Customer Reviews

Life on the Reflux Roller Coaster

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My baby was born with infant GERD (commonly called reflux) 15 months ago. It was the most lonely, stressful, exhausting, and overwhelming time in our lives. No one can fully understand the crisis of infant GERD unless you've lived through it. At that time, there were very few resources out there to help us through our journey with GERD.

When we finally got out of our reflux hell, I started researching infant GERD to see how I could help other families - I never wanted another reflux family to feel as alone as we did. I stumbled upon Roni and Jean's book and could not believe my eyes. FINALLY, someone was bringing attention to this heartbreaking and unfair illness.

The authors of Life on the Reflux Roller Coaster do an extraordinary job of both explaining GERD/symptoms/treatments as well as telling a very personal and emotional story of overcoming enormous challenges with grace and love. The medical information is given in terminology and with explanations that everyone can understand - but that don't demean your intelligence. The personal story gives you hope that you too can make it through the struggle of infant GERD and bring your baby some relief. It also helps you learn the importance of being your child's advocate and helps you remember to trust your own gut and instincts as parents almost always know when something is wrong - despite what testing and doctors may say.

If your family is struggling with infant GERD, read this book! It will make you feel so much better - just in the fact that others are going through exactly what you are going through, and that your emotions and feelings are not only not "crazy" - but are actually very normal. In addition, consider giving the book to family and friends so they can learn about the condition and hopefully finally understand a little better the overwhelming amount of stress and worry that your family is going through.

I highly recommend this book and am SO glad that the authors wrote it. It was high time that someone brought attention to this awful illness/disease and advocated for babies going through so much pain.

It's wonderful! I loved it! Few people can tell such a personal story and not put others to sleep. On the contrary, I was eager to keep reading. It is hard for any outsider to conceive of the stress involved in caring for a child who suffers constant pain from acid reflux. From the moment Shae Lynne was born her symptoms screamed GERD, yet her mother and grandmother had to fight tooth and nail to get her a diagnosis and appropriate treatment. These two Mama Tigers do a wonderful job of showing exactly what life is like for Shae Lynne and those who love her. They understand, but won't accept, that the doctors can't find any answers. They sheathe their claws when talking about the frustration of dealing with doctors whose recommendations often make their precious baby sicker. But their frustration is obvious and overwhelming in the day-to-day account of trying to find help for Shae Lynne. Roni embodies the concept of a good mother who knows her child and trusts her instincts.

Roni and Jean deserve Kudos, not only for their incredible dedication to helping Shae Lynne find relief from her pain, but also for sharing their always moving and sometimes hair-raising story with others. A must read for all professionals who come into contact with children who have GERD and their families.
Beth Anderson, President/Founder, PAGER (Pediatric/Adoloscent Reflux Association)

IT IS FABULOUS! I finished it in 2 days. When I say it is fabulous---I mean the author did an excellent job of articulating the struggles they endured and are still enduring. And, she really did a wonderful job of exposing the realities of reflux. I must have cried more than a dozen times. My heart ached for them. I almost couldn't read some parts of it because it hurt so bad. But, it another way, it was like getting a big hug because it was somehow comforting to read that they have gone through all the emotions that I've had in dealing with my son's doctors and medical decisions.

The author is an amazing woman, I truly admire her strength. I really appreciate her sharing her life with me through this book, I really needed to read it. It has truly made a difference for me in dealing with my son's reflux.

Roni and Jean have done an amazing job of telling their story and spreading the word about infant GERD. Your heart will ache for Shae-Lynn as she struggles to eat and grow, and you will triumph at the spirit of these women.

The book has wonderful information about GERD and is written is a way that even a tired parent can understand.

My son was diagnosed with reflux at 4 weeks of age and I found Roni's online community as I was searching for answers. I later purchased her book and am glad I did!

I wish I never would have been able to relate to this book, but when my son was born with reflux, finding Roni's website and ultimately reading her story helped save my sanity and get better treatment for my son through education. My son is expected to be one of the "lucky ones" who will *outgrow* his GERD by his first birthday. If only Shae-Lynne could have had that good fortune. But, if you can attribute a "reason" to a child being subjected to such horrors FROM BIRTH INTO CHILDHOOD, it MUST be so that her amazing mother and grandmother would become motivated to share their story and hopefully help others in similar situations. Having a sick child is a very alienating experience and learning that you ARE NOT ALONE is priceless. I can't thank them enough for writing this inspirational, informative and heart-wrenching book. Now we just need to get more people educated about reflux/GERD (far more than "just heartburn") and find a CURE, so that there will never be another "Shae-Lynne Story".

This is a must read for anyone with a child suffering from GERD or for health professionals to understand the family componet. Ms MacLean puts a human voice on this terrible disease which is misdiagnosed many times with parents living in guilt and dispair trying to find help for their children. We assume all children will eat but those with GERD don't nescessarily. Its a 24/365 job trying to makesure your child will thrive. Thank you for putting your experience into words.

I purchased this book after my son was diagnosed with GERD at 7 weeks old. I read it within 2 days and couldn't believe how many struggles and obsticles Roni and her family had to go through to get little Shae-Lynn diagnosed. I was fortuned and only had to see 2 doctors until he got the help he needed.
The book is awesome and I was crying with all the things that they had to go through, on some I just nodded my head because my son was the same way. And on other things I just felt so sorry for them and was thankful that my son's GERD wasn't as bad.
I'm also glad that they wrote this book so the public can see what parents of children with GERD got through on a day to day basis. I hear a lot from family that spitting up is normal and that he'll outgrow it but don't get the support that I need. Just too bad that they don't have it in german so my family could read it too.
Thank you so much Roni for writing this book and all the infos I got from it.

So, before I begin my review of this product, here's our background... our son who is currently 6 weeks has had to be sent to the hospital with gas pains so severe that the emergency room doctors were concerned that he might be trying to pass a kidney stone. Turns out he was allergic to soy, we had tried breast, standard formula and lactose intolerance formula. He had a negative reaction to all (including breast believe it or not, I went through tests also to determine what was in my milk even though I was on a mild diet.... cause was deemed later on to be for a substance need, our baby needed rice formula). So..... we tried just the rice formula with the children's mylicon with the VentAire bottles.... somewhat of an improvement, but our child was still needing to go to the doctor weekly for checkups without much success, our pediatrician would even call us daily to see how he was doing. Constipation was questioned, but was never an issue. Our breakthrough occurred when we took our son to a specialist appointment and the lady asking us if our son had excess gas since she noticed that Mylicon was listed as one of his meds. I stated quickly yes and told her of our ordeal. I was told that she was the grandmother of 5 children and a mother of 3 and had tried EVERYTHING to cure their extreme colic. The remedy they found, Hyland's colic tablets, Dr. Brown's bottles, and rice formula. After the doctor appointment I went to the store to give these products a try....... and it was like an angel had spoken to us. Our child could breathe again and was longer tense in the body, as he was making progress against constantly trying to push. I know that I'm being candid but I am hoping that this will help other parents and children that have been or will be in our situation. We are on day 4 of the product switch and WOW, he's a brand new baby! If these products can help a child who's been hospitalized, hopefully these can help yours as well. Pedialyte also works as well to help calm the tummy. I've been using tylenol every 5 hours (excluding when he sleeps) for the first week and have been continuing to use the Mylicon to help with the surface gas. Burping has never been an issue, but his burps and toots have become louder and more productive, sometimes just shifting him in our arms can help him to expel gas! I'll be making this post in numerous areas in hopes to help people.

Hyland's colic tablets, Dr. Brown bottles, Enfamil AR Lipil, infant's tylenol, gas drops is literally our formula to success.

My son was diagnosed with pediatric GERD at two months old. We just assumed up to that point that we were the worst parents ever, reading this book helps me to see that this is a real problem that real people have, and that we did not have to go through it alone, as we ended up doing, simply because we had no idea what it was going to mean raising a baby with GERD. My son is about to turn 2 and I still get upset thinking about how difficult his life was from such a young age. I am so glad that this book is out there, I just hope that if someone is unfortunate enough to be told that their child has this condition, that someone will help to educated them, and hand them this book for moral support. I wish I had this book a year and a half ago, I know it would have cleared a lot of things up, things that even the doctors had no experience or answers with.