The Vom Diaries

"We need to keep track of his eating and vomiting" says the Man. "Something simple. Something with... stickers!"

I thought it was a terrible idea. How could something as complex as a food diary be kept just with stickers? But we've tried doing it in a notebook before and it's impossible to keep on top of. Besides, the Man was pretty convinced and he bought a cheapie calendar online and some teacher's stickers.

And you know what - I have to say that he was right. Tracking LG's food was well-nigh impossible, but the vom diary really helped. The colour code was simple - yellow for a good day, green for vomit, red for vomit with blood. I changed the smiley faces to frowning ones for the vom-stickers, as it seemed more appropriate, and when I ran out of yellow smileys I switched to stars. Overnight was recorded on the left hand side, daytime on the right.

It meant that when we went to hospital I could take this along and give a clear, simple breakdown of when the blood had occurred and where. I didn't have to rely on my cloudy overwrought memory and the consultants could see if there was some kind of pattern forming. I'm fast learning that the clearer, more concise information you can give to the doctors, the better and speedier the treatment.

So this might seem like a bit of a geeky saddo post but it's actually a really useful tip if you're in the same situation as us. Start your own vom diary today!