The Phone Call

I had just barely hung up the phone after fielding a phone call asking for donations when it rang again.

I almost didn't answer it. I wanted to take a shower, and my window of opportunity was likely to be small with Baby E napping and the older girls watching a short video. I thought about just letting it ring while I got in the shower.

Just before the phone machine picked up, I answered. "Hello?"

"Hello, may I please speak to the parent of Baby E?"

"Yes, this is her mother."

"This is the pediatric gastroenterology department at [excellent teaching hospital in neighboring state]. You have an appointment in mid-December with us. But we were wondering if you would like to have your daughter seen sooner?"

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It took me a minute to find my voice. Then I had to stop myself from shouting into the phone.

"Yes! That would be wonderful. We would really like to have her seen as soon as possible."

"How about this coming Monday morning?"

I must have thanked her a dozen times.

We're seeing a different GI specialist than we'd originally been scheduled with. Actually, I'm not sure, but I think the person we're seeing on Monday might be the nurse practitioner that used to work with Dr. B. The one that met with him on her day off to discuss Baby E.

Either way, we're getting the ball rolling.

I guess it helps to have an excellent pediatrician pulling strings for us.

I also talked with the naturopath today and she said that she has seen similar cases before, and that she definitely thinks there's more than just allergies going on (although the allergies are an issue also). She suspects a Candida or bacterial overgrowth, an autoimmune disease (which could be celiac or something else), or some combination of the three.

The test we sent off a few days ago for yeast and bacteria levels can take weeks to come back. So we're probably going to go ahead and start treating for the Candida just in case that's contributing to Baby E's issues. Even if she does turn out to have something else going on, the treatment for Candida could help, since Candida overgrowth is often present along with autoimmune and digestive disorders. If not, it certainly won't hurt her.

The naturopath also thought doing more allergy testing would be a good idea once we rule out a few of these other possibilities. She can order the blood tests for us.

I'm so happy that we may finally be getting closer to answers and solutions.

Meanwhile, let's hope the whole family gets over our colds quickly. I'd hate to have to miss Thanksgiving festivities because of winter sniffles and coughs. My mother's status as a kidney transplant recipient on immunnosuppressants makes even a cold problematic.