I didn’t fly to Orange County for the magic of Disney. I flew there in hopes of a magic feeding therapy wand. The truth is, when your child has pediatric feeding disorder (PFD), there’s no such thing as a magic wand. Since 10 months old, we’ve tried various feeding therapists, different approaches, different foods, what feels like everything to get Levi to eat. I’m thankful that he doesn’t have a tube and he takes his calories orally, but I still wish for magic. He will drink only vanilla flavored formula, from a specific cup. He will lick a lollipop, play with food, and take some sips of danimals yogurt smoothies. All of that took over 3 years of slow progress in feeding therapy.

They don’t tell moms about this. There is no instruction manual given out when you have a baby that says, “Hey, your kid might not eat food.” And yes, I am lucky, I know I am lucky. I could be visiting children’s hospitals for much darker challenges; for that I’m immensely grateful. Yet still, I wish for magic. We are coming up on his 4th birthday and I’ve never seen my son eat a birthday cake. I would give him ice cream and cake for every meal, if only he would just eat something… anything.

The trip to Orange County didn’t result in a magic wand. He’s not yet ready for a more intensive therapy program and so we will wait and we will move forward and we will hope. Wait to see if he’s ready in the future, move forward with the current therapists and efforts that have gotten us to the point we are today, hope that one day he will lick the frosting off his birthday cake and maybe even take a bite.