Son appears healthy, but mom says he isn't

Detroit Free Press ^ | June 25, 2002 | L.L. BRASIER

[msuMD]

He gets good grades, runs track in middle school, and zooms around on a skateboard. He wolfs down his food and drinks a gallon of milk a day. He's a typical, healthy 14-year-old, everybody says.

Everybody, that is, except his mother.

[msuMD]

There are weird people out there, it appears here is one of them.

[willieroe]

He wolfs down his food and drinks a gallon of milk a day. He's a typical, healthy 14-year-old, everybody says.

If I had chosen to drink a gallon of milk a day at that age, I would have been a ward of the court also, because my mother would have thrown my butt out of the house.

[LadyDoc]

Alas something we see. Munchausen by proxy syndrome

The little girl in a recent Bruce Willis movie was killed by her mom and went to the little boy to tell the truth was an example of a case (can't remember the movie's name).

Even when caught on tape, the parents deny the allegation....

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

The puking girl ghost was from "The Sixth Sense". "I see dead people"

[arthurus]

After being pretty close to a couple of Florida CPS actions, I have long believed that no one should ever call the state about child abuse unless he believes the child to be in actual danger of losing his life. Even sexual abuse doesn't reach that standard. The state will do more harm to the child physically and psychically than all but a very few abusive parents will.

A case like this rises to that level. The child with such a parent is in danger of his life.

[Mamzelle]

I have seen this up close in an acquaintance back when I was more naive, before the syndrome had a name, only it was allergies, not irritable bowel. She even had the poor little guy carrying around an epi-pen. No one ever actually saw him go into anaphylactic shock, but she had a lot of people convinced for a long time.

Another indication is being related to medical personnel--wouldn't be surprised if this woman had a dad who was a doc.

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

A case like this rises to that level. The child with such a parent is in danger of his life.

And he was placed with relatives!

[Corin Stormhands]

If I had chosen to drink a gallon of milk a day at that age, I would have been a ward of the court also, because my mother would have thrown my butt out of the house.

I have a thirteen-year-old boy. When Mom shops for him, she has to hide the snacks and bring them out gradually. Otherwise he can finish off a weeks work of groceries on a Saturday afternoon. And, unlike Dad, he's tall and thin...

[mamelukesabre]

See, this is a symptom of victim mentality.

It used to be that a parent was proud to have a perfectly healthy child, and received praise and attention for it. Now, a parent is proud to have a child that requires special care and receives praise and attention for it.

It used to be that a parent would bend the truth a little to make a child appear healthier than it really was. NOw, they bend the truth a little to make a child appear less healthy than it really is.

It's sickening. I can't even stand to hear people talk about a kid that has asthma or allergies anymore. YOu don't hear adults talking about how bad their syphilis is! WHy do you think I want to hear how bad your brat's asthma is??

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

There are weird people out there, it appears here is one of them.

Maybe not.

He wolfs down his food and drinks a gallon of milk a day.
Susan Mossman, if you ask her, will tell you her boy has an inflammatory bowel condition, the inability to absorb nutrients from food, chronic diarrhea and an overactive bladder, hearing loss, speech difficulties and learning disabilities.

If this is the case, these two things may be related. High levels of cow's milk consumption in teens has been shown to have a detrimental effect on their physiology.

[msuMD]

I am unfamiliar with studies that show high concentrations of dairy products cause malabsorption. It is true in very small children (Galactosemia) and older people such as lactose intolerance. Besides, if it was malabsorption from excessive milk, the biopsies from the endoscopy would have shown it. Apparently they didn't.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Very true. I was only putting it out there as a possibility before writing the woman off as stark raving nutters.

[AppyPappy]

Even sexual abuse doesn't reach that standard. The state will do more harm to the child physically and psychically than all but a very few abusive parents will.

So a child should stay in a sexually-abusive home rather than be removed? That is nuts.

[Slainte]

I can't speak to the malabsorbtion, but I KNOW about lactose intolerance. If this kid had lactose intolerance, he wouldn't be drinking a gallon of milk a day, and he'd have figured it out for himself. "Gosh, I sure do get a nasty stomach ache and diarreaha after drinking milk. I guess I need some more..."

In my mind, the clue is that he doesn't seem to be having any of the perported medical problems now that he's in a different environment.

[sinkspur]

I have long believed that no one should ever call the state about child abuse unless he believes the child to be in actual danger of losing his life. Even sexual abuse doesn't reach that standard. The state will do more harm to the child physically and psychically than all but a very few abusive parents will.

This is the dumbest thing I've read all day. I hope you're not a parent.

[arthurus]

I have long believed that no one should ever call the state about child abuse unless he believes the child to be in actual danger of losing his life. Even sexual abuse doesn't reach that standard. The state will do more harm to the child physically and psychically than all but a very few abusive parents will.

This is the dumbest thing I've read all day. I hope you're not a parent.

Sexual abuse is part and parcel of the CPS foster parenting and care for children once they are repossessed by the state. If you get someone's children taken it is highly unlikely that you have improved their lives at all. They become assets to be used to get more funds for the local office and to enhance the careers of the bureaucrats. They are farmed out to foster pros, a few of whom care for their wards. These are the ones that occasionally get in the news in their fights with CPS to be allowed to adopt. Most are indifferent or harmful.

Abuse is rampant and of no concern to CPS once the children are in the system. Eliminating it reduces the population of foster parents and costs resources. It damages the careers of the local bureaucrats. The kids getting handed from foster family to foster family will probably run into a sex abuser. I've dealt with some of these children and some are offspring of acquaintances. I called in on a child once myself before I learned.

I know foster families, good ones and I've seen others not so good. I've seen people who called the "authorities" about obvious abuse in a foster house get harrassed by CPS and the police and threatened with charges for harrassment.

If you think a child is in danger of losing his life in an abuse situation, by all means call the CPS folks. Otherwise you may well be making his life worse and subjecting him to new kinds of abuse.

[LadyDoc]

I am unfamiliar with studies that show high concentrations of dairy products cause malabsorption

Lactose intolorance is common in people with non Western European ancestors. (such as many Oklahomans with Cherokee great grandmothers). You can also get a mild lactose deficiency after a bout of diarrhea. The test for it is to check the PH of the loose bm. If you don't aborb Lactose, the BM is acidic.

The treatment is Lactaid, a pill containing the enzyme

There is also "milk allergy" where you make antibodies against milk. You can do a rast test, or substitute Soy or non cows milk. Usually the WBC shows high eosinophils and the RAST test is positive, but usually diet trial and error finds the culprit.

If the kid is able to drink a lot of milk without cramps and diarrhea, he is okay.

The clue is that mom went from one place to another, repeating tests, and that nothing was found. The fact that the kid scarfs down milk now suggests that he doesn't suffer from bowel malabsorbtion.