Well first of all...thank you for your prayers. We know they were all at work leading up to and during today's procedure.
First of all, we want to publicly say thank you to Ed and Nancy Ferguson for providing a place for us to stay. We were completely humbled by their welcoming attitude and servants spirit. What a great godly family! We only wish we could have stayed longer to visit and get to know them more :)
So it was an early morning for us with an alarm at 6:30AM. We arrived at the Surgery Center of Indianapolis, just north of Riley's Clarian North campus at about 8:30AM. After about 10 minutes in the toy waiting room, we were headed in to get started. At about 9:20 (10 min. AHEAD of schedule) they were starting the anesthesia and she was going under. She was pretty scared with the mask on, but it only lasted about a minute before she was out. The dr. started the scope and they had to put her under a little more because she has a really sensitive gag reflex.
The scope took about 15 min. total. They found some bumps at the back of her throat. She said that the causes could be reflux, sinus drainage or allergies. When she got to the stomach, she found some irritation. She said this could be from several things...including not eating this morning or bacteria. She took biopsies of the large intestine, stomach and the esophagus. She said that they would not be able to diagnose anything until the results come back. They also took some blood work for some main allergens (milk, egg whites, wheat, etc.). We'll hopefully hear by next week.
The dr. did put Leona on prefacid, 15mg once daily. It is the same amount that she was on from 5-12 mos. This was based on the bumps she saw and the fact that Leona has been vomiting again.
We went to the recovery room at about 9:40. We waited until she woke up on her own because the nurse said that would help her to sleep off the anesthesia. She woke up with just a little fuss and then acted totally normal...she wanted her DADDY! We were in the car and leaving by a little after 10AM. We were shocked to say the least! We kind of tested her out for about an hour with a trip to our favorite store...Trader Joe's and knew she would be fine to travel home.
So...the whole experience went well. Going into it we didn't know how we would be able to handle seeing her go through it, but we were actually thankful that the surgery center was tailored for parents to sit it on the procedure. WHAT A BLESSING!
Again...we will keep you updated!
Our Family
Friday, May 27, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
God Provides Again
This Friday is Leona's endoscopy in Indy. It will be just north of Riley's Children's Hospital at a pediatric surgery center which is specially made so parents can stay in the room. I am so glad!
The Lord has also reassured us that we are making the right decision. Suddenly out of nowhere Leona has been vomitting again. She had a vomitting incident last Sunday that we thought was related to a possible allergy from a snack in the church nursery. However, she did not eat anything that we know of. The nursery workers are so careful with her allergies to milk. Then, she had 2 incidents, several times where her stomach has been upset, and bad bowel movements.
We would appreciate your prayers. Honestly I am kind of excited about it. Finally some more answers whether negative or a diagnosis!
I apologize if I/we have not kept in contact with some of you. Life has just been so busy lately...well who am I kidding...life has been that way for the past 2 years. We hope that reading this blog helps keep you up-to-date on everything here. I will post anything we find out on Friday!
Here are some pictures I thought you might like to see:
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| Rachael around 2-3 years old |
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| Rachael with her Mom (again around 2 years old) |
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| Rachael (remind you of anyone?) |
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Mother's Day
We hope you all had a great Mother's Day. We wanted to send out a special thank you to our Moms and Grandmas. We are so thankful for our Moms, Linda, Cindy and Anita! We love you all SOO much. We are also thankful for our Grandmas, Halcyon, Ruth, Charlotte, Dot, and Noreen. We miss you all so much.
Ben and Leona took me out to Chili's after lunch. It was so much fun! We thought you would enjoy some of the pictures.
Ben and Leona took me out to Chili's after lunch. It was so much fun! We thought you would enjoy some of the pictures.
Easter
We hope you all had a great Easter. We thought you would enjoy these.
Here are some Easter pictures:
Here are some Easter pictures:
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| Enjoying a marshmellow chick. |
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| Checking out her Easter basket with Daddy! |
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| Decorating Easter eggs with Daddy and the Baptist Children's Home kids. |
Endoscopy Is On
We met with Leona's pediatrician, Dr. Wendy, Monday and talked over the idea of the endoscopy. She is 100% on board with the pediatric gastroenterologist, Dr. Maisel. She puts a lot of trust into Dr. Maisel's opinion and stressed that she is one of the best in Indiana. She also emphasized that with her experience with her other patients that have been to Dr. Maisel that she doesn't often request endoscopies. In Dr. Wendy's opinion she feels that if Dr. Maisel warrants one, there is reason to go through with it.
Of course, Dr. Wendy's own opinion is that it is time to find definite answers. To rule out all three possiblities, the endoscopy is needed for all 3. The other option is to just put her on medication and see how she reacts to it, but she doesn't agree with putting her on medication for things that have not been determined or diagnosed. She also feels that a set back could come later down the road and then we would not have any answers to go on.
SO...the Endoscopy is ON!
It is scheduled in Indy for next Friday, May 27 at 8:30AM.
One more thing that added to our decision was the fact that Leona had a vomitting issue on Sunday right before nap time. The incident had the same characteristics of previous times, so it is definitely the same issue. She came out of our church nursery with some break out on her face, so we are suspecting some type of exposure to an allergen.
It will be interesting to see what shows on the allergy lab work they take during the endoscopy. Of course, Dr. Wendy did say that only things that her body has had exposure to will show up so she might need further lab work later down the road.
We appreciate all of your prayers. We are hoping to have some answers on Friday, but other results will come back on June 20. We will keep you updated as we find out more.
Of course, Dr. Wendy's own opinion is that it is time to find definite answers. To rule out all three possiblities, the endoscopy is needed for all 3. The other option is to just put her on medication and see how she reacts to it, but she doesn't agree with putting her on medication for things that have not been determined or diagnosed. She also feels that a set back could come later down the road and then we would not have any answers to go on.
SO...the Endoscopy is ON!
It is scheduled in Indy for next Friday, May 27 at 8:30AM.
One more thing that added to our decision was the fact that Leona had a vomitting issue on Sunday right before nap time. The incident had the same characteristics of previous times, so it is definitely the same issue. She came out of our church nursery with some break out on her face, so we are suspecting some type of exposure to an allergen.
It will be interesting to see what shows on the allergy lab work they take during the endoscopy. Of course, Dr. Wendy did say that only things that her body has had exposure to will show up so she might need further lab work later down the road.
We appreciate all of your prayers. We are hoping to have some answers on Friday, but other results will come back on June 20. We will keep you updated as we find out more.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Newest Update for Leona
Well, we just came back from a 2 day trip to Indianapolis. Ben had a conference for work all day Thursday, while Leona and I went to St. Vincent's Hospital for her appointment with a Pediatric Gastroenterology appt. with Dr. Susan Maisel.
Dr. Maisel was great! She has many awards on her wall including Patient's Choice award for 2009 & 2010. Leona loved her and actually didn't fuss when she examined her! So I went through the last 2 years of everything and she came up with some ideas; 3 possiblities to be exact.
Esophagitis
Basically this is acid reflux. The most likely cause would be from allergies. The danger is that she could be getting used to it and it could be less severe now that her stomach is growing and the bands at the entrance and exit of her stomach are stretching, thus showing less symptoms. This is prevalent in children with fair skin and red hair. She said that this is actually a form of eczema inside the body. One of the side effects that I had not known previously is congestion, which Leona has mostly everyday in some form. The dr. said that many adults are actually walking around with reflux assuming it is allergies b/c they have gotten used to the pain. She suggested that I get tested if Leona tests positive.
Leona has already had an upper GI and a feeding study which would also be used for this diagnosis and both came back fine. Also, they had diagnosed this at 5 mos. and tried prefacid for 5 months or so. She didn't show a huge difference on the meds. Of course food allergies need to be tested for.
Helicobacter Phylori
Basically this is a bacteria inside the stomach. It lives in the acid. This would be treated with antibiotics. Leona's previous specialist suggested this as a possibility and suggested to just treat with a particular antibiotic. In January, she had been on some type of antibiotics, so I am wondering if that is why we are seeing less symptoms. Who knows!??!
Celiac Disease
The last possiblity she suggested was Celiac Disease. This is a gluten allergy and can be seen in the form of a milk allergy if left untreated. This can lead to low weight and height growth. This can also show in rashes which Leona gets frequently on her fair skin. We had brought this up several times to the 2 doctors, but they said that this was unlikely because she started having problems before she had solid foods. With every bottle until 21 mos, she had it thickened with oatmeal, so she got a lot of gluten daily for a long time. This would require a biopsy of the large intestine during the endoscopy, I believe.
Ok...so that's the scoop from this doctor. She will also take lab work and test for allergies during the endoscopy. We did schedule the endoscopy for Friday, May 27 in Indy, but are not sure if we are going to go through with it. These 3 ideas have been on the table before, so we are making an appt. with her regular pediatrician to discuss what she thinks. If you have any wisdom or experience to share with us, we would love to hear it. We really want to figure this out but we don't want to put her through the endoscopy if we can avoid it. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated too!
Dr. Maisel was great! She has many awards on her wall including Patient's Choice award for 2009 & 2010. Leona loved her and actually didn't fuss when she examined her! So I went through the last 2 years of everything and she came up with some ideas; 3 possiblities to be exact.
Basically this is acid reflux. The most likely cause would be from allergies. The danger is that she could be getting used to it and it could be less severe now that her stomach is growing and the bands at the entrance and exit of her stomach are stretching, thus showing less symptoms. This is prevalent in children with fair skin and red hair. She said that this is actually a form of eczema inside the body. One of the side effects that I had not known previously is congestion, which Leona has mostly everyday in some form. The dr. said that many adults are actually walking around with reflux assuming it is allergies b/c they have gotten used to the pain. She suggested that I get tested if Leona tests positive.
Leona has already had an upper GI and a feeding study which would also be used for this diagnosis and both came back fine. Also, they had diagnosed this at 5 mos. and tried prefacid for 5 months or so. She didn't show a huge difference on the meds. Of course food allergies need to be tested for.
Basically this is a bacteria inside the stomach. It lives in the acid. This would be treated with antibiotics. Leona's previous specialist suggested this as a possibility and suggested to just treat with a particular antibiotic. In January, she had been on some type of antibiotics, so I am wondering if that is why we are seeing less symptoms. Who knows!??!
The last possiblity she suggested was Celiac Disease. This is a gluten allergy and can be seen in the form of a milk allergy if left untreated. This can lead to low weight and height growth. This can also show in rashes which Leona gets frequently on her fair skin. We had brought this up several times to the 2 doctors, but they said that this was unlikely because she started having problems before she had solid foods. With every bottle until 21 mos, she had it thickened with oatmeal, so she got a lot of gluten daily for a long time. This would require a biopsy of the large intestine during the endoscopy, I believe.
Ok...so that's the scoop from this doctor. She will also take lab work and test for allergies during the endoscopy. We did schedule the endoscopy for Friday, May 27 in Indy, but are not sure if we are going to go through with it. These 3 ideas have been on the table before, so we are making an appt. with her regular pediatrician to discuss what she thinks. If you have any wisdom or experience to share with us, we would love to hear it. We really want to figure this out but we don't want to put her through the endoscopy if we can avoid it. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated too!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Life at our House now!
Well life around here has been really busy, but so much fun.
We had a lot of visitors over the past 4 weeks. First, the Strickland grandparents and Great-Grandma Strickland came out for Ben's birthday. Then, they came back 2 weeks later for Leona's Baby Dedication. The following weekend Ben's cousin, Jenny, came for a few days on her way to a Missions conference. She stopped on her way back the next weekend. The weekend after that, my Mom and Corey came for 9 days over Spring Break. It has been a great time with family. We miss you all so much.
Leona was supposed to have an appt. in Indy with a specialist, but it has been moved to May 5. Ben has a conference in Indy the end of that week, so we made them correspond to save on the gas and hotel $$. We can't wait to have a little getaway with our little family.
Leona is growing by LEAPS and BOUNDS! She'll go to the dr. the end of next week to check her weight and I think she is going to jump all over the chart! She is getting so tall and chubby....it's great! I am estimating she is at 25# already. She is in 2T clothes now, so right on track! YAY!
It's hard to imagine that our little girl is almost 2 years old!! CRAZY how fast it goes. Everyone used to say it and I just thought it was hogwash...but boy do I agree now that I am living it! She is a strong-willed one for sure. She wants it her way, but we are working on obedience. I love seeing such a strong spirit though! I just pray that she'll use it for the Lord and not herself.
We have been potty training since 17 mos. and are hoping to be there by 24 mos...at least for the daytime. We finally resorted to some gummi bear treats and she is loving that :) If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them in a comment :)
You can also register to get an email everytime I post on the blog. Just enter your email in the box on the left.
PS pictures coming soon :)
We had a lot of visitors over the past 4 weeks. First, the Strickland grandparents and Great-Grandma Strickland came out for Ben's birthday. Then, they came back 2 weeks later for Leona's Baby Dedication. The following weekend Ben's cousin, Jenny, came for a few days on her way to a Missions conference. She stopped on her way back the next weekend. The weekend after that, my Mom and Corey came for 9 days over Spring Break. It has been a great time with family. We miss you all so much.
Leona was supposed to have an appt. in Indy with a specialist, but it has been moved to May 5. Ben has a conference in Indy the end of that week, so we made them correspond to save on the gas and hotel $$. We can't wait to have a little getaway with our little family.
Leona is growing by LEAPS and BOUNDS! She'll go to the dr. the end of next week to check her weight and I think she is going to jump all over the chart! She is getting so tall and chubby....it's great! I am estimating she is at 25# already. She is in 2T clothes now, so right on track! YAY!
It's hard to imagine that our little girl is almost 2 years old!! CRAZY how fast it goes. Everyone used to say it and I just thought it was hogwash...but boy do I agree now that I am living it! She is a strong-willed one for sure. She wants it her way, but we are working on obedience. I love seeing such a strong spirit though! I just pray that she'll use it for the Lord and not herself.
We have been potty training since 17 mos. and are hoping to be there by 24 mos...at least for the daytime. We finally resorted to some gummi bear treats and she is loving that :) If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them in a comment :)
You can also register to get an email everytime I post on the blog. Just enter your email in the box on the left.
PS pictures coming soon :)
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