Chocolatey Medicine!

So this post may not be relevant at all to any of you, but it something I thought I would share. As my close friends and family on here know, my youngest son Vinnie has seizures. He has been having them for over a year now. They think whatever is causing his autism in his brain is also causing his seizures. Well about a month ago, after being seizure free for 6 months we had another EEG to make sure everything was looking good. As it turns out, he was still having seizures while he was sleeping. So our doctor changed his medicine. I must put in here what a horrible ordeal it was to get him to take his first medicine. It was a powder inside a capsule. And the only thing that worked was putting it in chocolate milk to dissolve. It is also important to note that Vinnie eats almost NOTHING! You think your kids are picky? HAHA!! My son will not eat a pancake if it is cut the wrong way.......yeah......dead serious. Well this time they gave us a liquid medicine. I was terrified, and rightly so. He just spit it in my face. So we asked for another alternative. This time it was called "sprinkle capsules". And while you might think that is the same thing as the other medicine....a powder...you'd be completely WRONG! It was little beads. They did not dissolve in anything. And doctors and pharmacists tell you to put in yogurt or applesauce or other soft food. But when there is no texture in the yogurt how do you expect children to just take it?? Well me and Alex were at our wits end trying to uncap the meds and pour down his throat or desperately trying to squirt the liquid down his throat. Finally my brilliant husband had his most genius idea ever!! Chocolate! Vinnie eats Toblerone squares with the texture inside the piece of chocolate so why not use the same principle? I contacted doctors and pharmacists to see if this was an option with the meds. I got the clearance and started making chocolate candy!

Basically I take milk chocolate and melt it down. Then I let it cool down until it is about room temperature. Using a small spoon I spoon small amounts into a mini ice cube tray. Then I add one capsule per unit. And then to keep the Toblerone theme, I add some coarse ground almonds. I wanted there to be more texture in there than just medicine. And you know what?? IT WORKS!! It is still not completely pleasant most days, but it works! I am so proud of us!!

So this post is to let everyone know there are other options when it comes to picky children and medicine. And I was quite proud of us for 1) thinking up the idea and 2) putting into action. And yes it means melting chocolate and making candy every couple of days but I would rather that than not knowing if my son is getting the medicine he needs and fighting with him, thereby traumatizing him. And if anyone.....Miranda.....have any good recipes for good chocolate, more than melting milk chocolate chips, Im game for trying new recipes he will enjoy!!