hope they can figure out what's going on with him. I remember a story of an anorexic woman who lived for years with a feeding tube because she didn't have a desire to eat. I know he's a 12 year old boy, but it may be a similar case.

[longship]

15. "And he might be the only person in the world burdened with this bizarre medical condition."

Like the Breathairians aren't doing his work for him.

This guy needs serious help.

[PADemD]

16. Did they check how much Ghrelin his body produces?

It's the hunger hormone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghrelin

[vanlassie]

17. If that was my kid I would put him in a course of

human milk for a time. Nothing to lose.

[gollygee]

19. Certainly drinking something instead of eating might work

I had one who refused to eat breakfast before school for a long time. She just wasn't hungry and found it difficult to eat after she woke up, but she couldn't go to school on an empty stomach. I did smoothies. It still wasn't easy to get her to drink but it was easier than getting her to eat. But it's very likely this family had tried liquid diets as well. It sounds like they're way past options like that. It seems like an early attempt would be Ensure or something.

Breast milk can be very expensive to get, but it is very nutrient-dense. I worry that it might be hard to convince a 12-year-old to drink it. Kids at that age can be ridiculously stubborn, as this kid shows - he's wasting away and still won't eat.

[vanlassie]

21. It is not just nutrient dense, it contains hormones, enzymes, antibodies basically it is a complete

food and the only food that is completely natural to the human gut. I would want a restart. For healing. He can have it in the tube. No one has to tell him what it is.

[malaise]

22. Give that child some ganja tea

He'll be eating in no time

[KamaAina]

23. If someone could figure out why

s/he would be an instant billionaire selling it as a diet aid.