Well, I will first begin with an update on Little Man and his dietary issues. After my last update, Ian proceeded to have more meal time gags and then he proceeded to gag and vomit his meals up about 3 times in one week time. It seems that he can't handle things like pasta and any sauces together, pureed food w/ any kind of chunks just about and well the occasional off the wall gagging like he did with strawberries the other day. He loves crackers and bananas and plain smooth yogurt or other foods of the like. So, one of our doctors believes it is time to rule out any problems with Ian's gastric system such as narrowing of his esophagus for instance. On August 23rd, Ian will be seeing a pediatric gastroenterologist to help determine whether Ian is experiencing digestive problems or not. Then we will go from there and determine whether or not he needs to visit an eating clinic or not to see if they can help us if it turns out that Ian is having a texture problem instead.
On September 9th, Ian will also have another renal scan performed with Lasix flush. On the same day he will also have a CT performed on his abdomen instead of an ultra sound like he had when he was a newborn. For the most part, this is part of his regular check-up for his kidneys, just a different test his urologist has requested to ensure Lil' Man's kidneys are still functioning well. Later on that same day, we will see his urologist.
That will be a crazy week for us as Paisley will have her birthday and Skye will be back to school that week as well as starting soccer and various other appointments scheduled for us as well as Paisley's last week before she starts preschool (appts. and such was not what I was imagining for her last full week with me before starting preschool). But it is what it is and we will just have to make the best of it. I will be praying for that week and praying for my children. God is good. And He gave me such a beautiful glimpse of His goodness this past week. I know for a fact that God is in control and He knows everything. He is more involved in every aspect of our lives and those lives around us than I have ever imagined possible. God can use everyone and everything for good.
This is merely a place of self-reflection for me. After recent events in my life, I have learned that although some doors of life open that we may prefer stay closed nice and tight while others close that we prefer stay wide open, God is there every step of the way and He can use anything for His glory and blessing!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Update on Little Man and the Girlies Too!
Little Man is taking yogurt and soy milk well. So far, knock-on-wood, he has had no signs of being sensitive to them and he has enjoyed having them as well! He is refusing to try some cheese at this time so I will have to update you on that later! LOL! He is a little bit of a picky eater; we are currently working on that! ;-) He has not "up-chucked" anything at dinnertime since July 4th. He has only gagged twice in about a week and a half. We are still trying to figure out whether it is a texture problem or an irritated esophagus. We just got a reminder letter from Ian's urologist that it is now time to schedule his next renal scan. The scan will be in about 4 or 5 weeks. Updates to come.
Paisley is enjoying her dance classes! She is such a little performer! And she also is now ready to plan her birthday party (family and friends: details to come).
Skye is also doing well and like her sister, she has been doing some worksheets and such prepping and reviewing for the upcoming school year. Skye enjoyed her birthday. Her birthday fun was spread over a few days with a day at Busch Gardens, a sleep over, and enjoying painting some pottery with a few of her friends.
Paisley is enjoying her dance classes! She is such a little performer! And she also is now ready to plan her birthday party (family and friends: details to come).
Skye is also doing well and like her sister, she has been doing some worksheets and such prepping and reviewing for the upcoming school year. Skye enjoyed her birthday. Her birthday fun was spread over a few days with a day at Busch Gardens, a sleep over, and enjoying painting some pottery with a few of her friends.
Arrows and Sweet Confirmation
Twice in about a two year span of time, I have been referred to, or my words have been referred to, as "sharp arrows" and "flaming arrows" in one way or another by two of my loved ones. Even though my name was not specifically mentioned, they were done on a more public scale than I believe should have been done for that matter and they also used scripture to back-up their views of me at the time. As one can imagine, my responses to such references were not that of a positive nature, but infact, that of a negative one.
Now it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that they were using scripture from Psalms written by David. And while I was very aware as to how many of those verses referrenced arrows, I became more and more pressed by God to read several of those passages recently. However, with the knowledge of these verses the desire to read these verses was not high on my priority list. Mainly, I didn't want to re-hash bitter feelings about the subject and put salt on any of my open wounds, but last week I decided to listen to God's little urgings anyways.
I began reading and like I had thought I would, I read the expected words enemy, wicked, lies, deceit and so on and so forth. I became a bit discouraged and a little angry and well a little sad too as I read. First of all, being referred to by these loved ones as their enemies was a hard pill to swallow as I have never thought of them as such. While feelings of them at one time or another were that of some negative ones with hurt feelings. And sure sometimes I had thoughts that they just plane got on my nerves too, I never thought of them as my enemy and it was hard to believe that they thought that of me. Secondly, David used arrows to describe the words of the wicked and that they were words of lies and deceit. This struck me as I didn't believe that my words were that of lies and deceit; and who were they to believe solely that my words were? Should I say the same of them just because I may disagree with what they say? Never once did I say anything that I believed were lies or of deceit and it hurts me that they have believe so of me. And besides, David was referring to people who wanted to destroy him and I can most certainly assure you that I have had NO such ill intent towards these two individuals. Thirdly, as I am very much aware of the fact that I am an individual who often speaks her mind when she deems fit to do so; and yes, occassionally, I may use a few fighting words, I have never hid behind scripture to verbally attack someone and/or share my opinions of them as was done to me in one of these instances.
So as I continued to read these scriptures, I became more and more discouraged. As I had about all I could take. I was about to close my Bible when I heard a little voice inside say "Keep going." With that I decided to press on a bit more and I kept reading. As I did so, I discovered another verse that brought such sweet confirmation of and to my life.
Even though it didn't entirely relate to the situation at hand; it did render more confirmation on something that I believe God has called Scot and I to do, and where our family is spiritually and physically at this time. Who knew that I could find some positives in something negative. Okay, well may be God did!
Now it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that they were using scripture from Psalms written by David. And while I was very aware as to how many of those verses referrenced arrows, I became more and more pressed by God to read several of those passages recently. However, with the knowledge of these verses the desire to read these verses was not high on my priority list. Mainly, I didn't want to re-hash bitter feelings about the subject and put salt on any of my open wounds, but last week I decided to listen to God's little urgings anyways.
I began reading and like I had thought I would, I read the expected words enemy, wicked, lies, deceit and so on and so forth. I became a bit discouraged and a little angry and well a little sad too as I read. First of all, being referred to by these loved ones as their enemies was a hard pill to swallow as I have never thought of them as such. While feelings of them at one time or another were that of some negative ones with hurt feelings. And sure sometimes I had thoughts that they just plane got on my nerves too, I never thought of them as my enemy and it was hard to believe that they thought that of me. Secondly, David used arrows to describe the words of the wicked and that they were words of lies and deceit. This struck me as I didn't believe that my words were that of lies and deceit; and who were they to believe solely that my words were? Should I say the same of them just because I may disagree with what they say? Never once did I say anything that I believed were lies or of deceit and it hurts me that they have believe so of me. And besides, David was referring to people who wanted to destroy him and I can most certainly assure you that I have had NO such ill intent towards these two individuals. Thirdly, as I am very much aware of the fact that I am an individual who often speaks her mind when she deems fit to do so; and yes, occassionally, I may use a few fighting words, I have never hid behind scripture to verbally attack someone and/or share my opinions of them as was done to me in one of these instances.
So as I continued to read these scriptures, I became more and more discouraged. As I had about all I could take. I was about to close my Bible when I heard a little voice inside say "Keep going." With that I decided to press on a bit more and I kept reading. As I did so, I discovered another verse that brought such sweet confirmation of and to my life.
Even though it didn't entirely relate to the situation at hand; it did render more confirmation on something that I believe God has called Scot and I to do, and where our family is spiritually and physically at this time. Who knew that I could find some positives in something negative. Okay, well may be God did!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
And the Cow Said Moo?!
So Ian had to be taken completely off of straight cows milk this past week. After he went almost 2 weeks with out cows milk and his eczema disappeared, we reintroduced him to just a few ounces of cows milk over a two-day period as I was trying to wean him off of his last nightly feeding from me. Well, with in about 12 to 24 hours his eczema returned in full force. We were bummed to say the least but knew that we may have part of the answer to the puzzle solved.
However, as I explained to one of our pediatricians this past week that we believed that Ian was allergic to cows milk and why, I also explained to her that I was concerned about the fact that after 2 weeks of no vomit at dinnertime, which included him not vomiting with in the 12 to 48 hours after receiving milk, that he once again "up-chucked" his dinner at our family pool party on Fourth of July, for which more family members had the privilege of being present for such a sight again. (Please take note that I am fully aware of the fact that Justin had the wonderful privilege of being blessed by Ian's dinnertime surprise not only on 1 but 2 separate family occasions; but at least this time he only witnessed the aftermath! LOL!).
So this is where it all got tricky. The doc agreed after hearing about the 4th of July that Ian should be taken off of straight cows milk. However, there is still concern that he is experiencing another problem besides sensitivity to cows milk. He is either having some problems with acid reflux or has a texture problem with his foods as he is vomiting specific foods up. So she said in 2 weeks she thinks she could have a very good idea whether it is acid reflux or not. She wanted to write him another 2-week prescription of Zantac, for which I told her my insurance wasn't allowing.
You see, on Tuesday morning, Little Man ran out of his Zantac, for which he had one more refill. Like in times past, I picked up the phone and called the pharmacy, pushed a few buttons and hung up the phone like normal. About an hour later, I got word from the drugstore that I had to call my insurance company. I informed the doctor that after the aggravating phone call, I discovered that our prescription plan had very much changed this year. They told me that Zantac was a "maintenance" drug and to keep costs low, I could only get it by mail order now for a 90-day supply. I told them that was outrageous as my child was out now and we were busy trying to figure out his dietary issues and that we may not even need the meds much longer as we were trying to sort things out. They proceeded to tell me that it would take 14 days for him to get the mail order supply and for which I told them was absolutely absurd! I was put on hold for which the rep returned with only an answer and option for the delay in Ian receiving his meds. She told me to call the doctor and ask them to write up a 90 day script for Zantac. I told her that that was ridiculous and I was unwilling to pay that copay and receive that amount when there was a possibility that he would not remain on it much longer. She said that there was absolutely nothing else she could do. I told her that they were just "backing me into a corner" and it was wrong of them.
After our pediatrician heard about my phone call, she proceeded to tell me that about four other families had been complaining about the same problem as well and that they were displeased. With that said, we devised a plan for Ian for the next two weeks and she said that one of her staff would call our insurance and explain to them why they did not see the need as of yet for Ian to be placed on 90-days worth of Zantac.
Well, to make a long story short, after nurse J spent an hour on the phone with our insurance and after one of our doctors spent sometime on the phone with them as well, the insurance company said that 90 days worth of Zantac would be the only way they would pay for Ian's script. I found this absolutely appalling! Outlandish! Not even a doctor who was explaining that as we sort out Ian's dietary needs that a 90 day supply as of yet, was not necessary, the insurance company ultimately called the shots. Why have doctors if the insurance companies run the show! I am not paying 90 days worth of meds when my son may not need to be on it. What happens if they pull him off of Zantac and place him on something else? What? I will have paid for meds he didn't use and take perfectly good meds off the shelves that could have been used for someone else! Should I ascertain the thought of selling the extras on the black market? This whole thing is so very absurd to me!
It is plain to me that the real root of the cause of rising health care benefits has not been sought out by any stretch of the imagination. The current administration has once again shown me their ignorance on the subject matter.
So the plan for Ian and the next two weeks is simply this, in order to beat the "system" for the short term, the doctor wrote a script for Prevacid instead. She wanted him to go through the weekend with out trying any new foods and with out any dairy products so that his eczema had time to clear up so that we could start with a "fresh palette" by tomorrow--Monday. She wants me to give him some yogurt on Monday and later in the week some cheese. While these two items are dairy products, the volume of cows milk and the amounts are different then receiving straight cows milk; and therefore, he may react differently to them. We are to look for sensitivities to these 2 foods via eczema and such. If he does well with those we will continue on and introduce a little bit of soy milk or rice milk. And then wait and see. If he doesn't improve his very picky eating and/or vomiting, we will be looking into an eating clinic for him where they will help us determine what his dietary needs and/or problems are and whether he should remain on Prevacid or the like.
However, as I explained to one of our pediatricians this past week that we believed that Ian was allergic to cows milk and why, I also explained to her that I was concerned about the fact that after 2 weeks of no vomit at dinnertime, which included him not vomiting with in the 12 to 48 hours after receiving milk, that he once again "up-chucked" his dinner at our family pool party on Fourth of July, for which more family members had the privilege of being present for such a sight again. (Please take note that I am fully aware of the fact that Justin had the wonderful privilege of being blessed by Ian's dinnertime surprise not only on 1 but 2 separate family occasions; but at least this time he only witnessed the aftermath! LOL!).
So this is where it all got tricky. The doc agreed after hearing about the 4th of July that Ian should be taken off of straight cows milk. However, there is still concern that he is experiencing another problem besides sensitivity to cows milk. He is either having some problems with acid reflux or has a texture problem with his foods as he is vomiting specific foods up. So she said in 2 weeks she thinks she could have a very good idea whether it is acid reflux or not. She wanted to write him another 2-week prescription of Zantac, for which I told her my insurance wasn't allowing.
You see, on Tuesday morning, Little Man ran out of his Zantac, for which he had one more refill. Like in times past, I picked up the phone and called the pharmacy, pushed a few buttons and hung up the phone like normal. About an hour later, I got word from the drugstore that I had to call my insurance company. I informed the doctor that after the aggravating phone call, I discovered that our prescription plan had very much changed this year. They told me that Zantac was a "maintenance" drug and to keep costs low, I could only get it by mail order now for a 90-day supply. I told them that was outrageous as my child was out now and we were busy trying to figure out his dietary issues and that we may not even need the meds much longer as we were trying to sort things out. They proceeded to tell me that it would take 14 days for him to get the mail order supply and for which I told them was absolutely absurd! I was put on hold for which the rep returned with only an answer and option for the delay in Ian receiving his meds. She told me to call the doctor and ask them to write up a 90 day script for Zantac. I told her that that was ridiculous and I was unwilling to pay that copay and receive that amount when there was a possibility that he would not remain on it much longer. She said that there was absolutely nothing else she could do. I told her that they were just "backing me into a corner" and it was wrong of them.
After our pediatrician heard about my phone call, she proceeded to tell me that about four other families had been complaining about the same problem as well and that they were displeased. With that said, we devised a plan for Ian for the next two weeks and she said that one of her staff would call our insurance and explain to them why they did not see the need as of yet for Ian to be placed on 90-days worth of Zantac.
Well, to make a long story short, after nurse J spent an hour on the phone with our insurance and after one of our doctors spent sometime on the phone with them as well, the insurance company said that 90 days worth of Zantac would be the only way they would pay for Ian's script. I found this absolutely appalling! Outlandish! Not even a doctor who was explaining that as we sort out Ian's dietary needs that a 90 day supply as of yet, was not necessary, the insurance company ultimately called the shots. Why have doctors if the insurance companies run the show! I am not paying 90 days worth of meds when my son may not need to be on it. What happens if they pull him off of Zantac and place him on something else? What? I will have paid for meds he didn't use and take perfectly good meds off the shelves that could have been used for someone else! Should I ascertain the thought of selling the extras on the black market? This whole thing is so very absurd to me!
It is plain to me that the real root of the cause of rising health care benefits has not been sought out by any stretch of the imagination. The current administration has once again shown me their ignorance on the subject matter.
So the plan for Ian and the next two weeks is simply this, in order to beat the "system" for the short term, the doctor wrote a script for Prevacid instead. She wanted him to go through the weekend with out trying any new foods and with out any dairy products so that his eczema had time to clear up so that we could start with a "fresh palette" by tomorrow--Monday. She wants me to give him some yogurt on Monday and later in the week some cheese. While these two items are dairy products, the volume of cows milk and the amounts are different then receiving straight cows milk; and therefore, he may react differently to them. We are to look for sensitivities to these 2 foods via eczema and such. If he does well with those we will continue on and introduce a little bit of soy milk or rice milk. And then wait and see. If he doesn't improve his very picky eating and/or vomiting, we will be looking into an eating clinic for him where they will help us determine what his dietary needs and/or problems are and whether he should remain on Prevacid or the like.
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