Monday, June 4, 2012

A thought about my little Lydia

I have very few readers... but those I do have, have been here for years. So, you already know that "once upon a time" (in 2007, 2008) our Lydia was very sick. She was tiny, failure to thrive, sleeping all the time, etc. We honestly thought we were going to lose her.

We took her to doctor after doctor... she even saw an oncologist.

In May of 2008 she was miraculously healed. Overnight. I praise God for that miracle daily! (See May 3, 2008 here. See May 17, 2008 here.)

Up to this point, I have been blaming her sickness/lack of growth on vaccinations. And, that remains a decent theory - because she went from 95% to <5% within months of a set of booster shots. But, I have a new theory.

We had her tested for Celiacs disease (gluten intolerance) many years ago. That test was negative. But, we never had her tested for milk allergy. I weaned her completely off of mommy milk at about the same time that she started losing weight. AND, these past few weeks (as I was cutting out milk and stopped buying it!) she has been stronger. Lydia has been able to get up earlier in the morning and not take naps most days. And, on days when we do indulge in dairy she gets gassy and seems lethargic that night or the next day.

Tomorrow I will be calling our family doctor, a D.O. I plan to *kindly* demand food allergy testing. I think I was selfish before. I did not want to test her for food allergies because I knew that it would dramatically change our family's diet/lifestyle. But, I am ready now. We can face this together.

Please pray for us as I attempt to get Lydia an appointment very soon. And, please pray that the doc will run the right tests to determine some answers.
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Added 3-1-2013: We have recently gone gluten free and the whole family (especially Lydia) have experienced dramatic results. The blood tests for gluten intolerance have proved to be inaccurate for both Lydia and myself.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll be praying that you get some answers. I wonder if she mind be intolerant even if she's not allergic. -Dawn

Mama in Uganda said...

Praying.

I have secondary lactose and gluten intolerance due to years of parasites and tropical disease. It is worth testing/elimination diet.

Blessings and wisdom,
Summer

P.S. I would really like to "discuss" a post you wrote about Nelson...could you email me more details when you have time, and in the meantime I will be praying about a loving and wise response.

Bethany W. said...

Dawn,
I meant "allergy" in a generic way. I should have used the proper language... I was being lazy.

Summer,
Elimination diet is kind of what I am trying now. Lydia does not like it, of course. She likes cheese a lot. And, without being able to say "it makes you sick," her little six-year-old mind just does not understand.
I will email you later about Nelson.

Bethany