Today the Doobie turns 9. It's a bitter sweet day for me. Yes, it's his birthday, but it's also the 1 yr anniversary of when our family changed forever. It's a hard day for me and that makes me angry, because today should be a good day, a happy day. I have written little to nothing about our foster care journey. There will be a day for that (and soon). But today, we celebrate our Doob.
After travis got home from work we went to dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe (thank goodness they have a gluten free option for Sam!). After dinner we went to the fun park for about an hour. Kids had a good time and earned more than enough tickets for some treats. Caleb decided he wanted to open his gift tonight rather than wait until party day on saturday. He's pretty excited about his new air soft gun and targets and camo camp chair! Glad he's still relatively easy to shop for!
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Caleb & Sam go back to the Wellness Clinic
Yesterday I took Caleb in for a check up with Dr. Ohling at the Wellness Clinic. In a two month period Caleb has gained 5.5 pounds (2.5 in the last month) and he has grown 5/8" (that was ALL in the last month!). I think it's safe to say the Semoralin is working! I knew he had grown some more because about a week ago I had to buy him new pants. He was wearing a 6 slim (he moved up to that size in about December of second grade). I had to buy him a 7 regular the other day! Whoot, whoot!
I also had Caleb get retested by JanaLee. His numbers were looking really good and he only had 2 areas that were off. The ones that were off were high rather than low too, so that's always an improvement as well. JanaLee gave him one new drop and took him off the three he was on previously.
Samantha only saw JanaLee. She was tested and although her numbers weren't bad, she has no reserves. She's still on a probiotic and JanaLee added two drops for her. Since one of the drops she's on is a fungus, she's not supposed to be eating anything that will feed the fungus (no sugar). Taking sugar out of her already limited diet is going to be a struggle. Fortunately, it's only for a week! Here's hoping JanaLee can help Sam like she did for Caleb!
I also had Caleb get retested by JanaLee. His numbers were looking really good and he only had 2 areas that were off. The ones that were off were high rather than low too, so that's always an improvement as well. JanaLee gave him one new drop and took him off the three he was on previously.
Samantha only saw JanaLee. She was tested and although her numbers weren't bad, she has no reserves. She's still on a probiotic and JanaLee added two drops for her. Since one of the drops she's on is a fungus, she's not supposed to be eating anything that will feed the fungus (no sugar). Taking sugar out of her already limited diet is going to be a struggle. Fortunately, it's only for a week! Here's hoping JanaLee can help Sam like she did for Caleb!
Monday, May 15, 2017
Trip to PCMC to see pediatric GI
Let me just start off by saying I was not impressed with the doctor we saw this morning.
The end result/diagnosis is "Function abdominal pain" and possibly IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). The problem with an IBS diagnosis is that unless she's had symptoms for 3 months, they won't give her that specific diagnosis. Did I mention the doctor said she doesn't think Sam needs to come back.
The doctor glanced through all the labs and notes from the last month and without beating around the bush says she doesn't think Sam has Celiac. She said that even if you were gluten free when you took the test, it takes 6 months to be completely gluten free. She said that the Celiac test is a good test and that it's reliable.
The doctor said she thinks Sam is constipated and that's part of the problem. Still don't think constipation will cause a child to sleep 12-18 hours a day. Also don't think that constipation will cause a child to be in such pain that they lay in the fetal position and refuse to move for the few hours they are awake.
The dr. put Sam on what's called a FODMAP diet. She needs to follow the FODMAP diet for at least 6-8 weeks. At that point, she can try to re introduce foods into her diet to see how she does with them. The FODMAP diet is a gluten free diet (So...she doesn't have Celiac but has to still be gluten free? Yep. Makes sense, right?)
The FODMAP diet tries to eliminate carbohydrates from your diet. FODMAPS are osmotic which means they pull water into the intestinal tract and may not be digested or absorbed well and could be fermented upon by bacterial in the intestinal tract when eaten in excess. Common FODMAPs in your diet are:
Fructose (fruits, honey, high fructose corn syrup, etc), lactose (dairy)
Fructans (wheat, onion, garlic, etc - also known as insulin)
Galactans (beans, lentils, legumes such as soy, etc)
Polyols (sweeteners containing sorbitol, mannitorl, xylitol, maltitol, stone fruits like avocado, apricots, cherries, nectarines, peaches, plums, etc)
Samantha is now convinced she's going to starve. Luckily, we have a list of what she IS allowed to eat. This should make for an interesting 6-8 weeks.
Functional abdominal pain means there is no structural, inflammatory, infectious, neoplastic or metabolic cause to your stomach pain. Functional pain is diagnosed in about 10-15% of school aged children. It is believed that in some children the nerves in your intestines become very sensitive and pain is experienced even during normal intestinal activities.
We were told to find some peppermint oil capsules that she can take with meals. This is supposed to help with gastric relaxation. She was also given a prescription for something called Levsin. She just puts this under her tongue up to 3x a day with meals and it helps with the main. We were also told she should not be taking Aleve or ibuprofen - this should make the patella bursitis fun.
So, here we are, going on 5 weeks missed school, a CT scan of the face, an ultrasound of the pancrease and gallbladder, 5 rounds of blood work, a chest x ray, 2 trips to the chiropractor, 2 trips to the ENT, at least 5 trips to 2 different pediatricians, 6 prescriptions (3 antibiotics), 1 trip to PCMC to see a pediatric GI and STILL not a positive diagnosis. At least she wasn't a human pin cushion today. We'll see how the next 6-8 weeks go on the FODMAPs diet. Hope she doesn't drop a ton of weight. Keep your fingers crossed.
The end result/diagnosis is "Function abdominal pain" and possibly IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). The problem with an IBS diagnosis is that unless she's had symptoms for 3 months, they won't give her that specific diagnosis. Did I mention the doctor said she doesn't think Sam needs to come back.
The doctor glanced through all the labs and notes from the last month and without beating around the bush says she doesn't think Sam has Celiac. She said that even if you were gluten free when you took the test, it takes 6 months to be completely gluten free. She said that the Celiac test is a good test and that it's reliable.
The doctor said she thinks Sam is constipated and that's part of the problem. Still don't think constipation will cause a child to sleep 12-18 hours a day. Also don't think that constipation will cause a child to be in such pain that they lay in the fetal position and refuse to move for the few hours they are awake.
The dr. put Sam on what's called a FODMAP diet. She needs to follow the FODMAP diet for at least 6-8 weeks. At that point, she can try to re introduce foods into her diet to see how she does with them. The FODMAP diet is a gluten free diet (So...she doesn't have Celiac but has to still be gluten free? Yep. Makes sense, right?)
The FODMAP diet tries to eliminate carbohydrates from your diet. FODMAPS are osmotic which means they pull water into the intestinal tract and may not be digested or absorbed well and could be fermented upon by bacterial in the intestinal tract when eaten in excess. Common FODMAPs in your diet are:
Fructose (fruits, honey, high fructose corn syrup, etc), lactose (dairy)
Fructans (wheat, onion, garlic, etc - also known as insulin)
Galactans (beans, lentils, legumes such as soy, etc)
Polyols (sweeteners containing sorbitol, mannitorl, xylitol, maltitol, stone fruits like avocado, apricots, cherries, nectarines, peaches, plums, etc)
Samantha is now convinced she's going to starve. Luckily, we have a list of what she IS allowed to eat. This should make for an interesting 6-8 weeks.
Functional abdominal pain means there is no structural, inflammatory, infectious, neoplastic or metabolic cause to your stomach pain. Functional pain is diagnosed in about 10-15% of school aged children. It is believed that in some children the nerves in your intestines become very sensitive and pain is experienced even during normal intestinal activities.
We were told to find some peppermint oil capsules that she can take with meals. This is supposed to help with gastric relaxation. She was also given a prescription for something called Levsin. She just puts this under her tongue up to 3x a day with meals and it helps with the main. We were also told she should not be taking Aleve or ibuprofen - this should make the patella bursitis fun.
So, here we are, going on 5 weeks missed school, a CT scan of the face, an ultrasound of the pancrease and gallbladder, 5 rounds of blood work, a chest x ray, 2 trips to the chiropractor, 2 trips to the ENT, at least 5 trips to 2 different pediatricians, 6 prescriptions (3 antibiotics), 1 trip to PCMC to see a pediatric GI and STILL not a positive diagnosis. At least she wasn't a human pin cushion today. We'll see how the next 6-8 weeks go on the FODMAPs diet. Hope she doesn't drop a ton of weight. Keep your fingers crossed.
Friday, May 12, 2017
Sam's still sick
It sure has been a long month of doctor's visits, and it doesn't appear that the end is in sight any time soon.
On Sunday this week I didn't even think about Sam and sacrament meeting. It wasn't until we were sitting in sacrament and Sam was holding the bread tray, looking at me completely horrified that I realized I had let her down. She ended up taking a piece of bread for sacrament. Travis and I didn't think it would be a huge deal. We thought wrong. Ten minutes later she was sick. She ended up getting up and walking out of sacrament and walking home. Epic mom fail. Lesson learned. Travis has talked to the Bishop to find out what we need to do. Hopefully we will have our crap together for Sunday this week!
After the sacrament fiasco I told Sam I wanted her to start a food journal. I figured that the GI would want to see one anyway so we might as well make the most out of the time we have to wait to get in to see that dr. I don't want to have to wait three weeks after an appointment to make a food journal.
Samantha is still on home bound for school. I know she misses her friends terribly. The girl is super social and she has not been out and about much in the last month. She's been to one dance recital, one choir concert (to watch the girls she helped choreograph a dance piece for), one dance competition and about three dance classes. I'm surprised she hasn't gone completely stir crazy yet.
The good news is that I think Sam's finally only sleeping 8-10 hours at a stretch instead of 12-18. This is progress! Yesterday she woke up on her own and was in the shower before 10 am. That has not happened in an entire month! I was a happy momma. When she got out of the shower she was talking to me and told me she had gotten on my scale before getting into the shower. She said she was down EIGHT POUNDS since she saw Dr. Garg last week. Tell me where she's got eight pounds to lose (third from left).
On Sunday this week I didn't even think about Sam and sacrament meeting. It wasn't until we were sitting in sacrament and Sam was holding the bread tray, looking at me completely horrified that I realized I had let her down. She ended up taking a piece of bread for sacrament. Travis and I didn't think it would be a huge deal. We thought wrong. Ten minutes later she was sick. She ended up getting up and walking out of sacrament and walking home. Epic mom fail. Lesson learned. Travis has talked to the Bishop to find out what we need to do. Hopefully we will have our crap together for Sunday this week!
After the sacrament fiasco I told Sam I wanted her to start a food journal. I figured that the GI would want to see one anyway so we might as well make the most out of the time we have to wait to get in to see that dr. I don't want to have to wait three weeks after an appointment to make a food journal.
Samantha is still on home bound for school. I know she misses her friends terribly. The girl is super social and she has not been out and about much in the last month. She's been to one dance recital, one choir concert (to watch the girls she helped choreograph a dance piece for), one dance competition and about three dance classes. I'm surprised she hasn't gone completely stir crazy yet.
The good news is that I think Sam's finally only sleeping 8-10 hours at a stretch instead of 12-18. This is progress! Yesterday she woke up on her own and was in the shower before 10 am. That has not happened in an entire month! I was a happy momma. When she got out of the shower she was talking to me and told me she had gotten on my scale before getting into the shower. She said she was down EIGHT POUNDS since she saw Dr. Garg last week. Tell me where she's got eight pounds to lose (third from left).
After my conversation with Sam was over I called the pediatrician's office. Now, I'm not generally one to get into hysterics super quick. However, given the fact that she maintained weight for three weeks and is now down eight pounds, I started to freak out a little bit. Yes, I know that if she's got Celiac's and we are cutting out gluten she's going to lose some weight - my mother in law did. She also spent Monday vomiting (Brooke and Olivia had a well check so when we were at the pediatrician's office he called in a prescription of Zofran for her). However, she only vomited three times Monday - not nearly enough to lose eight pounds. I explained to the nurse what was going on and what Sam had told me. She said she would send a note to the dr. and have him or someone else get back with me.
Luckily it didn't take too long for the dr. to call me back. He said he had been reviewing her file and all the labs and the ER notes. He said that he noticed that when she was in the ER and did a urine sample that her urine had some sort of crystallization in it which could be indicative of kidney stones. However, since she didn't have any blood in her urine he didn't think it was kidney stones. He also said that her x ray showed that she was quite backed up. I told him the ER had told us that she had some fecal blockage but nothing that would cause what she had going on. He said he didn't think that the constipation was causing her problems but that it could be exacerbating it. He wants to put her on Miralax. I already know this isn't going to go over well. When Sam was little and was constipated all the time they put her on Miralax. She hated it. She said it was like drinking gritty juice. Not only that, but when she made Mac & Cheese for the girls the other day, she took three bites and ended up with diarrhea ten minutes later. How is she blocked up if she's got diarrhea from eating gluten? She claims she's going every day but she still hasn't ever given me a stool sample to take in for them to check for H. Pylori. I've told her time and time again just do your thing and I'll put it in the sample bottles! Apparently that's asking too much. Sigh.
While talking to the pediatrician he told me that he had called the Primary Children's GI department again and they could get us in first thing Monday morning. He said the reason they hadn't offered us that appointment before was because they knew we were coming from Cache Valley. I told the dr. that I didn't care if I had to get up at 3 am and haul all six kids with me, call them back and get me that appointment because she isn't getting any better! Needless to say, we now have a 7:40 am appointment at the Primary Children's Outpatient Center in Riverton on Monday.
Today I also finally heard back from Dr. Feffer's office. I told the girl that called me what was going on and asked what she thought about the possibility of it being a sleep disorder that had come on so suddenly. She made sure to tell me that she hadn't been to medical school but she hadn't ever heard of a sleep disorder coming on that quickly. She told me that she doubts it's a sleep disorder. We ended up deciding to put her on the schedule because they are booked out until about June 20. I told the girl I wanted to go see the GI on Monday and see what that dr. thinks. She told me that if we decide to cancel to just give her a call back and she'll cancel our appointment. I'm hoping we can cancel - found out their office is clear out by West Jordan! I don't want to have to drive all the way over there for a sleep study any time soon!
The timing of being able to get into the GI's office is a major blessing. We were originally told June 8th. Travis put his notice in at Geneva Rock on Monday. Tomorrow is his last day there. He's going to go work for my brother in law doing pest control. We're going to have to find our own insurance. Of course, now that we've met our deductible we get to switch insurance. Murphy's Law, right?
Thursday, May 4, 2017
CT results & 5th round of lab work
Yesterday we went and saw Lindsey at the ENT's office again. Sam had the CT scan done in the back of the allergy clinic. It's pretty cool. It's like a big dental 360 x ray machine. The images pull up almost instantly on the computer. The girl doing the scan points to two spots on Sam's face and says, "See this? This should be two black spots." (It was gray.) Then she turns to Sam and says, "Can you even breathe?" Sam looked surprised and just goes, "Yea." The girl doing the scan asks, "Are you sure?!" I didn't figure that was a great way to start our appointment.
After the scan was done we went back over to the ENT office and had to wait for Lindsey to come in. She pulled the images up on the computer and scrolled through it showing different layers. She showed where there is infection in her right cheek sinus. She said that it isn't horrible and wouldn't cause her current symptoms. She said it was probably a lot worse two weeks ago when she first started the Z pack. Lindsey is hoping that the double Z Packs she started on Monday will chip away at what's left of the infection and get rid of it completely. Apparently the Z Pack isn't a fantastic option for sinus infections but since she's allergic to PCN it's about the only option she's got. She also showed us that Sam has a pretty decent deviated septum. She said that we could do surgery to repair it but wouldn't worry about doing that until she's 16. I guess the septum is a growth plate of sorts so they like to wait until they are kinda done growing. I asked what the consequences would be if we didn't get it fixed. She said that having it fixed reduces how much congestion you get and how often. She said it can also help reduce snoring. So, it's not a major have to surgery, but it would probably be nice for her in the congestion department because she goes through a box of tissues by herself in just a few days. Lindsey also pulled up images of her ears that the CT caught. Everything on her ears looks great (can't say I think that will happen when we have B's on the 15th though).
I updated Lindsey on the Vitamin D level. She suggested taking Vivactin twice a day. She said the Vitamin D won't be absorbed by her body if it isn't taken with calcium. So, we went and bought some Vivactin later in the day and she's started on that. Sam says they are pretty good - we got the caramel ones. Side note - I did look at the Vitamin D prescription bottle and they did prescribe the 50,000 units for once a week - same amount Trav's mom is taking.
I asked Lindsey if we needed to do anything as far as calling Dr. Feffer's office. She checked on it and it's in progress. I was told if I don't hear from them in a few days to call Lindsey's office back and they would follow through on it.
I heard from the pediatrician's office today on the B12. We had her blood drawn before her CT yesterday and I had hoped we'd get results back last night, but no such luck. That's ok, I'm just super impatient. Nurse said B12 levels are normal. I really thought they would be low. I recently found out my Grandma Reeder has taken B12 for 45 years. Combining that knowledge with the fact that my mother in law's B12 was low and her energy levels, I thought for SURE her B12 would be low. Guess not. Back to the drawing board.
I heard from the home bound coordinator today as well. I told him whats been going on and that Sam had done better yesterday and if she continues doing that well then she could maybe try going back to school Monday. My worry is throwing her back into everything all at once and having her relapse. He said that we should treat it like a mono situation. When she goes back she'll just go for hours 1-3. The next day she's back she'll go hours 4-6. This way she can get each class a few times a week. They'll keep her on the home bound program just in case she relapses. We'll see how the next four days go and I told him I would text him and let him know if I was going to send her to school Monday or not. Here's hoping.
After the scan was done we went back over to the ENT office and had to wait for Lindsey to come in. She pulled the images up on the computer and scrolled through it showing different layers. She showed where there is infection in her right cheek sinus. She said that it isn't horrible and wouldn't cause her current symptoms. She said it was probably a lot worse two weeks ago when she first started the Z pack. Lindsey is hoping that the double Z Packs she started on Monday will chip away at what's left of the infection and get rid of it completely. Apparently the Z Pack isn't a fantastic option for sinus infections but since she's allergic to PCN it's about the only option she's got. She also showed us that Sam has a pretty decent deviated septum. She said that we could do surgery to repair it but wouldn't worry about doing that until she's 16. I guess the septum is a growth plate of sorts so they like to wait until they are kinda done growing. I asked what the consequences would be if we didn't get it fixed. She said that having it fixed reduces how much congestion you get and how often. She said it can also help reduce snoring. So, it's not a major have to surgery, but it would probably be nice for her in the congestion department because she goes through a box of tissues by herself in just a few days. Lindsey also pulled up images of her ears that the CT caught. Everything on her ears looks great (can't say I think that will happen when we have B's on the 15th though).
I updated Lindsey on the Vitamin D level. She suggested taking Vivactin twice a day. She said the Vitamin D won't be absorbed by her body if it isn't taken with calcium. So, we went and bought some Vivactin later in the day and she's started on that. Sam says they are pretty good - we got the caramel ones. Side note - I did look at the Vitamin D prescription bottle and they did prescribe the 50,000 units for once a week - same amount Trav's mom is taking.
I asked Lindsey if we needed to do anything as far as calling Dr. Feffer's office. She checked on it and it's in progress. I was told if I don't hear from them in a few days to call Lindsey's office back and they would follow through on it.
I heard from the pediatrician's office today on the B12. We had her blood drawn before her CT yesterday and I had hoped we'd get results back last night, but no such luck. That's ok, I'm just super impatient. Nurse said B12 levels are normal. I really thought they would be low. I recently found out my Grandma Reeder has taken B12 for 45 years. Combining that knowledge with the fact that my mother in law's B12 was low and her energy levels, I thought for SURE her B12 would be low. Guess not. Back to the drawing board.
I heard from the home bound coordinator today as well. I told him whats been going on and that Sam had done better yesterday and if she continues doing that well then she could maybe try going back to school Monday. My worry is throwing her back into everything all at once and having her relapse. He said that we should treat it like a mono situation. When she goes back she'll just go for hours 1-3. The next day she's back she'll go hours 4-6. This way she can get each class a few times a week. They'll keep her on the home bound program just in case she relapses. We'll see how the next four days go and I told him I would text him and let him know if I was going to send her to school Monday or not. Here's hoping.
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