Showing posts with label Childhood illness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Childhood illness. Show all posts

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Answers! Biopsy results and why my 2 year old is anemic


We finally got answers today!  We got the biopsy results which showed that Blue Rock has allergies in his stomach and colon.  The doctor prescribed Prevacid which reduces acid in the stomach so it can heal (also used to treat GERD) and Pentasa which is an inflammatory and heals inflammation.  Most likely the inflamation was caused from allergies and possibly a virus he got last winter that never healed. 

We found out on Wednesday that one of his great-grandmother's has a blood disorder which causes anemia.  Since Blue Rock's anemia is so severe, we asked to be referred to a hematologist. With lots of persistence, thank you, Husband, we got a last minute appointment today.  After the hematologist saw the lab and biopsy results he agreed to see us.  It appears that Blue Rock's allergies has caused him to become anemic.  When your stomach and colon are inflamed, it can prevent iron from being absorbed in your body.  Therefore, we need to find out what his allergies are from, continue the iron supplement, and that, along with the Prevacid and Pentasa, will help him get better.  Once we get back to Germany, we'll need to get his blood checked to make sure his body is absorbing the iron.  If so, then usually within a month of taking iron supplements, his iron levels should be back to normal.  Then we are to continue for two additional months with the iron supplement and his iron storage should be restored.

We also think we discovered another reason why he's throwing up but are not certain.  The main source is of course allergies. We have eliminated cow's milk from his diet (he's been mostly drinking almond milk for the past month anyway).  The hematologist said that cow milk is a poor source of nutrition and can cause anemia, especially in children.  It also causes problems in people who are allergic to it, which most likely Blue Rock is.  Also, Blue Rock ends up throwing up at least once during days he drinks cow's milk.  Sometimes right away, sometimes later in the day.  He's gone a week without cow milk and has already only thrown up once. Thankfully Blue Rock loves almond milk which has more nutrients anyway.  Besides allergies, he may have asthma, which is another possible reason he throws-up so much.  We don't know for certain but it does run in my family.  He gets eczema extremely bad in Germany and after running around a lot you can hear a little whizzing.  Some children vomit a lot when they have asthma when they are young.  Please say a prayer that if he does, it's not severe.  

These past three weeks we were hoping to relax and mainly enjoy seeing family and friends.  However, it seems like it's been more of a medical trip than anything else. We have had one medical appointment after another.  We are just so thankful that we have answers and know where to go from here. We both are so thankful to God that we were able to come home to take care of our son.  

Thank you again for all your prayers.  We feel very fortunate to have been able to receive the expedited care we received. We are very thankful that he doesn't appear to have anything real serious. Also, that while trying to figure out the cause of his vomiting, we discovered another problem that we are able to fix.  Now we just need to find out where we can get him tested for allergies in Germany.        

Friday, April 2, 2010

Drei Tage Fieber

I wanted to pass this along to my expat friends and followers who have young children.  A few weeks ago, my 9-month old son had a high temperature (102.9 degrees Fahrenheit, 39.4 degrees Celsius).   He was cranky and not his normal happy self.  I took him to the doctor because he wasn't eating well and started throwing up.  I felt like the doctor had him get a lot of unnecessary tests.  He has two doctors, one American and one German.  We should have gone to the German doctor because the German doctor most likely would have known what it was without having to have my child get his blood drawn, a catheter, x-rays, etc.  It ended up that my baby had Drei Tage Fieber (Three Day Fever).  I found out that this is a very common childhood illness in Germany.   95% of children in Germany get this illness. The age children who get it are typically 6 months - 3 years old.  The symptoms are a high fever for three days followed by a rash that lasts for one day.  The rash does not itch. Once a child gets this disease he/she is immune for life.
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