G.I. Joe

Disclaimer: This is a longie! I'm sure so many of you really don't want to hear about all of this stuff with Little C's bowels any more.  I promise it won't be the main topic of this blog for too much longer (I hope!).  I wanted to share this info in case someone out there finds their toddler in a similar circumstance.  Plus, I've learned so much from this experience outside of the diagnosis that I will share tomorrow.  Until then... here is the latest instalment from our journey.

Little C had his appointment with the Pediatric Gastroenterologist today but since that is waaaay to hard to say (and type for that matter) we will lovingly refer to the new doc as G.I. Joe.  Get it?!?  "G.I." stands for gastrointestinal and "Joe" because, well, new doc is a man.  :: snort ::  I crack myself up! 

Anywho, as I was saying... The Hubs took C to his appointment this morning and we now have a much clearer idea of what is going on with our little man.  Going into this appointment there were two main points we wanted answers to:

1. Was Little C's most recent sickness in fact Toddler's Diarrhea and if not, then what?
2. Was his recent sickness linked to the other stomach related virus' he's had once a month since June? 

G.I. Joe walked Hubby through a number of items and the main take-aways are as follows:

• Toddler's Diarrhea is what Pediatricians like to "call" things similar to what C had.  It gives a name to what is going on but it isn't always the most accurate diagnosis.
• Based on our descriptions of C's past stomach bugs and the frequency of them, G.I. Joe feels that the original bacteria from the very first virus C caught has never truly left his "gut."  So any time he is exposed to another virus his body isn't able to fight it off and instead the bacteria gets aggravated and we have a sick boy on our hands. (Does any of that make sense?)
• Little C may also not have the best bacteria fighting cells in his little body right now and tests need to be done to determine that.

Although it isn't a definite idea of what's going on it at least adds up and sheds more light on things.  It is more than our Pediatrician was ever willing to consider and we now have a plan of attack to continue getting answers.

G.I. Joe's plan of action:

1. 3 days of antibiotics to "cleanse" C's system of any bacteria.  This will not induce a "cleanse" that adults are familiar with and we won't be right back where we were last week with the 10+ per day BM's.  It is just antibiotics that will work their antibiotic magic to get C back on track!
2. After the "cleanse" we need to give him Probiotics on a regular basis.
3. We need to get some blood drawn from C so they can check his cells for proper bacteria fighting power.
4. We should NOT change his diet from what he normally eats but we do need to be very aware and even document anything that we suspect causes a loose stool.
5. We should NOT give him a fiber supplement which was recommended by our Pediatrician and was what I read when researching Toddler's Diarrhea.
6. We SHOULD eliminate all juice drinks.  Pedialyte is ok.  This won't be hard because he rarely drinks juice.
7. We will need to collect smear samples of a couple BM's.  Those need to be tested for blood in the stool which may not be visible to the naked eye.  If blood is found we start a different action plan all together.
8. We take C back for another visit in 3 weeks to go over all the items listed above.

It may seem like a lot but I promise it really isn't.  Plus, I don't care what we have to do in order to get resolution on all of this.  I am so relieved that we are finally getting answers and that the answers we are receiving are not too intense.  They aren't ideal but really if you think about it everything is treatable and, from what we are told, will improve as C gets older. 

The Hubs approved of G.I. Joe and felt comfortable with what he was telling him.  He also said we should call their practice any time of day or night the next time we have concerns related to C's stomach.  He confirmed what we already knew that our regular Pediatricians will most of the time say whatever is going on just needs to "work itself out" and there isn't anything we can do for it.  G.I. Joe said that is absolutely not always the case. 

We do really like our Pediatricians, I promise!  But when it came to getting answers on this I am so relieved that they referred us to a specialist.  They are great with wellness visits and for other things we've had to call them on but we were getting nowhere on this and I appreciate that they finally pointed us in the right direction.  I was getting to a point where if they didn't, I was going to release "Hormonal Pregnant Kendra" all up on their arses and it would NOT have been pretty! 

As far as Little C goes, he is back in fighting shape!  He is sleeping soundly at night and back to his rambunctious and playful ways.  We are geared up and ready to work on G.I. Joe's plan and crossing our fingers that in 3-4 weeks C isn't sick with a stomach bug again.  Wish us luck!