Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Some Good to Report! :D

Wow! How the time flies!! Yesterday I celebrated my?? Ahhh .... who needs numbers anyway? ... My Birthday and I came to the realization that Dr. Brown without even knowing it gave me the most awesome gift ever. Z has been pain free for 7 days. I don't recall him being pain free for that many days in a row. Wow! Oh how blessed our...... ,I was going to say little, but we're certainly not little, family is. lol Zachary is doing so well! We are still in the process of changing our diet, which I'll say again, isn't easy, but I'm told very worth it! Zachary is already careful about his sugar intake, he is learning that sugar causes pain and is learning his limitations. I really do my best to keep the option of sugar out of our home but, again, not an easy task. So today? Is day 8 of no pain!! Keeping my prayers constantly flowing and hoping that one day our son will be pain free without the counting of days.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

He's Better, Again

Z seemed all better over the weekend but got sick again on Monday. This is so weird .... must be he actually caught a bug this time, anyway we saw Dr. Brown last night Z had some stomach pain and his leg hurt a little but nothing serious. Today he is back in school so I'm thinking it was just a 24 hour bug. He seems to be doing just fine now.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Back to School

Zachary went to school today, is still a little weak, but we think he's going to be just fine. We saw Dr. Brown this evening and Z's pain level in his leg was a 5 when we went in. Z was so hoping to come out a zero but that was not the case as Dr. Brown did all he could to adjust Z, but unfortunately Z's body or muscles fight it causing his leg to spam. Z's pain lasted about an hour and a half and then he was fine.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Finally It Let's Up

Zachary is finally able to eat solids and is sitting up. I've given him a bowl of mixed fruits with pineapple, strawberries, red and white grapes. He ate the strawberries and that was it, he seemed to get better as the day went by and he started eating more and more solids. He also slept through the night, whew, that was a rough ride!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The Cramping Continues

Z slept when his stomach wasn't cramping. He was able to keep the lemon water down but still had cramping. At one point he was cramping so bad that he stated hyperventilating causing his hands to stiffen up then ..... his leg started to hurt and spasm. He was screaming out in pain, it was very scary. I was, after a long time, back in that seat. You know the one, the one where mom has no power, you know the horrible helpless feeling of a panicked mother? Yup! That's the one. I contacted Dr. Brown to update him on Z and to see if he had any other suggestions. He said to go ahead and bring him in for his adjustment and we would go from there. He suggested ginger root tea, and to continue the lemon water. Z's adjustment didn't get him to a zero today and he was insistent we stay 'til it did, lol. Poor kid! Momma's gotta buckle down and get the diet in order or his healing isn't going to happen as quickly as we'd like. The transition is HUGE!! And they need to be made quickly ... I really don't think this gradual thing is going to work for Z. :(

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Reaction or Virus?

This morning Z woke up with an upset stomach, nausea and a headache. Three of my children had dental appointments and if you do not cancel with a 48 hour notice they will charge you $50 per child. So I loaded up the the kids, this was to include Z who still was not feeling well, and headed to their appointment. We had to pull over a couple of times so Zachary could throw up outside the vehicle. When we got there I took the two well children in and left Z in the van with a bucket. I explained to the receptionist that Z was really sick and was in the car if they were insistent on him keeping his appointment. I pretty much figured that they would gladly excuse the one throwing his guts up if I had him in the car. I was ready to bring in proof in needed, lol. They said that they would waive the fee for Z and would reschedule his appointment. I went back out to the car and waited while the others saw the dentist and only had to have a short talk with one of them because they were not cooperating. On the way back home and for the rest of the day Z dry heaved ... He could not keep anything down, not even water. I called our family doctor and asked if they could tell if Zachary had a virus or if he was having an allergic reaction. The person on the phone said I would have to bring him in for a diagnosis, so because I am the curious one I took him in. When we got there Z was crying out in pain because of the stomach cramping he was enduring ... when the doctor came in she examined him. Then I asked if she could let me know if this was an allergic reaction to the walnuts he had the night before or if it were a virus. She said she was leaning toward food allergy as Z did not have the common symptoms for the most recent virus going around, but could not verify that it was a food allergy for sure without doing allergy tests on him, in any case, she prescribed him with a shot of Phenergan which is used to relieve the symptoms of allergic reactions and help prevent and control nausea. The doctor also prescribed two other medications, but I do not remember what they were because I didn't even bother to pick them up. My thoughts were that if this one shot could not help Z then I would call Dr. Brown to see what his suggestions would be to help Z, besides that Z's appointment with Dr. Brown was the following day and we weren't going to miss it, because when we do it almost always haunts us later. When we got back home Z was still cramping pretty badly and the pain in his gut was up to a 9 on Z's pain scale. Later that afternoon I shot Dr. Brown a text letting him know that we thought Z might be reacting to the Walnuts from the smoothy he had the day before and I filled him in on Z's condition. Dr. Brown was glad that Z was throwing up, because that was his body's way of getting rid of or fighting off whatever it was. He also mentioned that sugar does lower the immune system so this could be related to all the sugar Z had over the Easter weekend. He suggested that Z sip on water with lemon in it so he would recover.

Monday, April 9, 2012

A Visit With Dr. Brown And A Smoothy

Z was having a rough afternoon, his pain was increasing as the day wore on. We went to his appointment with Dr. Brown and discussed the issues with sugar once again. I know, hand me the Craptacular Mom Card, cause I'm a slow learner. It's Easter, we've never celebrated Easter without sweets. Oh, this thing with Z is seriously going to be life changing isn't it? I don't like the new! The old is way more comfortable and familiar! But unfortunately the old isn't helping Z. So, with hesitancy we move slowly into the new. Z knows he can't have sugar and knows that it causes inflammation which in turn causes him pain. He is aware and he was warned to be careful, however he is still just a child and .... I, yup that's me! I should have managed his sugar intake, therefore, the Craptacular Mom Card belongs to me!! :( After Z's adjustment and while we were still in the office I was talking to another patient about Z and the sugar he consumed and she mentioned that her family celebrates with Resurrection eggs. Instead of candy the story of the Resurrection is printed out and cut into strips and placed in the eggs. When all the eggs are found they piece the Resurrection story together, read and talk about it. Hmmm? I totally like that idea! And what a much better way to remember the reason for this special day. I mean, we could still put treats in their baskets, just "much better for your body" treats. Ugh! Changing traditions, that's new and uncomfortable. Before leaving Dr. Brown mentioned that the yogurt place next door was starting to make "good for ya" smoothies. So he walked us over and introduced us to the, umm? I think it was the owner of the shop and showed Z what things he could put into his smoothy that didn't have sugar in them. Z choose walnuts, strawberries and pineapple. The lady fixed him a protein smoothy with his added ingredients. It was very yummy! On the way home Z complained of an upset stomach and I told him he was hungry for supper. He threw up and started cramping when we got home and couldn't keep anything down, not even water.