Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Seattle Children's Doctor Appointment

As people know, Gabby girl has Celiac Disease so we saw the doctor today in Seattle (missed the stupid Bainbridge Island ferry!) to see how she's been doing. Our main concern is if she's getting gluten (wheat, rye, barley) or not. If she is, then we need to make adjustments and figure out a better treatment plan. Apparently, when we got her blood taken in June, someone messed up (Doctor? Nurse?) and didn't order a celiac test done... so the appointment, to me, was a waste of time. I was really looking forward to this appointment and it was a bit of a let down. Travis and I never feel like we get all the answers we need and we're always guessing and not sure. I wish someone could just tell me exactly what's wrong and what to do. Anyway, we talked about her having a possible food allergy because she still has runny poops (sign of gluten). We'll get all these test results back next week. He said she looked better but was a tad concerned about this rash on her body (possible sign of getting gluten). He also told us today, that a little amount of gluten here and there added up can be a cancer risk. I know we need to be careful but that's scary... only one crumb can hurt her so we have to always be vigilant. When she's older, we also need to get her tested for osteoporosis, just in case there is bone damage. On a more positive note- she's 95th percentile in height and 75th in weight and she is not low on any vitamins! Back in December her calcium was REALLY low. Yippee! We'll continue with the gluten free multivitamin, though. In other positive news, he said there's lots of research about Celiac Disease being conducted- possible vaccines, pills (like lactaid), and re-engineering wheat so it doesn't contain harmful gluten. He expects in the next 25 years that there will be breakthroughs, so that's hopeful. :)

1 comment:

Beth Zarling said...

That sucks. What a F-in ridiculous thing. They couldn't have called you? Although I guess you needed to take more blood etc. Stupid idiots.
That is scary about the cancer. What a parent needs is another thing to worry about.