When Zoe was just a week old she began extreme vomiting, and started having bloody diarrhea, gas pains and eczema. She was dehydrated, refused to eat and suffering from severe weight loss.
“She was so sick we thought we were going to lose her at any moment,” says Amanda, Zoe’s mom.
When Zoe was 3 weeks old, she was rushed to the emergency room for severe dehydration. From there she was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.
Zoe before Neocate
Zoe stayed at the hospital for a week as doctors performed numerous tests including, blood work, cultures, CT scans and x-rays. She was also treated with antibiotics.
By process of elimination, the doctors finally diagnosed Zoe with a severe milk protein allergy and told Amanda that her reaction was 1 in a million.
To treat the milk protein allergy, at four weeks old Zoe was put on Pregestimil, a hydrolysate formula. While the Pregestimil made her symptoms milder so that she was able to eat, Zoe still suffered from diarrhea, vomiting and gas pains which made her extremely colicky.
Finally, at 4 months old, Zoe’s GI Specialist recommended she try Neocate Infant — a hypoallergenic formula, made up of individual amino acids (the building blocks of protein) that Zoe could digest, instead of the partial protein chains found in hydrolysate formulas like the Pregistimil that cause her to have an allergic reaction.
By the time she was five months old Zoe had made a complete turnaround. “She was a totally different baby,” says Amanda.
Zoe (right) with her big sister after Neocate
Since starting on Neocate, Zoe is a happy, healthy normal baby girl. Her parents no longer have to worry about her survival.
“She is now 11 months old and finally happy and starting to get caught up in her weight. She does nothing but laugh and smile,” says Amanda.
2 Responses to “Neocate made Zoe a totally different baby”
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February 28th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
I am a fellow Tennessean and my little girl,Katie, had almost the exact same problems. It took me a month to convince my doctors that she was born with eating and breathing problems! I tried to even convince the doctors before we left the hospital. Finally, after a month long battle of watching my precious baby gag and choke while eating, stopping breathing,colic, and bloody constipation, we were admitted to the hospital. She underwent many test while in the hospital and over the next few months and the results were in. She suffered from a minor ASD, she had sleep apnea and was stopping breathing 10 times an hour, she was aspirating her liquids, and she had Laryngomalacia. I was so relived that they finally found out what was wrong with my daughter. We also new we had a problem with formula because of the blood in her stool and her severe colic. We went through every formula the local supermarket had to offer and the doctor recommended trying Neocate. Instantly I could tell a difference. We then started finger foods and started having problems again and was referred to a doctor who specialized in Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. That visit also changed our lives. She was one year old by this point. We found out she also had a severe allergy to milk and soy and she also had an immune system disorder, called Transient Hypogammaglobulinemia. I am so greatful that our doctor decided to try this formula when she was little. It saved our little girls life! Without it she would have had to of had a feeding tube. Now Katie is two and she has outgrown her allergy and her other issues are slowing getting better. We need to try to work together with other Tennessean’s to try to get our state to make it mandatory for insurance to cover Neocate. My insurance did not cover it and it should have because it was medically necessary for her to have. It is nice to know their are others out there who go through the same things we go through. Thanks for your inspiring story.
March 4th, 2010 at 9:21 am
Hi Amanda, thanks so much for sharing Katie’s story – it is great that she is doing better. Good luck with your push for reimbursement legislation in Tennessee and let us know if we can help! If you haven’t seen it, the Children’s MAGIC website has a guide that can help you with the process:
http://cli.gs/v7JPJ6. Best of luck!