Tabby update: Food Sensitivities test results

These photos were all taken by Tabby, at our Botanical Garden field trip last Friday.  I love how she sees everything that I do but at different angles.

Tabby felt OK enough to go to school this past Monday and Tuesday.  Yay!  She stayed home today though, feeling horrible, and I highly doubt she will go tomorrow. Boo!  She is aching and feverish and has very swollen lymph nodes.  But we're staying positive about that - those are detox symptoms.  We want all that bad junk out of her system.

Yesterday we went to her functional medical doctor for the results from the food sensitivities test that she took.  It was so interesting and encouraging in this journey to figure out what in the world is making her feel horrible most of the time.

It turns out that she has a high sensitivity to many foods she eats almost every day.  Including chicken eggs.  Now how horrible is that considering we now have 64 chickens!  But thankfully she can eat guinea hen eggs, which we have.  And - she can eat duck eggs.  Yay!  Solomon and I have been wanting to get some ducks for awhile.  Is that not a perfect excuse?

Dairy is not good for her either - but that is only COW'S milk and cow's diary products.  Yay for our goats that I milk since she can drink that.  Tabby also likes goat milk cheese.  I need to start making that (in all my spare time, right?).  But even Walmart has one that she likes.  

This sculpture is called "Spring Chicken".  Get it?

 Grains/starches are another problem for her.  Which I found interesting since she didn't test for gluten issues at the scopes she had.  And ginger.  Ginger!  I've always wondered why when I gave her ginger to soothe her stomach it never helped her.

Bursting Heart plant - we have some in our woods too

Here is the list of foods she tested a high sensitivity for:

cow's milk & cows milk products  
chicken eggs
garlic
squash
green peas and lima beans
peanuts
soybeans
almonds, cashews, sesames, walnuts
coconut
watermelon
barley, bran, gluten, malt, rye, wheat
ginger

Isn't that interesting?  I'm going to have to learn how to cook some things differently.  Like no more using coconut oil to cook food she will eat.

The test results came in a very helpful packet which includes more details on foods to exclude, special considerations, shopping lists, and a suggested food rotation list.

Dr. H said it would be best to try and basically follow the paleo diet for Tabby.  Fruits, veggies, meat.  So we'll give it a good try.

This statue is based on a scene from Cold Mountain

 There are still a couple tests we are waiting for results on.  I'm just so grateful to have something to work with.  

I have another mystery child that I need to figure out too.  Solomon.  For a couple years now, he would occasionally wake up in the morning, say his stomach hurt, and then throw up.  This increased in frequency some this summer.  And now, for the past month or so, it has suddenly become very common.  Ugh.  

In the herb garden - Solomon rubbed a plant and then sniffed his fingers to smell it

 I was lactose intolerant as a child, so I've had Solomon off dairy here and there for a few days at a time.  I didn't notice any difference.  Maybe there wasn't a problem but maybe I didn't try long enough.  I'm thinking I ought to try having him go gluten free for a while.  Dr. H said children who are sensitive to gluten can have stomach pain, nausea, and vomiting. 

For the zillionth time - I wanted to be a criminal detective when I grew up.  Not a medical detective!  

Life is full of irony.  

Here are several more of Tabby's pictures:

Tabby Update: It's not Lyme's disease

Finally got Tabby's results today from the Lyme disease test she took last week.  And ... it's negative.  The test's aren't totally accurate, but we'll go with the "no" for right now.

Dr. H, her new doctor, had gotten copies of Tabby's lab work from her many (eight!) hospital visits this year.  He noticed that her neutrophils were high on every single test.  (Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell, which fight infections.)  The normal range should be 40-60%.  However Tabby's scores were all high - all the way up to 85%.  Dr. H said that was a red flag that her body is battling an infection/inflammation.  

Tabby had blood drawn today for more labwork.  Plus she has to give a fecal sample kit (what fun) for some "GI Health Panels."  These are 22 individual yet related tests.  The informational paper I was given listed screens for:

bacteria
fungi and yeast
parasites
antibodies to gluten
digestive function markers
markers of intestinal inflammation
fecal occult blood
total SlgA
antibodies to dairy, soy, egg proteins

I think it will take about 2 weeks to get all the test results back.  (Sigh.  Wish those companies could do faster turn around times!)

In the meantime, Dr. H gave Tabby two things to begin taking daily.  One is something to mix into a drink once a day called RepairVite.  This should help her intestinal tract and lining to begin healing.   The other product is PRP Balance.  This is a spray that she will use twice a day.  It is colostrum to help modulate normal immune responses.  

She'll also continue the regime of Plexus products I have her on because she now has several hours, most days, where her stomach and chest pain is gone, and she"only" has bad joint pain and weakness.  (I have her on Slim, Ease, Nerve, ProBio 5, and BioCleanse.)

We feel positive, working with Dr. H.  But we sure wish everything could be done super fast.  It's hard to see normally energetic Tabby sitting or laying down, day after day.  Tomorrow will mark 1 month straight of her being in pain every. single. day.

We are so grateful for your prayers.

Tabby's GI test results

Just a quick update on my should-we-rename-it-"Pray for Tabby"-blog.

I got the results for Tabby's Hida gallbladder scan last Friday. Everything looked good. No problems.

Special pillow case provided at the hospital testing center - isn't that a special touch?

Just a quick update on my should-we-rename-it-"Pray for Tabby"-blog.

I got the results for Tabby's Hida gallbladder scan last Friday.  Everything looked good. No problems.

This morning I took Tabby to the hospital for an endoscopy and colonoscopy.  (Yikes.  I know.  Well I don't - but I've heard.)  The procedure itself went smoothly.  NO problems were found.  Well other than a tiny polyp which will be checked, but the doctor doubts it will be any sort of problem.  So that means no celiacs, gluten issues, crohn's disease, etc etc.  Somehow we weren't surprised.  But we were disappointed.  We wanted this search for what's wrong to be over so we can take some action.

Tabby's wake up after the scopes did not go smoothly.  (She had anaesthesia during the procedure.)  Tabby was very disoriented and started sobbing.  Then she was gasping with pain.  She said her stomach pain was incredibly sharp.  They said "gas pain" was normal.  But her's was much worse.  Her doctor said her nerves are "hyper sensitive."  So they gave her some pain medication.  Of course it didn't really work  Nothing seems to.  She's been in almost constant pain now for TWO weeks!

Her GI doctor wants to see her again soon.  But I also am going to be pursuing a different path.  I'm considering whether Tabby might have Lyme's disease.  Her symptoms fit with the symptoms of many teens with the disease.  From what I've learned from my research, it is tricky to diagnose and tests are not very accurate, unless you get one within 30 days of being bit.

I am too tired to share more about that, but I will post about the treatment I am putting together for her very soon.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and support.  We really need them!

Solomon snuggles help ease the pain