Another Medical Minute

Yes, there is more medical drama going on in our family. This time it centers around Noah. We are not sure what is wrong with him and are in the process of doing a lot of testing. He has several strange symptoms that on their own are nothing, but when combined can mean a number of things. He has this random AM vomiting thing he does. He'll wake up, throw up, sleep for awhile, and then be fine the rest of the day. Sometimes this is repeated the next morning, or he will be fine for a day or two and then do it again. He's probably been doing it for about 6 - 8 months, but it has gotten more frequent the past three months. He has also lost 5 lbs in the past 1 1/2 months. He eats non stop some days and other days it's hard to get him to eat anything. He also has major mood swings. Some days he is so tired that he begs to take a nap after only being up for an hour or two. The doctor also found a soft spot on his head that should have been gone by the time he was 18 months old (a symptom of thyroid problems). He passed an in office neuro exam the best a 3 year old can do. She wonders if he suffers from headaches, but at this age it is so hard to get a clear straight answer from him. We've been told it can be anything from a food allergy to something wrong neurologically as AM vomiting usually means neurological.

So far we have ruled out diabetes, his thyroid, his liver, leukemia or cancer with his recent round of blood work and urine sample. He is scheduled for an MRI with anesthesia on April 17th. If that too comes back good we will discuss sending him to an allergist to do skin testing for food allergies or a GI doctor to do a work up on his stomach.

Here are some pictures taken after his blood draw last week. He didn't even cry. Half way through he simply stated: "I don't like this!" Afterwards we took him to breakfast as he had to go in fasting to check his glucose level. He chose the Black Bear Diner and insisted on taking his Teddy Bear with him. I think in this picture he thought he would fall off into the street as I lifted him up on a retaining wall platform.
Here he is inside with his Teddy...

Showing off his battle wound...

The tech drew a nice smiley face on his bandage.

The only tears we had the entire morning are from his tape bothering him and the fact that his Daddy had to go to work. We are very proud of our Brave Boy.

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We are also feeling very blessed through this trying time. Zoe's Nursery teacher / my visiting teacher happened to be in the same Doctor's office at the same time when we first took Noah in about this and has been a big help to us. She's managed to help guide us through this as she's been in our shoes before. She picked up Zoe the morning of Noah's blood work and Zoe can't stop talking about their adventures at the park and feeding the goats. We have also received many phone calls wishing us well and offering to help in any way that they can. I feel very fortunate to be a member of the ward we are in. It truly has been an extended family and big support system for us. Here's a picture of Noah enjoying a piece of Turtle "Cheese Steak" (aka cheese cake to the rest of us) that Summer dropped off the night before his ordeal. We are so lucky to have great friends that have made us feel so loved and have made Noah feel special.

So, to all our blood relatives who look at this let us know if you have or know of any food allergies in the family. I'm supposed to be doing a little research before our next appointment. To all others if these symptoms mean anything to you, or you have an idea of what it could be, we are open to all theories.