***Side note: the kiddos had their well childs all together recently, and that is why we "all of a sudden" have some specialists to see...
Arend (11) and Eleanor (3) have been healthy (outside of the random active kid bumps & bruises and occasional colds) so there really is no update there
Adaya (9) has fairly obvious undiagnosed ADHD, due to life circumstances (thank you, severe postpartum) we haven't pursued a diagnosis because it wasn't going to change our plan of action. We weren't interested in medicating her until we felt meds were necessary. After parent teacher conferences we have decided to pursue a diagnosis and use western medicine for now. Praying that things line up quickly and that meds can be figured out with ease!
Adaya also has kidney reflux. She hasn't had a kidney infection since summer and that is a huge answer to prayer! Years ago we were at the dr every other month. Now, equipped with some natural remedies, more acute observation of early warning symptoms, and her having better knowledge of hygiene, we have done great with keeping UTI's at bay. However, it is time for her to meet with her urologist to assess kidney function. --- At 4 years old, she had Grade 3 (out of 5) reflux- my basic understanding is that the "flappy valve" (totally real medical term...) doesn't work properly, so when she pees, the valve allows urine to back flow. A grade 3 means urine goes up the ureter (the kidney-to-bladder "hose") and into the renal pelvis (the funnel from the kidney to the ureter) and then causes some mild swelling. ((I'm sorry to all of my medical people. This is how I explain it to my kiddos...)) The urology appointment will assess her reflux (by inserting a dye via catheter, taking x-rays, then having her use the restroom and x-ray the location of the dye again) to determine whether or not she will need surgery to correct the problem.
William (8) has been doing well with self-regulation and his sensory processing disorder. We are also approaching the need to test for ADHD, but there is a lot going on, so that is placed on the "get to it soon-ish" list instead of the "now" list.
The bigger/ more urgent concern for William is his lack of growth. We had a bone age assessment done about a month and a half ago and it showed him just over 2 years behind. He has never been a big kid (failure to thrive as an infant even), but this year it has been magnified and is starting to effect his self-esteem. As a mom my heart breaks when he has no friends or he is in tears and ready to fight strangers at a play ground because they are teasing him. There are only so many times you can say "People are mean because they have a sadness in their heart" and there are only so many times you can encourage your child to not let their anger and "wild" get so big that it explodes. His size is getting in the way of him thriving and we decided it was time to stop saying "he's a late bloomer". So William met with a pediatric endocrinologist (basically a doctor of all things glands and hormones), had a whole load of blood work done, and met with a dietitian. He has a (very slight) allergy to milk, the rest of the blood work came back negative. So now we bulk up the calories and add real butter or olive oil to most of his meals and add in a kid-friendly protein shake. (For those of you wondering, we can add any healthy oil, but the other oils I have on had make him gag, so EVO and butter it is!) We will have a follow-up with the dietitian in 6 weeks and a follow up with the endocrinologist in 6 months. Hopefully we can pack some weight on my tiny kiddo- I think he is starting to look a bit sickly, but part of that might be from the trauma of him being rail-thin as an infant?
Titus (5.5) poor Titus! He looks healthy and acts age appropriate (usually). With discipline we are noticing what seems to be some attachment issues stemming from my PostPartum, so I am currently waiting to hear back from insurance in regards to play therapy or something along those lines to help my sweet boy be his best self. So that is in "wait and research" stages of development.
Titus' most obvious problem has to do with... potty training! "What??!! Your almost 6 yr old isn't potty trained??!!" ... Actually, he is. That is part of the problem. Why did my potty trained kiddo all of a sudden pee every. single. night? And then start having accidents during the day? Usually small, sometimes big, always with me right there either encouraging him to go potty and not ignore it or with me blaming him for not caring... Then the poop streaks started. "Ti! Make sure you wipe after you poop on the potty, dude!" Then the smell! THEN the full on poop accidents... That's when I remember a brave, sweet, warrior Mama-Bear talking a little bit about her fight against encopresis. (My "totally medical" explanation: major constipation due to diet, fear of pain from pooping, fear of the toilet, holding it for too long and so on; long story short, eventually causes uncontrolled leaking. It also irritates the bladder and can cause urinary incontinence as well as fecal incontinence.) So many things lined up and it made sense! We talked to his doctor and got an official diagnosis. At this point, Titus can't even feel the urge to poop. Sometimes he thinks he may have to fart, but the stretching of the colon has caused nerve damage. We are finally clearing out some of the blockage and have been having a crappy new year. (!HA! I think I'm so funny!) So the hope is that over the next little bit we will have everything cleaned out and then the actual healing can begin. It is expected to take 6 months to a year for his colon to return to normal. Until then, we work on potty time consistency and pray protection over his self esteem. He's already "teased" by people for "wearing diapers to bed" (we very specifically call them 'bedtime underwear' so that he doesn't feel even worse about being unable to control this.) He's been disciplined and handed so many consequences over the last year for something that was totally out of his control. I definitely get sick of splooshing undies in the toilet, but at least now I'm not giving him the third degree for it. I know how hard it is to let people down because of a side effect from a sickness and I feel awful for my part in that with Titus. However, he has a big forgiving heart and is young enough/ resilient enough that we can counter-act a lot it.
(More info on encopresis)
Brad has no real health updates- just the typical stuff from beating up his body with his job. That man makes it a goal to get 5 hours of sleep each night. I get angry with less than 7...
My health- this post is so long already guys, I'm sorry! I'm going to cut out a lot of details here, for now, but basically I noticed a change in my hormone cycle and my symptoms. After ignoring it all for months, I finally talked to my doctor and had an ultrasound that found a spot in my uterine lining. Nothing serious, (cysts, fibroids or endometriosis) but getting in the way of daily life. So I met with a specialist for a biopsy... Only they didn't have time for a biopsy and he decided to give me meds instead. Against my better judgment and with an immense lack of information/ misinformation from the doctor, I felt pressured to get the Depo Provera shot. DO. NOT. GET. DEPO. I was told that the only side effect was weight gain. I just lost 50 pounds. I don't want to gain weight... But usually the gain is only 5-10 pounds. Ok, I can handle that. Go ahead and pump me full of enough synthetic hormones to get me though three full cycles... I didn't want it, I wanted to think about it and research it, but I felt like a burden and I'm not in the medical field, so I guess go ahead...
... The extreme, blinding rage and suicidal ideation only lasted for 10 days- but those 10 days were all sorts of PTSD triggering full of PostPartum flashbacks and anxiety attacks. It was not pretty. But my hormones leveled out... Except for the nightly hot flashes and the fatigue... Oh! And the super fun rare side effect of heart issues kicked in. I have palpitations (feels like my heart will either double-beat or skip a beat) totally normal. Unless it is accompanied with a racing heart, dizziness, light-headedness, weakness, confusion or shortness of breath... And I had all of that. ((People interested in the medical stuff: Sinus arrhythmia with premature ventricular contractions; 115 bpm while sitting down sipping water, and the PVCs were every 6- 10 beats)). After 3 ER visits in a week and a half, I was finally placed on a heart monitor for a month. ER visit #4 I finally got started on a beta-blocker and they told me (a week before Christmas) to lower my stress... Ha! Now I don't notice the palpitations and I can catch my breath when I take stairs. However, a symptom of heart stuff is fatigue, a side effect of the Depo is fatigue, and a side effect of the beta-blocker is fatigue. Plus, I got a cold from the kids and since I ignore my health, it turned into an upper respiratory infection...
The fun icing on this cake? Our insurance was full coverage until Dec. 1, and then we started a new plan... Dec 1 was the first ER visit. You guys, I work 20 hours a month. My ENTIRE yearly income is less than what our HSA deductible is. So every hour I worked for an entire year won't even cover the costs of the side effects from one shot... The shot is in my system with no antidote for 3-5 months. It also hasn't relieved my initial symptoms, so I need to have follow-ups for my heart and my uterus.
I have tried to have a good attitude, but my attitude is slowly draining with my energy levels. PostPartum took so much from us for so many years and I was/ am finally able to step up and advocate for my kiddos' health and education and my health... And now here we are. Ugh!
... It's not all gloom and doom though. We had a prom for my work party and the only way to carry a heart monitor while wearing a formal gown is... in a pink glitter fanny pack!!! (Well, I guess you could use a plain fanny pack, but why would you want to?!)
I think that is all for now... At least I hope it is--- because I have to leave for another doctor appointment!
Blessings!
~J
