We all have our little obsessions--in our family, I could name several: chocolate (Jason), Star Wars (Eric and Ben), Lego (Ben), acquiring items (Alaina), Paw Patrol (Eric), tractors (Jason) . . . and I'll even admit that I can't leave the library without picking up "just one or two more" books on the way out every time.
But Janae has an obsession with medical conditions and equipment that outshines all of these.
For as long as I can remember, Janae has loved to hear stories about people getting hurt or needing to go to the hospital--and even requests these when Jason or I tell her about our childhoods. Now--as a tween (as she loves to call herself now that she's turned 10)--she can't get enough of reading Dear Canada books, especially the journals about girls with polio, the Spanish flu, or other scary conditions of days gone by.
She has crutches for her Barbies, and asked Grandpa to find crutches for herself and Alaina so they could pretend they are injured (these, by the way, are very hot items whenever kids come over to play).
The number-one item on Janae's Christmas list was a wheelchair for her American Girl doll, and Janae has begged and pleaded for a wheelchair of her own . . . to the point that I offered her a special present if she promised to never ask for one again. Fortunately for all of us, she accepted. This has not, however, stopped the looks of longing at courtesy wheelchairs parked outside stores like Walmart, or even at the church. She really cannot understand why I will not let her have one of her own!
But all of these obsessions seem quite charming compared to Janae's growing hypochondria. Some might recall that when Janae was in kindergarten she was so into Bethany Hamilton that she would pull an arm inside her shirt so others would think it had been bitten off by a shark. It is not really uncommon for people to imitate those they admire or with whom they want to identify.
Well, the Grade Four version of this has taken the form of gluten intolerance. Two of Janae's good friends at school have actually been diagnosed with celiac disease, and cannot tolerate gluten.
Janae now believes that she is also gluten intolerant--experiencing nausea, headaches and anxiety whenever she ingests certain forms of gluten (i.e., the ones I pack in her lunch for school). She can certainly eat cinnamon rolls, cookies, spaghetti and pizza, but cannot tolerate whole grain bread or crackers.
When a stress ball that a student was playing with burst at school, Janae felt so sick from the wheat it apparently contained that she had to sit outside with her two gluten-intolerant friends. And when the class had s'mores, she could not have the graham crackers because of her sensitivity to gluten (although she gobbled up several at church when Grandma offered one to Eric).
It seems obvious that this intolerance is mainly a ploy to get attention or fit in with friends, BUT you would never believe that listening to the complaints.
Janae's susceptibility to suggestion when it comes to medical conditions was also apparent this past week when she visited a physiotherapist for the first time.
Janae has developed a real condition where she constantly rolls her left ankle. When I took her to the doctor, he recommend we buy a sturdier ankle brace than the one Janae was using, that we buy stabilizing running shoes, and that we visit the physiotherapist to learn some exercises to help Janae strengthen her impulse to prevent the ankle from rolling.
Janae's eyes lit up as we visited the medical equipment store, and she seemed satisfied to have a new, impossible-to-miss ankle brace with elaborate lace-up and Velcro closures.
When we saw the physiotherapist a few days later, he mentioned that many "tween" girls have similar conditions and--as proof--asked if we had noticed girls with knee or ankle braces playing soccer or other sports. He suggested, though, that instead of wearing a brace we should get to the root of the problem and treat the underlying condition, which he helped us start to do.
Janae, though, latched onto the idea that she might need a knee brace. And she wore braces on BOTH ankles the next day for sports day.
I'm not sure how far this obsession with medical conditions and equipment will go. Yesterday I came across Janae using a pen that looked like a blood-filled syringe that she had borrowed from a friend (and then been allowed to keep), and then there are her "sensory issues" to foods she doesn't like or noises that she is not making (checked out and found not to be a serious issue by an occupational therapist years ago).
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| Notice the crutches in the background. . . . |
But in the mean time, please forward any gluten-free, cheese-free and scent-free recipes you might have on hand . . . and DO NOT let us know about any garage sales where medical equipment within Janae's price range might be sold.
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