I’ve put my detective hat back on. It’s crazy. It turns out that having five kids means that at any moment one of them is needing medical intervention, one is needing emotional support, and one is needing some disciplinary measures. I love the ever-changing tapestry of life in a large family!
So right now, my detective hat is on for our 2-1/2-year-old, fondly referred to as The Blitz. He has– how shall I say this– diaper trouble. We just cannot get to the bottom of it, so to speak. In the past two weeks, we’ve been to the pediatrician, the lab, the pediatric gastroenterologist, back to the lab, and to the pediatric allergist. Our next visit will be a follow-up with the gastro. Fortunately, we’ve been able to rule some things out. He definitely does not have celiac disease. He may or may not be allergic to wheat, but we’ve ruled most everything else out. The pediatric allergist suggested putting cow’s milk back into his diet, but I’m restricting it again today. He does not tolerate it, even though he does not have a milk allergy. He is off wheat for 30 days to see how that goes; hopefully it will help.
Sometimes having siblings does help. His sister has her own issues but not as severe as The Blitz. Maybe if we can get a handle on what is going on with him, we can help her too.
Don’t get me wrong. He’s not too sick to laugh his head off all day or destroy every room he enters! However, now that he talks so well, he does complain several times each day that “my tummy hurt.”
You don’t realize how much you actually know about your biological family’s health until you have a child who is not biologically related. For example, when my great niece seemed to have some trouble seeing, my niece suspected cataracts. A third of the kids in our family have cataracts from infancy. When my slender daughter seemed too often out of breath, I suspected asthma. I have it and so do two of my siblings, so it sprang to mind.
This is a challenge of adoption: You are just not starting from the same place. There is so much more to medical history than catastrophic illnesses like heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer. Birth mom was no help. It is what it is, so on goes the detective hat. Back on the trail!
