So my blog is about the good, the bad and the ugly. Unfortunately, this is an 'ugly' post! Ever since Alex was a baby she has had issues with constipation. Believe me when I say that we have tried everything to help her in that department. We've given her regimens of flax seed, Metamucil, wheat germ, magnesium, pro-biotic, Karo Syrup, added Activia to her breakfast, we've always completely avoided any binding foods such as bananas and rice. We've given her over the counter remedies, we've taken her to GI specialists and have given her prescriptions. We've taken her to chiropractors to help things move along, you name it - we've done it. Despite all of our efforts, we are constantly having to either give her suppositories or enemas to help her and get her comfortable. With all of the other challenges Alex faces it pains me to no end to see her in so much discomfort on top of everything else. It seems like such an insult to injury that even "THAT" doesn't come easy for her. Over the years we have had to 'assist' her on more occasions a month than I'd like to count. Over the last few weeks things had gotten pretty out of hand and we were having to give her enemas twice, sometimes three times a week - she wasn't going unless she had that kind of assistance. She gets very manic when she gets 'backed up' and it's a lot of biting and hair pulling. No fun for anyone involved. Last week I took her to see a new GI doctor and I was really impressed with him. Not only did he ask a lot of questions to try and get the bigger picture of Alex, he took a lot of time with us and pointed out what he was explaining to me on diagrams. In the past, doctors have always prescribed things such as Miralax, or other laxatives. Miralax, on a side note, is not an option for us anymore. The FDA has confirmed that Miralax has metals in it. Alex's body cannot absorb metals and she has adverse reactions - like seizures - not an option. I was so relieved when the doctor wasn't dismissive with my concerns and didn't just try to write us a script and send us on our way. Quite the contrary he actually said laxatives are not going to solve Alex's problems. I can now eloquently describe how the colon works, but I'll save the commentary and just say that she needs help in the motility department. Alex has low muscle tone - much as it affects the muscles in her arms, legs and other extremities, her internal muscles are low and weak as well and they don't function the same way yours and mine do. So....after he sent her for an x-ray and despite having and enema the night before, the x-ray determined she had significant amounts remaining and he prescribed citrate of magnesia to clean her system out. Unfortunately for Tammy, she got the brunt of that job and after 10 diapers, she deserved major hazard pay. Now that she's cleaned out, the Dr. has prescribed Senna, an herbal product, which she gets 5ml's of at bedtime and that is paired with 10 ml's of Colace each morning. There are some long term issues she's going to have since this has been a problem for so long, but since Friday I am happy to report things have continued to 'move' in the right direction and for the first time in forever, she's comfortable and we seem to have found a working solution for her. Fingers Crossed!!!
I'm sure everyone is pretty happy there are no pictures that accompanied this post :)
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