The girl K. was born in February 2003.
In April 2006 she was brought by her mother because of abdominal pain and watery diarrhoea. She had irregular stools, mostly in the evenings with 'moist' flatulence. These appear to be 'residual symptoms' following a sudden high fever with headache and neck pain a few months earlier. Subsequently she had greasy stools for several days. Urine and stool tests were normal.
During the consultation K. sat quietly and listened. She is rather shy and did not answer my questions. She is sturdily built, has a square face and deep dimples in both cheeks – like her mother.
She was conceived in vitro ("the very first attempt was a complete success") and both parents are overjoyed that she is here. The mother has Crohn's disease and during the pregnancy a kidney tumour was diagnosed, which had to be removed immediately after delivery.
"Since she was ill she has been very sweet and loving, it's as if she gained a different outlook on life. She is playful and has a big imagination. She is very sensitive and knows things in advance, a real New Age child." The mother can read auras and combines her university studies with courses in spirituality.
When she meets people for the first time she is very reserved; at nursery she avoids the dominant children and seeks out her own kind. She can play alone for hours and expresses what she experiences during the day in her play. She has attended nursery since her first birthday.
Last year she was very bad-tempered with her mother, who is often away because of her studies. "She was angry with me, would not look at me and was simply nasty – like a cat." She always wants her own way and is very fussy. She notices every mistake, every stain or tear – everything that is not perfect – immediately. She is lively and enthusiastic, can be very stubborn and headstrong. She loves everything that is regular, has a pattern – almost ritualised.
Despite the abdominal pain she has a good appetite. She is interested in food, but dislikes certain vegetables. She likes meat, yoghurt and egg white, but not the yolk. 
Otherwise she is an "undemanding eater". She drinks little, but likes apple juice and milk and drinks both diluted with a little lukewarm water.
Until her second year she had atopic dermatitis and was prone to asthma. She catches colds easily; the cough then usually persists for several weeks and she breathes heavily. As a baby she perspired on her head and on her nose. Sleeping "is not one of her hobbies". She likes to go to bed late but wants to get up again at half past five. If she is not at nursery she does not have a midday nap. When she is ill she looks pale, with 'tired eyes', is listless and dissatisfied and then dawdles a great deal.
She is afraid of making mistakes and cannot bear being criticised or corrected, especially not in front of strangers. She likes to boss people around and takes out her frustration on her mum. She adores her dad, who looks after her a great deal.
At nursery she refuses to do things she has not yet mastered. She handles objects very carefully. It is awful for her when she breaks something.
She has a good memory.
She does not see well in the right eye. She should actually wear an eye patch, but the parents have decided against it for the time being.
When climbing she is very cautious, she never falls and never has bruises.
Analysis:
The remarkable features in this case are the strength of will, the carefulness and the need for order and structure. The almost exaggerated carefulness of the daughter reminds the mother of a 60‑year‑old person.
The desire for autonomy, a key theme of the Lanthanides, is obvious. The shyness and fear of making mistakes (she only does things once she has mastered them) point to stage 4 – Cerium –. But which salt do we have here? Because of the strong need for order, the sweating of the head and nose and the fact that she is a 'daddy's girl', I decided on Cerium carbonicum.
She was given Cerium carbonicum 1M.
Follow-up:
Four weeks later:
As I opened the door she was standing beside her mother, holding her hand and smiling at me. It was wonderful to see her radiant face with the deep dimples. Her mother reports that on the day after the remedy she had normal stools and her temperament had also changed. She is now "not a 60‑year‑old anymore, but a lively child who sometimes breaks things, climbs, tries things out and even gets the occasional bruise. She expresses her imagination spontaneously and likes to improvise."
Compared with other children her age she still sleeps little and the mother often finds her sitting quietly in her cot, looking as if she were meditating. If she does not feel like going to nursery she makes excuses like an adult. She then has to be persuaded, but once there she enjoys it greatly.
The difference before and after the remedy is remarkable. She is no longer so perfectionistic. Previously she always had to tidy everything up before she would play with something else. Now she can make a mess and tolerate dirty hands. She has become more flexible, "as if she had arrived in this world".
She still has a slight cough, like a reflex.
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Category: Remedy
Keywords: Cerium carbonicum, diarrhoea
Original article: interhomeopathy.org
