A History Lesson

   My early years with Teagan were fairly uneventful, health wise that is. As I look back, and there were times I believe we may have had hints of what was to come. I had no idea that throwing up everything she nursed meant anything more than a bigger spit up than normal. And as a toddler and growing... no fever, just a random vomit that would keep her inside away from her sister and friends in fear of having a stomach virus. And when she started falling off the growth chart by the age of 3, I figured she was taking after the Italian side of the family...some of my great aunts don't even come up to my chin. And Yes..I get to feel tall for at least as long as the visit lasts.

   As she entered school, we started noticing she was getting headaches. But as a migraine sufferer for nearly 30 years, I assumed she was doomed the same fate. Then came the stomach aches, and parasite tests to follow...a few of them. At age 6 she was the skeletal age of a 3-4 year old and were recommended to take a growth hormone test. The most grueling and painful 6 hours of her poor little life.

Aaannd...Nothing......Growth hormones were good. So we let sleeping dogs lie...for now.

   She started getting acid reflux in 1st grade, to the point of needing to spit out what came up because it was so frequent and so much. During class she would have to excuse herself to the bathroom to spit up. And let me tell you she was...OK... is a big time manipulator. She would try and tell the teacher she "threw up", and she would be sent to the nurse on a weekly basis. Because you know you can't be in school if you have been vomiting,and she sure knew that and tried to take full advantage. I ended up having to tell the school we were seeing her Dr. about the problem and to KEEP HER IN CLASS! I would threaten to ground her for the weekend if she would go to the nurse without being actually sick...and that worked, most of the time. We finally got referred to an internal medicine doctor, Dr Jatla. He said we could take this test, and that test and then another test...or she could have an endoscopy. Put her out, and do the same thing as a colonoscopy; but going down the other end of the body. (sorry couldn't help myself) They did biopsies of each crucial spot all the way down to her small intestines. He found damage all the way from her esophagus to her small intestines. So much damage in fact that the tiny little villi that are used to absorb nutrients...were gone. Completely flat was her small intestine, which meant one thing...CELIAC DISEASE, and that she has been suffering for quite some time. The other damage to her digestive system were in no comparison to the small intestines, so no need to bother with the details. It makes me sad to think, why couldn't we have found this sooner? And then the sun shines, and I am grateful we found out about it this early. It has only one simple solution...No More Gluten!