Beyond picky eating - 9 year old

[TracyHutch]

My daughter is 9. For the past 7 years she has controlled every move we make because of her rigid eating choices. Our Dr. says "She'll grow out of it" but she hasn't. It's even worse. She isn't just picky, she actually wants to try food but gags when she does.
She eats:
-pancakes and waffles w/ syrup but they can't be too fluffy
-oatmeal uncooked (raw) or honey oat cereal w/o milk
-Barilla Plus pasta with only Wal Mart brand parmesean.
-steamed broccoli, cauliflower and corn
-raw carrots, celery, strawberries, certain apples (only Fuji-type), red seedless grapes, occasionally  bluebberries or dried apricots.
-Wendy's and McDonalds chicken nuggets and fries - our only saving grace if we are away from home.
-plain vanilla ice cream, sugar cookies and sometimes something with chocolate chips.
-plain chocolate only, some corn chips, Goldfish crackers and pretzels
-plain or powdered/glazed donuts
-vanilla cake with plain frosting
-French bread with mozzerella cheese from a local restauraunt only
-certain apple and orange juices, Sprite or Coca Cola (rarely)
That's it.
That is all she will eat. She used to eat bananas, quesadillas and and whole wheat peanut butter sandwiches (both had to be prepared with particular brands) but in the last couple years she isn't able to eat those.
She gets very little protien - she drinks chocolate milk at school. She will drink a cup of skim or 1% milk but she gags on it if I ask her to drink a whole cup.
I don't know how to approach this. I worry that she will be like this forever. I am heart sick because it seems like she misses out on so much.....I am afraid that the more I push it the closer we will get to true eating disorder.
How do I approach this? What can I do? Somebody please help. We do not have insurance so we can't afford specialists or therapy.

[lrussell]

Was your daughter able to eat food when she was a baby/toddler?  Is this something that started around age 2?  
My daughter is almost 3 and have had major eating issues from the introduction of solids.  My suggestion would be to speak with an occupational therapist.  When I met with one, she helped me understand that people with oral sensitivity...people that want to eat food but cannot...feel in their mouths the same way we feel when someone scratches their nails on a chalkboard.  Just the thought makes you cringe.  The sound and sight make it so much worse.  Maybe to your child...the sensation of certain foods, textures, smell make her cringe - as hungry and interested as she may be.  I supplement my daughter with Pedesure - a meal replacement for kids up to age 11.  
I can't imagine living with this issue for 7 years...good luck and I sincerely hope you get to the bottom of this.  

[TracyHutch]

I wanted to make it clear hat she doesn't turn her nose up at food. She wants to try new things but will gag if the texture is different than what she is used to. She used to like a particular bread but if it would get to be a few days old and the texture became firmer (or whatever) she wouldn't like it. Same with apples and fruit - they have to be just "right" or she gags on it. Now, since she has gagged and even vomited from trying new things, she has anxiety when it comes time to try something new.

She has a speech disorder which has made me wonder if this may be connected to her pallet(sp) in some way? Her gag reflex is so sensetive it perplexes me.