Precious Powder

A few months ago, my pediatrician told us that our baby wasn’t gaining enough weight. Since we had a family history of dairy allergies, we were advised to switch her to Neocate LCP, a hypoallergenic non-dairy, non-soy, non-anything formula. It’s much more expensive than the usual stuff, but it’s worth the extra money and the time it takes to obtain it — even if it’s only a precaution. Chava is now ten months old and we give her 24 ounces of formula daily, accompanied by a variety of solid foods that she enjoys.

Lately we’d heard about the terrifying formula shortage happening 6,000 miles away. It couldn’t affect us. Or so we thought.

The supply chain crisis, or some other crisis, has clearly reached Eretz Yisrael, because Neocate is suddenly in dangerously short supply. When we renewed our prescription, the pharmacist didn’t give us the full amount. We’ve had to go from store to store in search of Neocate, and when they’re all out, we ask fellow Neocate-users to lend a precious container. Yet we’ve remained calm, knowing that, baruch Hashem, at least our daughter can safely eat other foods.

That was until a week ago, when she contracted a stomach virus that caused her to vomit several times a day. Aside from the laundry piling up and the sleepless nights, this meant that she wasn’t able to keep down much food. She was basically on a liquid-only diet, and we tried to get some formula bottles into her each day to ensure she was getting enough nutrients. Unfortunately, our Neocate stash was running out. The pharmacist kept telling us they would be back in stock… soon. But that wasn’t soon enough.