Topic : 07/11 What’s Up, Doc?

Hello Mum! 

I watched the show with my 14 yr old son who went through this for 5 years.  I admire your incredible courage to go on TV with this...you guys rock!  I sooo sympathized with you that I just wanted to crawl through the TV and hug all of you and tell you it will get better but it takes time. My boy started out just like yours just a little over 5 years ago...small accidents. Then progressively got worse and within a couple of years he was going through 6 pairs of underwear or more a day. I tried everything you did too and couldn't help him.  We saw a gastric specialist over 14 months ago.  The prolonged constipation had caused an enlargement of the upper intestine...where the blockage stayed and caused all the other stuff to flow around and leak out over and over. IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT!  IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT!  You're good parents and your kids ARE normal!  Here's the good news...do exactly what you have to do according to the doctor's orders and by this time 3 months from now, you'll see a drastic difference! My son had to have 5 days of enemas (the first mineral oil to lubricate) in a row to jump start the process. He cried with the first one and I held his little hand and promised him I wouldn't hurt him.  The next four enemas were easier because he understood what was happening...and the clearing out began...and it continued. Then change of diet completely...and I can't stress this enough.  We still have the list on the fridge from last year. These are the foods you should very much cut out: sugar, honey, syrup, candy, soft drinks, fruit juices, white flour, other refined cereal, potato, banana, cheese, junk food, rice.  Encourage these:  whole grains, nuts, pop-corn, fruits, vegetables (skins, seed and stalks), bran, lots of water, meat, fish, eggs, butter, 2 glasses of milk a day and a little yogurt.  I URGE you to follow this because it makes all the difference in the world.  I lead by example...I cleared out the cupboards and fridge the same day we got home from the doctor and went shopping for all the good stuff.  I didn't eat anything he didn't eat since then. He was always thin and never hungry because his body was blocked up. I was lucky if he would eat a hot dog.  Within a month, he gained 4 pounds and ate more than I had ever seen him eat before..3 sandwiches on multigrain bread with sandwich meat, tomato, lettuce and mayo in one sitting!  and going to the bathroom 3 times a week.  I was so happy and it was exactly what the doctor said he was looking for. In the past 14 months my son has gained 20 pounds and grew 5.5 inches!  He has a couple of minor accidents (really minor) A MONTH !  He goes to the bathroom now 4 or 5 times a week and there's still a lot coming out each time...which is fine by me!   I lost 10 pounds!  He loves the new way we eat and so do I!  My son is now having a normal life!  Soccer, playing outside, hanging with friends, going on school trips and so on.  He's a changed boy...and you can look forward to the same.  PLEASE BE VERY PATIENT!  My heart is with you and your kids!

Yvonne

Encopresis is a true medical issue that involves physical AND emotional issues.  It can GREATLY affect the child and  their family.  They are loners which adds to the problem.  Parents must treat both aspects or the child won't get better.

I teach Special Education and I have only encountered one case in 22 years of teaching but it almost made me quit. If it hadn't been for a wonderful man, Tony Lowe,  who has two sons that suffered with this disorder. He rans the Encopresis Information Exchange in the United Kingdom and was a great source for me.  He even corresponded to the students in my classroom thru email to answer all their questions and frustrations regarding their classmate (who would soil daily).

My advice to any teacher dealing with a student with this disorder is to demand that the parent be ACTIVELY seeing physicans and mental health personnel, and that the school provide a private lockable restroom that the student can change and clean without embarrassment and talk to Tony!  Good luck!

Lord, please keep those grown boys (age 9 and 15) away from my 12-yr-old daughter until they are potty trained!!! YIKES!!!!

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As for the infertile couple, I know the feeling. It took us that long to conceive to and it involved lots of crying, disappointment and money. NOBODY knows the pain of not being able to conceive unless she has gone thru it herself! HOPEFULLY hubby will recognize how important this is to his wife and be gracious about it. My husband was and we now have two wonderful children (age 6 and 12) to show for all the patience (and robot sex:). Trust me, it's ALL worth it once the kids are born!!!!

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If I lost lots of weight, you can bet I would save my $$$ and have a tummy tuck and whatever else I needed to deal with the excess skin. Hopefully my husband would be sensitive enough to know that my self-esteem needed the surgery. Knowing my great guy, he would want me to have the surgery as a "gift" to myself for succeeding at getting healthy and losing the weight. Marriage is about support, love and respect. How better to show love and support than to "invest" in something that will improve the mental health of a spouse!!!

Not being "potty trained" can have a MEDICAL reason ... it is called encopresis.  Some children, particularly boys, have difficulty eliminating waste.  This may be a result of many reasons or a reason that cannot be determined.  Some of the reasons include poor muscle tone in the rectum, an inability to feel or recognize the body's message to go to the bathroom, an inability of the body to "move" the waste through the intestines/bowel because there is either poor or no peristaltic movement.  There could be a number of other reasons as well.  This is an illness that is NEVER talked about in public for just the reason that most of you have shown ... people tend to think of it as disgusting with the end result that children who have it are embarassed and have very poor self esteem. They don't want to be ill but cannot fix it.  It takes many many years and a lot of work to get it under control.  Oddly enough this illness is often improved or it may even disappear around the time of puberty.  Doctors think it may be a result of an increase in hormone production.  Interestingly, it is actually much more common that most people would have believed - it is just never discussed - which is a terrible shame because of what it does to the children.  So perhaps instead of immediately judging these children, you might want to be informed first (try googling "encopresis" and "enuresis") and then watch this episode to see if that is what they have.