I know it is not something we like to talk about. But, lets face it we all have to do it and it is a necessary body function for health. So, getting down to the nitty gritty. Many kids and people are constipated. Why? Well, in my opinion it is our westernized diet that is toxic to our GI tract. We, especially babies and kids are just not able to process it. Looking at the causes of constipation. Your immune system is located in your GI tract, it is the brain of your body. Vaccines, antibiotics, pesticides, food additives... these all bog down your immune system/GI tract. The body views them all as foreign and tries to fight them off as they aren't supposed to be there. Sugar is also detrimental to your GI tract. When your body is unable to keep up with the "toxins" it becomes chronically inflamed as it is trying to protect itself. This inflammation makes it hard for the immune system to get the fighter cells where they need to go and also hinders the nutrients from being absorbed into the body. Over time the inflammation causes the intestines to not be able to contract and therefore stool begins to slow and eventually become stagnant in your intestines. When stool becomes stagnant it provides an ideal environment for bacteria and yeast to grow causing further harm. If this goes on for a long period of time eventually the intestines forget they contracted at all and you are now dependent on laxatives ie:miralax. Okay, so that is the skinny on constipation. What to do about it? Well we have seen many, many GI specialists. No one was interested in figuring out the cause they were only interested in making the stool move, ie miralax. So what do you do?
First off, you HAVE to get the stool moving. There is no way to help heal the digestive tract if the stool is not moving. And I don't mean by the use of miralax. Miralax is a plastic polymer. It is not absorbed into the system and does not make the intestines contract. All miralax does is make the stool slippery enough to squeeze out. If I may put it bluntly. It will, by no means, ever make the intestines regain normal function. It is a band-aid. We have tried many supplements to support digestive function but the best we have found is a herbal tea called Smooth Move Herbal Tea. It has senna in it and it helps to force the intestines to contract. This can be painful, however being constipated is painful and if you take it slowly over the course of a couple weeks you should start seeing movement. We used 1-2 tablespoons per evening for about 2 weeks. Even with Lochlan's severe dysmotility his intestines started contracting and things started moving within 2 weeks. It is imperative that you get the stool to move and make the intestines contract. Over time the muscle memory will return and the intestines will remember how to contract.
Secondly, you need to remove offenders. When I say offenders, I mean foods that are negative to the digestive tract. I HIGHLY recommend a diet called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. This diet is designed to heal the digestive tract and over time create an environment in which bacteria and yeast cannot thrive. Another great diet is the GAPS diet. You will have to get rid of the yeast and bacteria in order to have the intestines function on their own. These diets are very complex yet if you are dedicated you can have lasting success. If you are unwilling to do one of the two diets listed above please consider to remove food coloring, preservatives, pesticides, dairy, wheat and processed and artificial sugar. I know that's a tall order but all of these affect the digestive tract negatively. Our dairy today is highly processed and contains loads of hormones and antibiotics. The proteins in dairy are actually changed in the processing making them small enough to cross the blood brain barrier.Wheat/gluten protiens are the same. You can start small, but remember that yeast and bacteria will grow almost 10 times faster than the length of time it takes to kill it.
Third, once you've got the stool moving and your tackling one of the two diets listed above, which are very detailed and specific even regarding vitamins and supplements. I recommend seeing a chiropractor. Having your body in line is crucial to its ability to heal itself. We have had huge success with chiropractic and all 3 of my kiddos LOVE going.
This is just a beginning baseline. I encourage everyone to read Breaking the Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gotchall. She is a wealth of knowledge and she breaks down why and how her diet is healing.
Remember we didn't get this way overnight and we can't reverse the symptoms overnight but Gastrointestinal Health is possible.
Please feel free to contact me for more info. More to come about Leaky Gut.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
A Starting Place.....
Where to begin......
I have run into numerous people lately, like us, who have had behavior and/or gastrointestinal issues. To me, this is an epidemic affecting too many of our children today. With the number of kids on the autism spectrum reaching 1 in 50, according to the latest data. This number, however, does not include the number of kids suffering with adhd, asthma or allergies. There is no doubt in my mind that our children are being poisoned by the environment, the food they eat and the medicine their given. Their tiny bodies have yet to develop before being overwhelmed with toxins. With that being said, I have to disclose, I am not a doctor. I have not had formal medical training. What I have had is a child, who the medical community failed, and I have years of research and experience. For many people who have been failed by the medical community, research and experience account for so much more than an education. Okay enough about that. I must recommend that each parent do their own research and not just take my word for anything. It is soooo important to be informed, and the best way to do it is read, read, read. I first recommend a book written by a great doctor from the east coast named Kenneth Bock. Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies: The Groundbreaking Program for the 4-A Disorders In his book he explains why we are seeing such an increase in these four disorders and what you can do about it. I have other books that I have read that I will mention later on at the end of the post. So back to, What can I do now to help my child with their behaviors and/or tummy issues? I have to tell you that many, not all, but many behavior issues are a result of what we eat and how our digestive tract is working. If your child is chronically constipated or has chronic loose stools, it is likely that there is a whole lot more going on. There is no denying that the brain of the body is the gut. So where do we start??
1. Clean up the diet.
I know many people think that they eat pretty healthy. I too was one who thought that our family ate healthy until I looked closer at the food labels. When I mean clean up the diet, I mean eating whole, organic, non-gmo foods, limit or remove sugar and removing everything artificial. It sounds intimidating I know. Start small. Next time you go to the grocery store only buy foods on the outside of the store. Try recipes that cook from scratch. Anything boxed is processed and more than likely has ingredients that can make your gut struggle to process.
Have you ever taken a look at the foods that target kids; fruit snacks, kool-aid, candy..... all these foods are marketed for kids and all three are full of artificial color and sugar. Some of the worst things kids can eat are artificial coloring, artificial sugar, preservatives and pesticides. All four can cause behavior and tummy issues. One easy plan is to eliminate one thing each month. So this month you do away with artificial coloring (this includes all food dyes). Then next month remove artifical sweetners such as splenda, and so on. If your child is a really picky eater just have a little faith that once the offending foods are out of their diets they will adjust. There my be some withdrawl as most of these "food additives" are seen by the body as chemicals. I too questioned my ability regarding putting my son on a diet. When we first took my oldest son off dairy, which included his feeding tube formula that he drank orally. He had about 2 days of CRAZY withdrawl symptoms. Fever, hallucinations, fits of rage. By day 2, I thought I was killing him. Thank goodness I had some great support because, the following evening was the first time he spoke spontaneously and in sentence. It was so amazing. Another trick to is to wash all your produce in a grapefruit extract wash to remove the pesticides. Pesticides are very likely culprits in gastro irritation and negative aggressive and impulsive behavior. Trader Joe's has a great and inexpensive produce wash available.
There are many websites that help with learning to clean up the diet but my favorite is www.pecanbread.com. The author, Elaine Gotchall, of the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle, talks about how to heal the gut and help it return to normal function. We have personally done the specific carbohydrate diet (though it is very difficult in the beginning) and I must say that it is now our way of life. It took some time for the kids to adjust but once they did they started eating vegetables and the variety of their diet expanded tremendously! There is another website, ran by Carrie Vitt, that is dedicated to whole organic cooking and has family friendly recipes as well as weekly meal plans you can purchase and her website is www.deliciouslyorganic.net.
There are 2 specific foods that seem to have a reputation for causing issues and they are dairy and gluten (wheat). We have had issues with these two foods and because of the way that they are processed many people can no longer tolerate them. For adults the feel sick, bloated maybe have cramping, for kids they don't know how to explain their pain so for many it shows in their behavior. www.tacanow.org is a great site for information regarding a gfcf (gluten/casein free) diet. Which I must say is so much easier to follow today than it was when we began 6 years ago.
Cleaning up the diet is Crucial and can make or break your success. If you put junk in you will get junk out. It is that simple.
2. Add in a quality vitamin.
We have done it all. We have tried it all. The best all in one multi-vitamin we personally have found is called Intrakid. You can purchase it at www.evitalhealth.com. It is full of everything you could possibly want in a multi. It is very complete however, there are a couple things I would add.
#1- a 3rd party tested omega 3 supplement preferably krill oil. Barleans has some great tasting omega supplements as well and you can purchase at www.vitacost.com at a somewhat reduced price. They taste great and my kids love taking it. Omega 3's are great for immune function and for healing the gut not to mention brain function.
#2- I would also add vitamin D. However it is important to have vitamin D3 with K2. The K2 helps the body absorb the D3. You can find this at vitacost as well.
#3 Probiotics. If you or your child is senstivie to dairy make sure to get one that is dairy free. There are many good probiotics, the key is to get one that contains Lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1.
#4- Vitamin B- This is a great vitamin that helps stabilize moods, mental focus and promote the feeling of wellbeing.
Those three are a great place to start. If you cannot afford intrakid then try to find a whole food multi vitamin from a reputable company. If your child has digestive issues a digestive enzyme may be helpful with meals.
3. Detox the body.
Epsom salt baths are an easy way to detox your body. For kids this is also easy, as I don't know of many kids who don't enjoy being in the bath. We have even used a benonite clay bath for detox with good results. You can find some great recipes here for homemade Epsom salt baths.
4. Detox your home
This is another area that can be overwhelming but start small. Instead of replacing your Scrubbing Bubbles try a google search for a natural toilet bowl cleaner. We use natural dish soap mixed with baking soda for ours.There are millions of sites dedicated to natural living. Wellnessmama has numerous ideas for natural cleaning and living. I have this site bookmarked and frequent it often as there is sooo much information in it. Chemicals in your home can also affect behavior and also gut health. So minimizing the toxic load will help take some of the pressure of the body. OrganicAuthority has lots of good info regarding house goods as well. Look for chemical free substitutes for all your home cleaners and soaps.
This is just a start but if you do all 4 of the these you will be on your way to healing your body and mind.
Websites I frequent:
www.mercola.com he is the best in information everything supplemental and medical.
www.wellnessmama.com she has loads of great tips, info and ideas.
www.pecanbread.com heal the gut for good!
www.deliciouslyorganic.net great cooking ideas
www.tacanow.org great info for GFCF diet
www.organicauthority.com
Other books to read:
Breaking the Vicious Cycle, By: Elaine Gotchall
Changing the Course of Autism By: Bryan Jepsen
I have run into numerous people lately, like us, who have had behavior and/or gastrointestinal issues. To me, this is an epidemic affecting too many of our children today. With the number of kids on the autism spectrum reaching 1 in 50, according to the latest data. This number, however, does not include the number of kids suffering with adhd, asthma or allergies. There is no doubt in my mind that our children are being poisoned by the environment, the food they eat and the medicine their given. Their tiny bodies have yet to develop before being overwhelmed with toxins. With that being said, I have to disclose, I am not a doctor. I have not had formal medical training. What I have had is a child, who the medical community failed, and I have years of research and experience. For many people who have been failed by the medical community, research and experience account for so much more than an education. Okay enough about that. I must recommend that each parent do their own research and not just take my word for anything. It is soooo important to be informed, and the best way to do it is read, read, read. I first recommend a book written by a great doctor from the east coast named Kenneth Bock. Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies: The Groundbreaking Program for the 4-A Disorders In his book he explains why we are seeing such an increase in these four disorders and what you can do about it. I have other books that I have read that I will mention later on at the end of the post. So back to, What can I do now to help my child with their behaviors and/or tummy issues? I have to tell you that many, not all, but many behavior issues are a result of what we eat and how our digestive tract is working. If your child is chronically constipated or has chronic loose stools, it is likely that there is a whole lot more going on. There is no denying that the brain of the body is the gut. So where do we start??
1. Clean up the diet.
I know many people think that they eat pretty healthy. I too was one who thought that our family ate healthy until I looked closer at the food labels. When I mean clean up the diet, I mean eating whole, organic, non-gmo foods, limit or remove sugar and removing everything artificial. It sounds intimidating I know. Start small. Next time you go to the grocery store only buy foods on the outside of the store. Try recipes that cook from scratch. Anything boxed is processed and more than likely has ingredients that can make your gut struggle to process.
Have you ever taken a look at the foods that target kids; fruit snacks, kool-aid, candy..... all these foods are marketed for kids and all three are full of artificial color and sugar. Some of the worst things kids can eat are artificial coloring, artificial sugar, preservatives and pesticides. All four can cause behavior and tummy issues. One easy plan is to eliminate one thing each month. So this month you do away with artificial coloring (this includes all food dyes). Then next month remove artifical sweetners such as splenda, and so on. If your child is a really picky eater just have a little faith that once the offending foods are out of their diets they will adjust. There my be some withdrawl as most of these "food additives" are seen by the body as chemicals. I too questioned my ability regarding putting my son on a diet. When we first took my oldest son off dairy, which included his feeding tube formula that he drank orally. He had about 2 days of CRAZY withdrawl symptoms. Fever, hallucinations, fits of rage. By day 2, I thought I was killing him. Thank goodness I had some great support because, the following evening was the first time he spoke spontaneously and in sentence. It was so amazing. Another trick to is to wash all your produce in a grapefruit extract wash to remove the pesticides. Pesticides are very likely culprits in gastro irritation and negative aggressive and impulsive behavior. Trader Joe's has a great and inexpensive produce wash available.
There are many websites that help with learning to clean up the diet but my favorite is www.pecanbread.com. The author, Elaine Gotchall, of the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle, talks about how to heal the gut and help it return to normal function. We have personally done the specific carbohydrate diet (though it is very difficult in the beginning) and I must say that it is now our way of life. It took some time for the kids to adjust but once they did they started eating vegetables and the variety of their diet expanded tremendously! There is another website, ran by Carrie Vitt, that is dedicated to whole organic cooking and has family friendly recipes as well as weekly meal plans you can purchase and her website is www.deliciouslyorganic.net.
There are 2 specific foods that seem to have a reputation for causing issues and they are dairy and gluten (wheat). We have had issues with these two foods and because of the way that they are processed many people can no longer tolerate them. For adults the feel sick, bloated maybe have cramping, for kids they don't know how to explain their pain so for many it shows in their behavior. www.tacanow.org is a great site for information regarding a gfcf (gluten/casein free) diet. Which I must say is so much easier to follow today than it was when we began 6 years ago.
Cleaning up the diet is Crucial and can make or break your success. If you put junk in you will get junk out. It is that simple.
2. Add in a quality vitamin.
We have done it all. We have tried it all. The best all in one multi-vitamin we personally have found is called Intrakid. You can purchase it at www.evitalhealth.com. It is full of everything you could possibly want in a multi. It is very complete however, there are a couple things I would add.
#1- a 3rd party tested omega 3 supplement preferably krill oil. Barleans has some great tasting omega supplements as well and you can purchase at www.vitacost.com at a somewhat reduced price. They taste great and my kids love taking it. Omega 3's are great for immune function and for healing the gut not to mention brain function.
#2- I would also add vitamin D. However it is important to have vitamin D3 with K2. The K2 helps the body absorb the D3. You can find this at vitacost as well.
#3 Probiotics. If you or your child is senstivie to dairy make sure to get one that is dairy free. There are many good probiotics, the key is to get one that contains Lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1.
#4- Vitamin B- This is a great vitamin that helps stabilize moods, mental focus and promote the feeling of wellbeing.
Those three are a great place to start. If you cannot afford intrakid then try to find a whole food multi vitamin from a reputable company. If your child has digestive issues a digestive enzyme may be helpful with meals.
3. Detox the body.
Epsom salt baths are an easy way to detox your body. For kids this is also easy, as I don't know of many kids who don't enjoy being in the bath. We have even used a benonite clay bath for detox with good results. You can find some great recipes here for homemade Epsom salt baths.
4. Detox your home
This is another area that can be overwhelming but start small. Instead of replacing your Scrubbing Bubbles try a google search for a natural toilet bowl cleaner. We use natural dish soap mixed with baking soda for ours.There are millions of sites dedicated to natural living. Wellnessmama has numerous ideas for natural cleaning and living. I have this site bookmarked and frequent it often as there is sooo much information in it. Chemicals in your home can also affect behavior and also gut health. So minimizing the toxic load will help take some of the pressure of the body. OrganicAuthority has lots of good info regarding house goods as well. Look for chemical free substitutes for all your home cleaners and soaps.
This is just a start but if you do all 4 of the these you will be on your way to healing your body and mind.
Websites I frequent:
www.mercola.com he is the best in information everything supplemental and medical.
www.wellnessmama.com she has loads of great tips, info and ideas.
www.pecanbread.com heal the gut for good!
www.deliciouslyorganic.net great cooking ideas
www.tacanow.org great info for GFCF diet
www.organicauthority.com
Other books to read:
Breaking the Vicious Cycle, By: Elaine Gotchall
Changing the Course of Autism By: Bryan Jepsen
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Update June 2011
Well since my last post our lives have really turned upside down. In March we welcomed our third child, a beautiful baby girl. Baby Mila Aibhlinn has joined the Morris clan and her sweet disposition and contagious smile captivate our wild and crazy boys. Shortly after her arrival, Cody, my husband took a job in Baton Rouge, LA, and we will be moving mid June. We will be leaving all our therapists, clinics, doctors, friends and all that we've fought to get. But, not for nothing. We believe that God is leading us to Louisiana and what he has in store we do not know. Like our move to Des Moines from Lincoln, we were very uncertain. We thought we were taking a huge risk, but moving to Des Moines was the best thing that has ever happened to our family thus far. We have been so richly blessed in every way. Sully and Lochlan would have never had the services, therapists or opportunities if we hadn't taken a step of faith and jumped. So, we stand at the edge again. Trusting in a God that we serve, that this leap could be the best thing that has ever happened to us. We ask for your prayers, for wisdom and faith, that the transition would go smoothly and that the boys we survive all that is unstructured and chaos. So far it has been very hard on them. To leave the relationships they worked so hard to make, to leave all that is safe and dependable for uncertainty and disorganization. We ask for prayer for Cody and I so that we have God's unconditional patience and resilience in this time of tantrums, stimming, rules and rigidity. We are very sad to leave our friends and church family behind. I can only hope that we will build friendships and supports in Louisana like we have had in Des Moines.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Update
Well, I guess I am not getting any better at keeping up with our blog!! :) I do try my best. Currently both the boys are doing social skills therapy through an autism center in our area every morning. Lochlan's in home programing has stopped due to waiver issues and so our life has changed dramatically over the course of the last couple months. We are also expecting our third baby ( a girl!) and due in March of 2011. I am still currently homeschooling Sully and Lochlan is going to preschool in the afternoons. Other than that we keep busy trying to keep up with going every day squeezing in appts in the afternoons when we can. We are currently doing a milk free organic diet. I am not sure if we will be able to continue on this type of diet as stimming has taken over our house and behavior is pretty rigid and impulsive. I keep praying that God would give me guidance as we have found some new freedom in a less restrictive diet. (the boys are enjoying it as well!)
As for Lochlan and his big Buddha belly. He was off antibiotics for about 4 1/2 months and doing well at first. Then little by little the distention returned and he started to stop stooling all together. So back on the antibiotics we go again for another 6 months. Dysmotility testing has been pushed out to early fall if we are lucky at this point. This too I keep praying that God would send answers my way. We have had some regression with the discontinuing of in-home ABA and so we are trying to work some of that out. He just doesn't do well with any kind of free-time. Lochlan has developed a love for computers and all things electronic and steals my iPhone every chance he gets.
As for Lochlan and his big Buddha belly. He was off antibiotics for about 4 1/2 months and doing well at first. Then little by little the distention returned and he started to stop stooling all together. So back on the antibiotics we go again for another 6 months. Dysmotility testing has been pushed out to early fall if we are lucky at this point. This too I keep praying that God would send answers my way. We have had some regression with the discontinuing of in-home ABA and so we are trying to work some of that out. He just doesn't do well with any kind of free-time. Lochlan has developed a love for computers and all things electronic and steals my iPhone every chance he gets.
Sully continues to do well. We went to Minneapolis to see the Epilepsy Center for a Neuropsych evaluation. The auditory processing issues have been identified as attention issues and we will need to do more testing at some point. We have added pycnogenol to our supplement list in order to help him out. As for now the jury is still out if it will do enough. He is doing well at school work despite needing constant prompting and really enjoys going to the autism center to play with his friends.
Every day we do the same grind and try to find humor in the chaos!!!
Dr. Mercola Interviews Dr. Andrew Wakefield on His MMR Study (Part 1 of 10)
For the remaining parts of Dr. Wakefields interview with Dr. Mercola check them out on YouTube or Mercola.com
Also check out
www.ageofautism.com/2011/01/keeping-anderson-cooper-honest-is-brian-deer-the-fraud.html
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Update 06-12-10
Well summer is in full swing and we are struggling to settle into a summer routine. June is going to be one of the busiest months we have had yet full of traveling, birthdays, a wedding, company, a reunion, and father's day. I am praying that once July arrives we will have survived and some rest will be in sight.
Well many are wondering what is going on and I apologize at the tardy update! I thank everyone for their prayers and we really feel God's presence. The middle of may we did some food allergy and sensitivity tests on the boys as well as a stool analysis on Sully. The results of the food allergy and sensitivity were quite surprising as Lochlan had low reactivity to no reactivity to the 93 foods and 63 inhalants- quite a different story from his skin test. My only thought is that the specific carbohydrate diet has helped and also the antibiotics for the bacterial overgrowth. Sully however showed extremely high reactivity to MANY foods. Included pretty much everything has been eating lately- beef, eggs, cheese, almonds, all dairy products and wheat products, yeast and much more. With such a high reactivity it really suggests leaky gut and not true allergy. This could account for much of the OCD symptoms and anxiety symptoms as well. Since we have removed the foods of which their proteins are leaking into his blood stream-he is actually doing much better behaviorally. Sully stool test results also really surprised us as he has the presence of occult blood (this presence means there is probably bleeding in the small intestines-could be ulcers/colitis/inflammation...), extreme yeast overgrowth and bacterial dysbiosis-meaning he has more bad bacteria than good in his intestines. So we began treating the yeast with Nystatin 4 times per day we also added in Uva Ursi to treat the psuedamonias bacteria (bad bacteria). He continues to be on a low sugar/carb diet and we have successfully removed the foods in which he is sensitive. We have had one major set back as he has recently developed a fever and abdominal pain. I will consult with our doctor on maybe backing off the nystatin for a day or two and using garlic or some other natural remedy possibly to minimize symptoms of the die-off. I will keep you all posted.
As for Lochlan, he will be having a stool analysis done this week as he is off his antibiotics for now. We will be starting the antibiotics again as he is actually doing better than he ever has with the distention and stooling. He is going everyday and the distention is much more minimal than what it was. I believe the 2 weeks of antibiotics have killed enough bacteria that if we go on them again maybe we can kill the overgrowth and begin to heal the lining so that it will regain function. We are praying that the bacterial overgrowth is the culprit for all of his distention, malabsorption and dysmotility and if we treat it then we can resolve all these issues. There is hope! Meanwhile the dysmotility testing is actually closer to 9-12 mo out and I am happy that we have some time to entertain this idea before having to put Lochlan through more testing. His vitamin levels were okay and as long as he can keep his weight up we won't have to do anything drastic. He is still not eating great but we are working on it. His follow up with our GI doctor isn't until late July so we have some time to see if the antibiotics will work and look at the stool results.
Well that's about it for now. I will keep updating and thanks for all your support and prayers.
Well many are wondering what is going on and I apologize at the tardy update! I thank everyone for their prayers and we really feel God's presence. The middle of may we did some food allergy and sensitivity tests on the boys as well as a stool analysis on Sully. The results of the food allergy and sensitivity were quite surprising as Lochlan had low reactivity to no reactivity to the 93 foods and 63 inhalants- quite a different story from his skin test. My only thought is that the specific carbohydrate diet has helped and also the antibiotics for the bacterial overgrowth. Sully however showed extremely high reactivity to MANY foods. Included pretty much everything has been eating lately- beef, eggs, cheese, almonds, all dairy products and wheat products, yeast and much more. With such a high reactivity it really suggests leaky gut and not true allergy. This could account for much of the OCD symptoms and anxiety symptoms as well. Since we have removed the foods of which their proteins are leaking into his blood stream-he is actually doing much better behaviorally. Sully stool test results also really surprised us as he has the presence of occult blood (this presence means there is probably bleeding in the small intestines-could be ulcers/colitis/inflammation...), extreme yeast overgrowth and bacterial dysbiosis-meaning he has more bad bacteria than good in his intestines. So we began treating the yeast with Nystatin 4 times per day we also added in Uva Ursi to treat the psuedamonias bacteria (bad bacteria). He continues to be on a low sugar/carb diet and we have successfully removed the foods in which he is sensitive. We have had one major set back as he has recently developed a fever and abdominal pain. I will consult with our doctor on maybe backing off the nystatin for a day or two and using garlic or some other natural remedy possibly to minimize symptoms of the die-off. I will keep you all posted.
As for Lochlan, he will be having a stool analysis done this week as he is off his antibiotics for now. We will be starting the antibiotics again as he is actually doing better than he ever has with the distention and stooling. He is going everyday and the distention is much more minimal than what it was. I believe the 2 weeks of antibiotics have killed enough bacteria that if we go on them again maybe we can kill the overgrowth and begin to heal the lining so that it will regain function. We are praying that the bacterial overgrowth is the culprit for all of his distention, malabsorption and dysmotility and if we treat it then we can resolve all these issues. There is hope! Meanwhile the dysmotility testing is actually closer to 9-12 mo out and I am happy that we have some time to entertain this idea before having to put Lochlan through more testing. His vitamin levels were okay and as long as he can keep his weight up we won't have to do anything drastic. He is still not eating great but we are working on it. His follow up with our GI doctor isn't until late July so we have some time to see if the antibiotics will work and look at the stool results.
Well that's about it for now. I will keep updating and thanks for all your support and prayers.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Small bowel series and Dysmotility Consult in Kansas City
Sorry it took so long for an update. 600 miles, 3 different states and 2 different Children's Hospitals and we are finally home for now.
On Monday Lochlan had a small bowel series with follow through in Omaha at the children's hospital. Our dr. wanted to look to see if there were any anatomical problems with Lochlan's small bowel that could account for the chronic distention and other problems. He struggled with drinking the barium but after much persuading and counting each sip he did finally get enough barium down to complete the test. We do not have any results yet but are waiting to hear. Once he gets these results then we will move forward with scheduling more tests to figure out what Lochlan is having trouble digesting.
On Tuesday we were on the way to Kansas City to mercy children's hospital for our Dysmotility consult. The good news is that since Lochlan is not throwing up his food there is a really good chance we can fix his dysmotility issues. He did lots of blood work and took some xrays. Lochlan will need a colonoscopy and some sort of esophageal test (I am not sure of the name) he will also need dysmotility testing but that will be a few months out. After he gets the blood results he will try to get with a dietitian and see if we can't figure out foods that he can tolerate so we can avoid the feeding tube. Lochlan has been having lots of anxiety about the feeding tube and he has started having nightmares, we are pretty sure they are about feeding tubes and needles as he is crying about them in his sleep. So we are really trying to minimize his trauma as he has been through tons of testing already and there is so much more to do. The specialist in Kansas is only a dysmotility specialist so we will continue to work on the malabsorption issues and bacterial overgrowth issues with our dr. in Omaha.
So we are waiting and again and really trying to be patient. Lochlan's distention is still causing issues and we are praying that we can figure out a way to help him while we endure the wait. He was having so much diarrhea on the antibiotic (this was the second one) that we had to take him off it again as he was becoming dehydrated and his body could not physically handle the stress of it. We did do some other testing for food sensitivities through our regular doctor and we are anxiously awaiting those results too. So I guess thats about it for now. We will continue to wait and keep updating, thanks to all those who are praying for us. We can really feel God's presence and assurance that he will work this all out and we just have to rely on him and his timing.
On a different note- Lochlans love of movies has really blossomed lately and he and Sully crack us up by re-enacting scenes from movies they have seen. One of his favorite in particular is Astroboy. And in one scene they are standing at the door, they knock and another girl opens a slot and asks for a password. The other girl replied "don't make me hurt you!" and the girl behind the door says "i guess that will work" and opens the door. Sooo. We were at childrens in kansas city and I took Lochlan into the bathroom. He ran ahead and locked the stall door before I could get there. I told him to open the door. He said "what's the password?" I said "Lochlan open please". He said "say, don't make me hurt you, mom." Normally this wouldn't bother me, but there just happened to be another woman at the sink washing her hands. She smiled as she heard me tell my four year old "don't make me hurt you". I was so embarrassed as I had no idea is she had ever seen the movie or if she would have wondered where a small child would come up with something like that. Anyhow, thats all it took and he opened the door.
On Monday Lochlan had a small bowel series with follow through in Omaha at the children's hospital. Our dr. wanted to look to see if there were any anatomical problems with Lochlan's small bowel that could account for the chronic distention and other problems. He struggled with drinking the barium but after much persuading and counting each sip he did finally get enough barium down to complete the test. We do not have any results yet but are waiting to hear. Once he gets these results then we will move forward with scheduling more tests to figure out what Lochlan is having trouble digesting.
On Tuesday we were on the way to Kansas City to mercy children's hospital for our Dysmotility consult. The good news is that since Lochlan is not throwing up his food there is a really good chance we can fix his dysmotility issues. He did lots of blood work and took some xrays. Lochlan will need a colonoscopy and some sort of esophageal test (I am not sure of the name) he will also need dysmotility testing but that will be a few months out. After he gets the blood results he will try to get with a dietitian and see if we can't figure out foods that he can tolerate so we can avoid the feeding tube. Lochlan has been having lots of anxiety about the feeding tube and he has started having nightmares, we are pretty sure they are about feeding tubes and needles as he is crying about them in his sleep. So we are really trying to minimize his trauma as he has been through tons of testing already and there is so much more to do. The specialist in Kansas is only a dysmotility specialist so we will continue to work on the malabsorption issues and bacterial overgrowth issues with our dr. in Omaha.
So we are waiting and again and really trying to be patient. Lochlan's distention is still causing issues and we are praying that we can figure out a way to help him while we endure the wait. He was having so much diarrhea on the antibiotic (this was the second one) that we had to take him off it again as he was becoming dehydrated and his body could not physically handle the stress of it. We did do some other testing for food sensitivities through our regular doctor and we are anxiously awaiting those results too. So I guess thats about it for now. We will continue to wait and keep updating, thanks to all those who are praying for us. We can really feel God's presence and assurance that he will work this all out and we just have to rely on him and his timing.
On a different note- Lochlans love of movies has really blossomed lately and he and Sully crack us up by re-enacting scenes from movies they have seen. One of his favorite in particular is Astroboy. And in one scene they are standing at the door, they knock and another girl opens a slot and asks for a password. The other girl replied "don't make me hurt you!" and the girl behind the door says "i guess that will work" and opens the door. Sooo. We were at childrens in kansas city and I took Lochlan into the bathroom. He ran ahead and locked the stall door before I could get there. I told him to open the door. He said "what's the password?" I said "Lochlan open please". He said "say, don't make me hurt you, mom." Normally this wouldn't bother me, but there just happened to be another woman at the sink washing her hands. She smiled as she heard me tell my four year old "don't make me hurt you". I was so embarrassed as I had no idea is she had ever seen the movie or if she would have wondered where a small child would come up with something like that. Anyhow, thats all it took and he opened the door.
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