My daughter, Alyssa, was diagnosed with CVS. Alyssa has always been an over achiever. This year she is attending her senior year of college, playing sports such as soccer and softball, and works for the city recreation department, doing coaching and refereeing games. Plus she is looking for a second job!
Four months ago, when soccer began, she started having this gag reflex. Being a person with exercise induced asthma, we thought it was because she was using her inhaler more. Within 2 months, she started vomiting once a day. At first it we thought it was because she would over eat at dinner. Being on the go a lot, she would skip meals because she didn’t like to eat before practice or a game. She said it would make her a sick. By Thanksgiving and Christmas break, she would vomit after every meal.
We saw her doctor the first week of January. She weighed 96 pounds, which was a surprise to my daughter. At 4’11”, she always weighed around 100-105 when playing sports. Her doctor ran some blood tests, but by the end of that week she had dropped down to 86 pounds, which is when we had her admitted to the ER.
She was on an IV for a week while they ran every test possible, and yet they still couldn’t find out why she couldn’t hold any food down. A friend told us about CVS; she had read about it online. We brought it to the doctors’ attention, and we asked for them to start her on a white rice diet. At first, only a palm size came up every 10-20 minutes for an hour and then it all started to stay down. Now she is home eating chicken/turkey with rice. Almond milk works, so I make pancakes and try other recipes with it, but not all meals work.
It is definitely a life changing experience. She had to quit soccer, but is hoping to be well enough by softball season.
