Unfortunately this post will not have any pictures because I cannot get them off of my phone right now. Once I figure it out, I will add them to it.
Last Tuesday I took all five kids over to Labcorp to get blood drawn on everyone but Spencer to test for Celiac Disease. My mom and Adriene, one of Bryce and Annalise's respite workers came with us to help. Let me tell you, it is quite the feat to get all 5 kids up, dressed, prepped for school, and to the lab by 7am but we did it. Drawing blood went well overall. Bryce didn't make a peep, but poor Annalise was terrified and began screaming "all done!" before they even began. It took two of us to hold her arms while they got the needle in. :( When they were finished, she said to the lady who drew the blood, "do not do that EVER AGAIN!" She had fingers from both hands pointed at the lady and moved her arms for emphasis as she said it. It was cute, but I felt so bad for her...especially knowing that she will have to have blood drawn again at some point in her life.
I just called the pediatrician's office to see if the results have come in and I was told that they are in and the doctor will call me later today to let me know what the results say. Now I'm going crazy wondering what they say, wondering if others of our children have Celiac or not. Knowing that the results are just sitting there is making me nuts. So...instead of just waiting, I decided to catch you all up a bit.
After the blood draw ordeal was over, my mom took my older boys to school, Adriene left, and I took Bryce and Annalise to school. I then went with my mom to her Dr. appointment, where I discovered that a lady from church is the nurse there. That was fun to see her. I ran a quick errand and then had about an hour before I was meeting my visiting teachers at the park for lunch so I decided to go see a friend who had given birth just a few days earlier. Her little boy is so tiny and it was great to snuggle a little one again. It was also fun talking to Monica and her family. They have twins as well who are Bryce's age. As the little boy came in, he saw me and instantly ask where Bryce was. He and Bryce have become pretty good friends.
After a nice lunch and visit in the park, I headed back to start the afternoon school pick up. It was Tuesday which is usually my night off, so even though John is in San Diego all week for work, I decided I wouldn't give up my night off. Instead I used some respite hours and headed out. I ended up going to Target to scope out Gluten Free food. Not exactly a break, but it was nice to be able to browse the shelves on my own time. I found quite a few "treasures" for Spencer and was happy that I would have something to send him in his lunch the next day.
Speaking of Spencer, he is doing so great at turning down foods that he should not be eating. He had a reward trip at school yesterday. They went ice skating and then to a pizza place for lunch. We had packed a lunch for him, but the kids kept trying to get him to eat some of the pizza. He said it was really hard to turn it down, but he did because he really wants to feel better.
He is home today because of some pretty intense pain. He definitely has a long way to go before he is healed from the damage done over the past years, but hopefully soon he will start feeling better. He has a wonderful Cub Scout leader who has two children with Celiac Disease that was discovered when they were a little older who is helping me through these early days. There is SO much to learn about Celiac. It is definitely not as easy as "just don't eat wheat". Cross contamination is a huge challenge. Also, because of the severity of the damage done by the disease, the doctor wants him off of not only foods with Gluten forever, but oats and dairy for at least 6 months. Look around...that cuts your food choices down a lot! I am finding more and more recipes for foods made without these items, so that is a plus.
I cannot wait to find out if any of the rest of us have Celiac as well. I think that either way, we will become a gluten free household. I just don't know how I would do it otherwise. The others are not to thrilled about that, so we will have to see how things go. Spencer is calling. I better go see what he needs. Hopefully I will have news to share soon!
Last Tuesday I took all five kids over to Labcorp to get blood drawn on everyone but Spencer to test for Celiac Disease. My mom and Adriene, one of Bryce and Annalise's respite workers came with us to help. Let me tell you, it is quite the feat to get all 5 kids up, dressed, prepped for school, and to the lab by 7am but we did it. Drawing blood went well overall. Bryce didn't make a peep, but poor Annalise was terrified and began screaming "all done!" before they even began. It took two of us to hold her arms while they got the needle in. :( When they were finished, she said to the lady who drew the blood, "do not do that EVER AGAIN!" She had fingers from both hands pointed at the lady and moved her arms for emphasis as she said it. It was cute, but I felt so bad for her...especially knowing that she will have to have blood drawn again at some point in her life.
I just called the pediatrician's office to see if the results have come in and I was told that they are in and the doctor will call me later today to let me know what the results say. Now I'm going crazy wondering what they say, wondering if others of our children have Celiac or not. Knowing that the results are just sitting there is making me nuts. So...instead of just waiting, I decided to catch you all up a bit.
After the blood draw ordeal was over, my mom took my older boys to school, Adriene left, and I took Bryce and Annalise to school. I then went with my mom to her Dr. appointment, where I discovered that a lady from church is the nurse there. That was fun to see her. I ran a quick errand and then had about an hour before I was meeting my visiting teachers at the park for lunch so I decided to go see a friend who had given birth just a few days earlier. Her little boy is so tiny and it was great to snuggle a little one again. It was also fun talking to Monica and her family. They have twins as well who are Bryce's age. As the little boy came in, he saw me and instantly ask where Bryce was. He and Bryce have become pretty good friends.
After a nice lunch and visit in the park, I headed back to start the afternoon school pick up. It was Tuesday which is usually my night off, so even though John is in San Diego all week for work, I decided I wouldn't give up my night off. Instead I used some respite hours and headed out. I ended up going to Target to scope out Gluten Free food. Not exactly a break, but it was nice to be able to browse the shelves on my own time. I found quite a few "treasures" for Spencer and was happy that I would have something to send him in his lunch the next day.
Speaking of Spencer, he is doing so great at turning down foods that he should not be eating. He had a reward trip at school yesterday. They went ice skating and then to a pizza place for lunch. We had packed a lunch for him, but the kids kept trying to get him to eat some of the pizza. He said it was really hard to turn it down, but he did because he really wants to feel better.
He is home today because of some pretty intense pain. He definitely has a long way to go before he is healed from the damage done over the past years, but hopefully soon he will start feeling better. He has a wonderful Cub Scout leader who has two children with Celiac Disease that was discovered when they were a little older who is helping me through these early days. There is SO much to learn about Celiac. It is definitely not as easy as "just don't eat wheat". Cross contamination is a huge challenge. Also, because of the severity of the damage done by the disease, the doctor wants him off of not only foods with Gluten forever, but oats and dairy for at least 6 months. Look around...that cuts your food choices down a lot! I am finding more and more recipes for foods made without these items, so that is a plus.
I cannot wait to find out if any of the rest of us have Celiac as well. I think that either way, we will become a gluten free household. I just don't know how I would do it otherwise. The others are not to thrilled about that, so we will have to see how things go. Spencer is calling. I better go see what he needs. Hopefully I will have news to share soon!
1 comment:
So, did you find out the results? I can't believe you have to do no oats or dairy too! So so hard! Yay for Spencer for being so strong! That has got to be so hard when you are only 10. I am glad you got some time to yourself. I hope you get to nap occasionally too!
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