Update on Brant ...

Well we took Brant to the doc on Friday and he figures it's just a stubborn virus. He suggested we not give him dairy which is proving to be a little tricky but not too bad. I'm not sure how long it will take before we get the results of him bloodwork. Surprisingly Brant seems to finally be feeling a bit better while the rest of us are still coughing and hacking. Hopefully we'll all be better again by Christmas, especially since we have a program that I'm singing in next Sunday!

My poor baby is still sick :(

OK before you read this I will issue a warning: if you don't like to hear about being sick from both ends you probably will want to stop reading now. You have been successfully warned. Read at your own risk.

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Brant has always struggled with constipation issues and has had reflux in the past. We have treated him with prevacid (for reflux) and lactulose (to prevent constipation) in the past and he was just recommended recently to go on prevacid again. He did have low thyroid (hypo) once on a blood test but the next test showed his levels back within "normal" range. He is currently NOT on lactulose.

About a month ago we had a nasty stomach flu rage through our house. We all got it and recovered in about 24 hours including Brant. However shortly after that Brant started having soft stools. About a week later he threw up again once but then seemed ok. He got diarrhea shortly after that and has had it off and on since then (mostly on). He has thrown up about once or twice every 5 days. He caught a bad cold (I have it too) and is coughing a lot for the last couple of weeks. He has been to school only a few times this month as I don't want him to have a blowout at school (his diarrhea often spills out of his pullup and is messy and gross). He is home again today and I just called the doctor and he will be going in a 3:45 this afternoon. His appetite varies and he usually eats porridge for breakfast (quaker maple and brown sugar with a prevacid capsule broken and mixed in), a bun with cheez whiz for lunch (the only thing he likes), and whatever we eat for dinner he usually has some (usually I get meat and veggies into him during dinner). I also try to get him to eat fruit during the day but often he only eats a small amount. He prefers milk as his beverage of choice and won't drink much else. Occasionally I can get him to drink a bit of juice but he usually turns his nose to juice, water, or any milk substitute (soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, etc). I'd like to reduce his dairy but struggle with this as he doesn't eat/drink much else.

I'm guessing he has a virus (or combination of several viruses) going through his system that he can't seem to shake. I am going to try to get him into the doctor today and I'm tempted to ask for a strong antibiotic (ceftin or something) to get him healthy again. I know viruses can't be treated with antibiotics but I suspect he also has an infection of sorts (he does have a history of sinus infections and his nose has been running a little green again). I'd love to get him on any sort of immune boosting vitamins or something however with limited income we can't afford much. I'd love to get him back on Juice Plus but it isn't in the budget at the moment. I was thinking of at least getting him back on a child's multivitamin (ie flintstones) that will hopefully help a bit.

But would a virus cause repeated throwing up and long term diarrhea? I have a form to take Brant to the lab for bloodwork (CBC to check iron, thryoid, etc) but haven't brought him to the lab yet since he hasn't been well. Yesterday he threw up breakfast because he was coughing too much and it didn't stay down. He pooped 4 or 5 times (diarrhea) yesterday evening. He slept most of the afternoon and didn't want dinner. Today he is coughing but kept breakfast (porridge) down. I'm not sure what to do - I hate that he's been sick so long! Oh and Owen had a diarrhea poop this morning too (but seems fine otherwise) so that's why I think it's a virus.

WCB again ...

So we received the official denial of Colin's claim in the mail today. We are still waiting for the detailed report showing all of the doctors' reports and everything else. Colin has tried since I last wrote on this blog many times to contact his adjuster and the adjuster's supervisor but they are not answering their phones and not returning Colin's calls (he has left messages). We are in the process of appealing.

We do have some other things going on right now with regards to plans until Colin can have surgery but I hesitate to post too much on a public blog in case it might hurt our appeal if WCB looks us up on the internet. So for now I'm going to not post a whole lot on this subject here and if you really want to know you are welcome to email us or phone us and ask :)

In the meantime, we appreciate everyone's prayers and encouragement. This has been a stressful time for our family but we are comforted in our faith and in God's promises to provide for His children.