I have been so swept up in taking care of Alexander lately. As I should be. We are a few days shy of 6 weeks of his GI issues. He HAS had a few good days mixed in, but then a day or two later it seems to return. Thursday night I took a step back mentally and thought about how consumed I have become. I need to be his advocate because he cannot be his own, but a lot of other things seem to get pushed aside. One of those being posting recipes. I am still cooking and there have even been a few that I meant to get around to sharing but didn’t. Another has been making fun shaped meals for the boys.
Yesterday morning despite all the craziness. Alex waking up hysterical at 6am. It being a school morning. Me trying to film a Pilates video for MarchMATness. (I failed at that! I caught up today though!) I made time to make them a fun breakfast. Jackson was over the moon. Alex yelled at me that there were blueberries on his heart shape french toast sticks. He grumbled then picked them off. You can’t win them all I suppose. Jackson loved his shamrocks!
We had his GI appointment on Wednesday. The only way I can describe it is awful. I have never felt like I wasn’t being heard quite so much at a doctor appointment. I explained what we had been dealing with. Chronic diarrhea with maybe 3 good days mixed in over nearly 6 weeks. She did a brief exam of him. She diagnosed him with CONSTIPATION. She actually said he is constipated and that some loose stool is just slipping around clogged poop. She then prescribed a colon cleanse for a 17 month old toddler! A colon cleanse. Following the 3 intense days of being on a laxative, she wanted him to be on the laxative in a smaller dose for SIX WEEKS. At which point we would “discuss weaning him off of it.” She also told ME that I don’t feed him enough fiber, without even glancing at his food journal I have been keeping meticulously. She said I also give him too much milk. Something I have never been told by a pediatrician regarding either of my boys. I always fill out their food intake at their physicals. I questioned her on this. My mom was there, she questioned her on this. She just kept insisting he was constipated.
I informed my husband. I told him to pick up the prescription. He did some research while I was getting us all home. Miralax is not greatly received and there are many concerns with it. We both then researched child constipation. We did come across some instances of loose stools being associated with it, however they were more of smears or as I like to call them “hershey squirts.” Alexander has full blowouts sometimes up the back diapers. Multiple a day. These are not squirts. They are giant diapers. We decided not to start any laxative that evening.
The boys’ pediatrician is off on Thursdays. During the day I contacted my husband’s aunt, who is a pediatrician and family doctor. She lives out of state. I explained in great detail Alex’s history and asked her opinion on the diagnosis and colon cleanse. She was very concerned with that recommendation and definitely wanted us to speak to Alex’s Pediatrician as soon as we could. I called her and left a message yesterday morning. When she got back to me she read me the report of the GI with a tone of surprise in her voice regarding the constipation diagnosis. I seconded her concerns immediately and explained that was the exact reason I left a message for her. We were NOT happy with that and we don’t feel that he is constipated with the amount of poop he has. She agrees. She has been at our side since this started 6 weeks ago. She has seen some of the diapers. She told me to monitor him over the weekend. Thursday he had a couple better diapers. Much more normal consistency but yesterday there was another loose one. She is on call all weekend if we need her. She wants to touch base next week. Possibly perform another exam herself and then if it is still ongoing send us to another GI at a different hospital.
I have told people this before, but I am so thankful for her. She has truly been wonderful through all of Alexander’s issues. She has been by our side. She has tried to find us answers and if she couldn’t she has tried to find a specialist that can. She listens to what I have to say. She calls me back whenever I leave a message for her with questions, updates, or concerns. She sees the boys when I want them to be seen. I am not sure what life would be like with another pediatrician and I don’t even want to know. I am so incredibly grateful I came across her when Jackson was 2. At that point in time I didn’t know that she would be such an integral part of our family’s life.
We still don’t have all the answers on Alex, but that is ok. We have been working hard to figure it out. We have someone who is his champion and wants to help us solve this. We will get there. It may take some more time. I have come to terms with that. This whole situation could be worse. We could have a pediatrician that acted like the GI we saw, and then we would be nowhere at all. Luckily, we have one of the great, amazing, and incredible apples in the Pediatrics world.
He hates EB
He LOVES chocolate
These two are my world!
He likes flying
Nicole M. VandeBoom 