Jessalynn Bowman Photography

As many of you have probably read, I’m not booking anymore clients for a while. I am usually very private about my family life, but I felt like maybe I owe my clients a little bit more of an explanation. As many of you know, my son Ethan has autism. Ethan has a lot of sensory issues and has always been a picky eater. In September of last year Ethan stopped eating. What do you mean he stopped eating???? One day, out of the blue, he didn’t eat anything. I thought, ok, he’s getting sick. Ethan had done this before, for a couple of days, or when he had a sore throat he would stop eating. Days turned into weeks. I consulted with Ethan’s doctor, and we started the process of getting him an appointment at Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Outpatient Care. We felt strongly that it was a sensory issue. As the weeks turned into a couple of months we finally got an evaluation at Cardinal Hill. I was so glad to hear them say that this sort of thing had happen before, but not surprised when they said they had never seen such a severe case as Ethan. That is pretty much the story of our life. Everything is extreme. Ethan went from the last week in Sept. to the week of Christmas without eating one bite of anything. How in the world did this child live? Luckily, we had started Ethan on Pediasure when he was just a baby to fill in all the nutricional gaps of his picky eating. So, for 3 full months Ethan had nothing but Pediasure.

We felt like we got our own little Christmas miracle this year when Ethan ate about 60 goldfish crackers just out of the blue one day during the week of Christmas. He didn’t continue this everyday, but he had started eating an average of 25 every other day. We started therapy at Cardinal Hill. We have some amazing therapists, but with Ethan you really have to earn his trust and he has to warm up to you. We spent weeks warming up. In February Ethan was hospitalized with RSV and severe dehydration. You can imagine how traumatic this experience is for a typical 4 year old, but for a 4 year old with autism, who is also completely non verbal….well let’s just say it was the worst experience of my life and I’m sure his thus far. We survived the hospital stay. Ethan didn’t eat or drink for 5 days. He had an iv, but every one they started blew because his veins were in such bad shape from dehydration. While we were there I was told that if he didn’t drink something within a couple days he would have to have a feeding tube. This is something we had tried so hard to avoid. With every cold Ethan got this season he stopped drinking. I had to take him out of preschool because he was catching everything due to his immune system being so weak. I can’t explain what happen that night at the hospital other than Jesus Christ himself must have been in that room with his all mighty healing had on my sweet baby. I’ve never felt so desperate in all my life as I did that night, and I’ve never prayed harder. By the grace of God Ethan started drinking suddenly and never stopped. I think he drank 7 bottle of Pediasure almost all at once!

We left the hospital that next morning feeling like we had defeated the devil himself. I just knew things were going to get better, they had to. That had to be the lowest point, it couldn’t get any worse than that. Days went by as we slowly healed up at home. We missed 2 weeks of therapy and stayed away from everyone and pretty much never left the house. If Ethan were to catch even a cold it would possibly mean the dehydration would be a factor again, and maybe even a hospital stay. When Ethan was feeling well again we went to one of his therapy appointments and found out just hours before that his appointment would no longer be in the same place. They had began renovation during our 2 weeks away and everything had been moved to another building. No big deal right? WRONG. I can’t stress to you enough how big of a deal change is for Ethan or any other child with autism. It literally rocks their world. When we arrived for our appointment we realized that this new building was more “hospital” like. I shuttered at the thought of what this would do to Ethan. To get to our appointment we had to enter the building, and get in an elevator….not a big deal right. WRONG AGAIN. I can only imagine, because he can’t tell me, that Ethan thought he was going back to the hospital. His sweet therapists even met us outside, we thought that if he saw them he would realize he wasn’t at the hospital and see he was at therapy instead. NOPE. We left Cardinal Hill that day kicking and screaming. Literally.

We basically started all over again. We kept taking Ethan back. The next time he stayed 5 mins, then the next it was 10 mins, WOW 20 mins!! Progress!! 3 months of therapy down the drain only to start from scratch. We pushed through. We are now staying the entire time and making some progress. During this time we have had several visits with Ethan’s doctor. We have now passed the 6 month mark of him not really eating. On a good day he eats about 20 goldfish crackers, on a bad day he eats nothing at all but as long as he isn’t sick he drinks Pediasure. He must drink a lot of Pediasure you say? Why yes he does….we spend about $750 per month on Pediasure. Small price to pay to keep your child from having to have a tube down his nose and hiring a 24 hour nurse to help you take care of it.

Now we have new problems. Ethan hasn’t had food in his stomach for 6 months. Bring on the bleeding ulcers. He now takes medicine daily to balance his acid levels….make that nightly, we have to sneak it in at night so he is half asleep when drinking. If he detects anything in his drink during the day he will stop immediately and he won’t take anything else to drink from you even if there is nothing in it. He has trust issues. We are currently trying to see a Pediatric GI so that we can have Ethan’s stomach scoped to see if there is something causing the not eating and just to see how much damage has been done to his stomach. Eating is not the only battle. Do you know what happens to your bowels when you don’t eat? Let’s just say that Ethan takes Miralax every day and leave it at that. The new GI wants Ethan on a new therapy schedule. More intense therapy, more often at a new place…..even farther away. This probably won’t start for a couple of months. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Ethan faces lots of health issues, but there are many more issues we face daily that I do not wish to discuss. I feel like I have stepped out of my comfort zone completely by sharing this very private matter.

I love my clients, and I love photography. I can’t continue this juggling act, its not fair to my clients, or Ethan. I’m not saying I’m quitting forever. I don’t know what the future will hold for JBP. I have to put Ethan and my family first. His health and well being are more important to me than anything. I just wanted to give you a bit more of an insight as to why I am closing my business for a while. I am still doing prom photos this Sat. and I still have a wedding and a few more clients that I have to take care of. If you see me post new photos on my facebook page its not because I have changed my mind. These are clients that have been scheduled for months and some for a year! I will still continue to sell the Organic Bloom Frames and products like cards, albums, etc. from previous sessions. If you have any questions feel free to call/email me.

I also ask that if you would be so kind, please remember Ethan when you say your prayers.