Gala update

I wanted to update you guys on Gala. In case you've missed the last few posts on her, here's a quick breakdown:

• She's had a knot on her "stomach" for as long as we can remember.
• We've had 2 ultrasounds done, showing nothing.
• I have suspected a dairy allergy, in her, for close to a year because of chronic diarrhea, but was put off by her Doctor on many occasions. Actually I diagnosed it (ha) when she was 6 weeks, took myself off dairy while nursing, & put her on soy formula when she switched.
• Then her rectum prolapsed, much to our shock. I brought up the diarrhea again the day she prolapsed & got no response.

A few weeks later, at her 2 year appointment & prolapse checkup, I brought up the allergy & diarrhea again. After a denial of ever hearing my concerns, I freaked. I chewed the Doctor, nicely, with a quick play by play of our visits with her. Each one recounting "the dairy issue". One of those stories hit a cord & you could see the light come on. She seemed to remember at least one of the conversations. I'm sure it was due to my telling her how she'd (the doctor) had confided in me about her dislike of dairy. She apologized & agreed we should remove dairy, starting that day, plus she was now referring us to a specialist. Then the doctor teared up saying she felt as though she caused this. Of course, I felt bad. BUT dang it, if she would have listened a year ago we may not be in this mess.

While we've been waiting for the upcoming appointments, one for a GI surgeon consult & one w/a GI specialist, the doctor has ordered several tests. All are standard tests the specialist needs ran, prior to the visit. This way they're all done & they have a better idea of what Gala's situation is. They also requested we bring the films from the ultrasounds so I've picked those up as well.

They requested a second blood sample so we headed down to the clinic last week. This time around it was a little more unnerving for Gala. Probably because she knew what was coming. Getting the sample also took longer. Her blood would flow, then stop, flow, then stop. Finally it just stopped. They thought they had enough for the tests but it was clotting as well. I just prayed it was enough. I didn't want her to go through it again.

With the blood they collected from the two draws, they checked her blood sugar, electrolytes, allergies, & a few other things I don't recall. They also did 3 different stools collections. Honestly, I don't remember what any of those were for (information overload & kids screaming during calls) except one, blood in the stool.  Everything has come back perfect.

On the dairy allergy......The Doctor says there are 4 components in milk that a person can be allergic to. 3 out of the 4, Gala shows no allergy to. The 4th component test has not come back, yet. Now, while consuming dairy, Gala had chronic diarrhea. Off dairy, it's been 2 weeks & 5 days, she seems borderline constipated. I actually gave her a milk sippy 2 nights ago to get her bowels moving & it worked like a charm. Yeah, yeah, probably not the best idea but it worked. AND then when I decided to just give in a little on the strict diet, she prolapsed. Probably the worst it's been. She had cheese pizza for dinner & I caved on a milk sippy the next morning. She was begging for one. UGH!! NEVER AGAIN! Anyway, with that said, I can't see how she couldn't be allergic to milk? Obviously, we'll find out more at the appointment since they'll also be checking for crohn's disease, celiac disease, colitis, & IBS.

We decided to make the best of this trip. It's now part appointments, part fun. We are gonna hit the zoo the day after the visits. It's sort of a treat for all but especially Gala since we've been told they plan to do an upper GI scope (not looking forward to that). And for Daddy, who is working 8 straight days in order to get Gala's appointments off.  We leave in a few short days. Wish us well & I'll update you post trip/results.