Friday, May 30, 2014

My Moon and Stars

Zed and I were spying on Wendy this afternoon. We had put her in her playpen with a big, very special teddy bear while we made sandwiches for supper. We stood beside the stairs just watching her as she laughed and giggle and conversed with this bear.

This bear is very special because I got him the day Zed returned home for R&R during his deployment in Afghanistan. I knew he was coming home in April, but I did have exact dates. He told me he was stuck in Kabul when he was really getting off a plane in Atlanta GA. My mom called and said she needed help at their shop (my parents own an auto repair shop) and she wanted me to come answer phones. She told me to look presentable because I'd usually show up in sweats!  But when I walked in the office there was a huge Bearrington Bear holding a half dozen red roses and wearing Zed's ACU hat. I began looking for him and found him in the parts room.  It was the first time I'd seen him in months and I didn't want to let him go. That's why that bear is so special.....

... Okay back to Wendy's story. As Zed and I watched her hug and kiss and babble to this bear, I said, "How did we get so lukcy?".

You know, I've had numerous people tell me how lucky Wendy is to have a mom and dad who care so much, are attentive, and would do anything in the world for her. And yes, I do agree, Wendy's lucky she has us for parents. We have only one child so we focus 100% on Wendy. We have the financial means to care for her. We have family who are willing to help, even though I won't take the help. And we do have such a deep emotional bond with Wendy.

But truly, Wendy's not the lucky one. Zed and I are. She has given us reason to live, breathe, and get up in the mornings. Wendy is my sun, my moon and stars. And as unhealthy as it may sound, she is my world. So the next time someone says "Wendy is so blessed to have you." I'll be thinking "No, I'm the blessed one."

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Elimination diet for the next month.

FIES- Food Protein-Induced Entercolitis Syndrome

I have diagnosed Wendy with that myself for her milk and soy allergies.

She also has a reaction to grapes and anything grape flavored.

She is going to have allergy testing done soon, but my concern right now is; why is she constantly having yeast infections?  My guess is that she has another FPIES allergy and I’m determined to figure out what it is before we go back to GI in June.

Once Wendy’s done with her antibiotics, she only has a few more days we will begin our version of an elimination diet. For 3 days she will be allowed nothing but formula and water. After that we will introduce simple foods like baby safe foods and rice cereal (I believe rice may be our culprit). By adding only one food every few days, I will be able to document if there were hives, vomiting, how her bowel movements were, etc. Once she eats something that her body doesn’t tolerate and she has a reaction or gets a yeast infection, I can write that down as a food to avoid.

We are also going to try goat milk to see if she has a problem with that.  I’m hoping that if goat milk isn’t a possibility, then maybe coconut milk. I’m a little afraid to try almond milk before she has her allergy testing done because she may be allergic to nuts.

I know that a normal doctor would just keep giving medication for the rashes and GI will just say to only give her formula through her tube, but I don’t want Wendy in pain from constant yeast infections and I don’t want her to not be able to have a cup of juice or a jar of baby food. So I am taking matters into my own hands and Dr. Mom is going to figure this out. I’m keeping a journal to show the doctors my progress.

Wish us luck. I know this is going to be difficult for Wendy and for myself. But we’ll get it done.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Pray, send good vibes, or whatever it is that you do.

Two ruptured ear drums and 4 molars coming in makes one very uncontent baby and one very sad mommy.

Wendy began getting fussy one day last week. She was chewing on her hands, running a low grade fever, not sleeping as well, you know, just the usual signs of a teething baby. I never thought that within a weeks time she'd have double ear infections, punctured ear drums, and a horrible yeast infection. I feel guilty for not catching the signs sooner. Maybe if I had, her ears wouldn't have gotten so bad. Regardless of whether I could have prevented some of the damage, it's here now and I'm having to deal with it.

One of the hardest tings about being a mother is when your child is sick or hurting and you can't do anything to fix it. Wendy looks at me with these eyes that are clearly screaming "mum mum, I'm in pain and I don't understand why". I just hug her tight, tell her I love her and that mum mum is doing everything she can to make Buggy feel better.

Speaking of making Buggy feel better, Wendy got 3 more prescriptions today (on top of her Prevacid, Bethanechol, Claritin, and poly-vi-sol, plus the ibuprofen and tylenol that I'm alternating, and her Hyland's teething tablets, which are all natural). For the ear infection, Wendy has an oral antibiotic that has to be given once a day, but must be given 2 hours before or after her antacid and vitamins. She also has antibiotic drops to put in her ear twice a day. Her final new medication is Diflucan, an anti-yeast medication, that she is taking 2 times a day for 3 days because she already is just getting over a yeast infection and taking so many antibiotics will just create more yeast.

Even with all this going on, I can't even feel bad for myself. One reason being that I love Wendy so incredibly much that I would do anything for her, no complaints. The second reason is because my poor momma is sitting for the umpteenth time at the hospital with my grammy, who is in ICU at Emory. Grammy has been up and down and my momma has been steadfast and always there.

Everyone, I'm going to ask you to pray. Pray for healing for Wendy, strength and patience for me. And please, pray for my grammy. She's going through a lot of surgical procedures and pray that God leads those doctors hands. Lastly, I wam you to pray for my momma. She's my rock and I've always been able to count on her, but she takes care of everyone but herself. So pray for stregnth to care for grammy, the emotional ability to handle it all, and for her to be at peace, no matter what happens.

Momma, if you read this, know that I love you and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm not able to help more. I'm sorry I don't spend much time with you anymore. I'm sorry you're stuck at Emory by yourself. My heart aches for you because I know I can't come take your place. All I can do is stay here, and get your sweet grandbaby well and send my love and encouragment. You are truly an amazing daughter and if the time ever comes, I hope I can be just as great. I love you Momma. Stay strong and hang in there and know that if there is anything I can do here, please please let me know!