A clarification and a bit more

I guess I should clarify my most recent post:  "Liam is not feeling well.  .... There's not much to add at this point" so that people won't read too much into things [which I didn't say].  It's true that Liam indeed is not at her best.  But it's also true that this wave is not any worse than the worst times we've been through before.  It's always crappy that your child is in pain and you can't help.  You never get used to it. And it's good that you don't. Nobody should ever get used to it.
On the other hand, when Liam gets even the tiniest break from the pain (and if she's awake), she immediately shines:  chats, jokes, says she's hungry.  She's not lethargic or quite - both which are the worst.  At the same time, everything stated in this blog before is still true:  things can change from good to bad or vice versa in a hurry.  Thus the word used "fragile".


The pains themselves
A few posts ago I mentioned this symptom that Liam has (and which I'm too lazy to look for its name again).  In short what it means that what you and I may consider as a minor discomfort may appear to Liam as a major major pain.  Liam is a simple, transparent, and honest person. Most of all, she's pure.  She does not have the BS that the rest of us are surround ourselves with.  So when she complains, the pain is real.  There's no pretending or exaggeration.  At the same time, nobody knows how bad the pain is or how her brain interprets it.


Hunger
Liam shows interest in food again.  This is an excellent sign.  It shows that she recovers or at least that she peps herself up.  It's all great.  Unfortunately, there's a problem:  her digestion system may not be functioning properly.  Thus, feeding her may cause pain or discomfort.  So what do you do?  She's saying "I'm hungry, I'm hungry, I'm hungry".  She finally got out of the darkness of months and you have to deny her of food.  That sucks.  This is different from addressing pain.  When she's in pain, there's a plan (sort of):  you give pain killers, you console her, and if all fails we can always return to the hospital.  Depriving her from food, on the other hand, is, hmm, how shall I put it....heartbreaking.  You tell your own hungry child that you can't feed her.
And this is not just "we can't eat this morning because we have an MRI".  This is deprivation after she didn't eat for months and months. 
But what am I talking about myself?  The real hero here is.....you already know it:  Liam.  We try to explain to her that food might hurt her.  She could yell and scream and go crazy.  But Liam is Liam:  accepting things and moving forward.  This is not to say that she's not nagging us again and again and again for food.  She does.  But she also knows how to compromise - all while she's in pain.  She's just unbelievable.