Peas in the Nose!!!

Julia, Julia, Julia. . .



"Mom, there's something in my nose and it's not just my finger! 
You'd better come take a look."

 We were just finishing lunch today when it looked like Julia was still working on the peas and corn she had on her plate.  She had been getting over a cold, so I wasn't concerned when she started sneezing and pointing to her nose.  After she sneezed; however, out came a pea, then a piece of corn, and then another pea!!  Apparently, she had finished her lunch quite some time earlier and had decided the nose made a perfect receptacle for what she didn't want to eat!


The snot bubble is apparently a byproduct of peas coming
shooting out your nose when you sneeze!!!!!!

 

"What a clever girl I am!  We'll see if mom ever serves me peas again!"

 We cleaned up and I assumed that all was out of her nose, so we proceeded to get ready for naps.  When I was changing her diaper a few minutes later, she sneezed again and out came a pea, followed by another piece of corn!!!!!

Apparently, I need to keep a closer eye on her peas!

Health

We are working on controlling James' persistent cough.  He has had a cough since the beginning of March, when he was getting over a cold.  His pediatrician is not sure what else to do for him.  James has an inhaler and is now on Flonase once daily.  I thought the Flonase had been helping then last night, James had a horrible coughing fit.  I guess the next step is an allergist.

A month ago, Julia had an ear infection.  Lucky for us, Grandma had taught her to say "boo-boo" when she had an ouchy.  Julia woke up from her nap and was inconsolable.  Finally, she pointed to her ear and said "Boo-boo."  Sure enough, the pediatrician confirmed her ear infection.

Jacob and Matt have been mostly healthy.  Matt finally took care of the itchy spots on his hands with a trip to the dermatologist (after two years of constant scratching!!!)!

As for my health, well, that's a lengthy story. 

As some of you are aware, I have had acid reflux for a few years now and my gi has been baffled as to why I suffer as much as I do.  After visiting a second gi in March, we are fairly certain I have scleroderma, and auto-immune disease involving connective tissues.  Since that time, my gi issues have progressed so much that I cannot eat any solid food anymore.  I am struggling with this so much right now.  Anything with any sort of texture makes me feel like the food is stuck in my throat.  Not a pleasant feeling.

Anyway, I'm completely on a liquid diet.  Occasionally I sneak solid food and regret it almost instantly.  Ensure and Slim Fast are now good friends of mine.  I can still eat yogurt and so far, bananas are ok (we'll see how long that continues!).

It's very frustrating!  I am having an esophageal motility test on June 1 to measure how well my esophagus is functioning.  Hopefully I'll know more about my condition then.  I also finally have an appointment with the rheumatologist in July.  I'm frustrated that I couldn't get in sooner, but that's just the way it is I guess.  I have a few other symptoms as part of the auto-immune disease, including inflammation in my joints (arthritis symptoms) that make my body ache so much.

Saturday Soccer!!

James on the soccer field for his last soccer game of the season.  He loves being there with his teammates.  He's not the best player in the world but he has a great time trying!

Julia and Jacob enjoyed playing with mom and dad while James played on the field.

Julia posing for the camera (what a ham!)

One more try!  There were six boys on James' soccer team and they all played at about the same level.  There were a couple of kids that could really kick the ball and understood the principles of the game.  The others were more like James and were just there to have a good time.  James did occasionally kick the ball, though it took some practice to stay on his feet (he likes to kick it and fall when he's done).  Unfortunately, falling when kicking the ball resulted in an injury to his head (and the other players' knee).

James had such a good time that he can't wait to play again next season!

Soccer Mom

Alas, it was unavoidable.  I have officially become a "soccer mom."  I was at James' first soccer game yesterday morning, in the snow, then rain, then just plain freezing!!!  It was soooooo cold and wet.  UGH!!!  But, James came off the field and said "That was so much fun, I can't wait to do it again!!"  I guess that makes it all worth while.

When I dropped Jacob at preschool the other day, they had a sensory table full of split peas and scoops.  Julia was so angry when it was time to go that I thought, why not do that at home?  I have never seen her so engrossed in an activity before.  She absolutely loved it!!  She sat there with the dried beans for close to an hour before I told her it was time for lunch.  She (once again) was quite upset and would gladly have skipped lunch to play in the beans some more!!!

Julia has also been enjoying coloring.  The boys didn't want to color at all until they were at least three.  James didn't want to color until he started kindergarten.  Julia loves it.  Yesterday, she sat with her markers and said she was drawing a kitty.  Then another kitty, and another. 

It was very cute!

Second opinions and diagnoses

Those of you who see me frequently know that I have been having a hard time with my health lately.  Beginning in late January, when I had a horrible tummy bug, I also had very weird symptoms--numbness and tingling in my hands and feet, going to the bathroom constantly (particularly at night), worsening heartburn symptoms (even though I'm on a very powerful reflux cocktail), etc.  I went to the internist in Feb, as we thought I had diabetes.  No diabetes, labs were very clear there.  More labs were done to rule out auto-immune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.  All were negative except for one, which my doctor indicated was probably a false positive.

Last week I went to my gi doctor.  She didn't have a lot of wisdom to share with me.  She thought I may have a stomach disorder, gastroparesis, in which the stomach is slow to empty (resulting in vomiting the next day).  The treatment for which is a low fiber diet.  She didn't really address the meds I am currently taking, nor did she address the other symptoms, though she indicated an immune disorder was possible.

Today, I visited a second gi doctor, for another opinion.  I feel so enlightened today and as if a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders.  He listened to my explanation of symptoms, looked at my hands and said, "I think I've heard enough."  He proceeded to tell me that I very likely do have an immune disorder, which explains 90% of my symptoms, particularly the worsening reflux symptoms.  He's sending me to a rheumatologist for further direction.  He also suggested that eating a low fiber/low residue diet would minimize my reflux and possibly make it recede altogether (he even suggested taking a liquid diet for a week).

So that's the good news.  The bad news, I could have an auto-immune disorder.  The symptoms involved are described as the CREST syndrome, which is a connective tissue disorder with the following symptoms:  calcified deposits under the skin (which I have and have had for nearly 10 years with no explanation); Raynaud's in my hands (basically signs of poor circulation and discoloration with very dry skin); esophageal problems--he indicated that my reflux was more due to inadequate esophageal muscle, meaning that it doesn't squeeze hard enough to move food along, so food sits in my esophagus longer, creating irritations.  So I am going to see a rheumatologist soon.

You may also be aware that I have not slept well since before Christmas.  I have been awake at night more times than I can count, sometimes waking as many as 5 times a night (worse than having a newborn!!).  The second gi suggested that I am refluxing at night without real symptoms, causing me to wake up.  He suggested simply raising the head of my bed by six inches.  All of this together has made me extremely stressed and irritable.

I am so relieved to finally feel like I have a light at the end of the tunnel and that there is an explanation for all the crazy things that have been going on inside my body.

Pretty Girl and Play doh

Julia loves her "pretties."  She likes pretty things in her hair and especially her pretty tutu that mommy made for her.  In fact, the day I made it, I made two for her friends for Valentine's day.  I was working on them as Jacob and Julia finished lunch.  When she saw what I was doing, she stopped eating her lunch and started repeating, "Pretty, pretty," and began reaching for it.  My favorite "pretty" example so far is a week or so ago, when the Today show was talking about Princess Diana's wedding dress.  They had the dress in the studio.  While we rarely have the Today show on in the morning, it was on this particular day.  Julia looked at the dress on tv and started saying "Pretty," and reaching for the tv.

 Perhaps the only thing Julia likes as much as her pretties is play doh.  She likes to squish it, roll it and put shapes in it.  She just loves it, period.

Julia is taking her socks off so she can dance better.