The Interesting Life of Phoebe Atchley
We have had a lot going on with our little Phoebe. Over 3 months ago she started complaining of her stomach hurting her. It wasn't every day, and it wasn't always in the same place either. She wasn't vomiting, still eating, and having no nausea. So it went that way for a little over a month until I finally had enough and I took her to her Pediatrician. While the stomach complaints weren't alarming, they are also not typical of Phoebe and it was time to figure it out. To my great surprise she tested positive for strep throat. She was having no complaints about her throat, which is how she has presented with strep in the past. I know kids can have stomach aches and throwing up with it so it seemed plausible. The doctor did say a month is kind of a long time to be having stomach pain that could be associated with strep but it needed to be treated either way. He said if it didn't go away after the antibiotics then he wanted to put her on Prevacid because she did have some heartburn related complaints.
Well, the antibiotics didn't work. So we started on Prevacid and that didn't seem to help. Her Pediatrician ordered an ultrasound. We had been told the results were all normal. The doctor seemed tapped out so he referred her to a GI Specialist. Going to her was an eye opener. The ultrasound wasn't completely normal.....she had small gallstones! How could they miss telling me THAT?! The Specialist said that they are small and she doesn't think that is what is causing her problems, BUT because she has them she wanted her to get into a GI Surgeon for a consult. She also ordered blood work to check her liver function and check for Siliac disease, among many other things. That all came back normal. Yay! In the meantime she wanted her to continue with the Prevacid because she agreed that there were heartburn issues. Turns out we weren't timing the Prevacid correctly so it wasn't having a chance to be effective. Once we were administering it correctly there was vast improvement. No more stomach ache and her appetite was up and she was eating a lot. However, she missed a couple days (not back to back) of her meds and would get a stomach ache. The Specialist felt that because she was so sensitive to missing a dose she wanted to do a EGD and scope her esophagus, stomach and upper portion of her small intestine and biopsy her stomach.
Before that was to happen we got her into the surgeon. Long story short, yes, while her gallstones are small and more than likely not causing her current problems it will eventually need to come out. The natural course, typically, is for gall stones to grow and grow therefore increasing pain and discomfort in the patient. Her GI Specialist wants us to have another ultrasound at the beginning of Summer to measure them again.
She had her EGD about 2 weeks ago and this was the result: she has Gastritis. Basically, her stomach lining is damaged/weakened and her stomach is "bruised". This is not something that can happen externally (i.e. wrestling with her sisters or gymnastics). Kids get a virus or bacteria that damage the stomach, and then it can be exacerbated by being put on antibiotics and the meds weakening the stomach even more. She said it could take months for her stomach to heal. She has been put on a small, restricted diet (like reducing fatty foods and highly acidic foods) and her Prevacid was increased to 30mg. Over time it should be alright! I was thankful to hear nothing more serious was going on and that my little girl will be okay. What a process this has been.....sheesh!
Well, the antibiotics didn't work. So we started on Prevacid and that didn't seem to help. Her Pediatrician ordered an ultrasound. We had been told the results were all normal. The doctor seemed tapped out so he referred her to a GI Specialist. Going to her was an eye opener. The ultrasound wasn't completely normal.....she had small gallstones! How could they miss telling me THAT?! The Specialist said that they are small and she doesn't think that is what is causing her problems, BUT because she has them she wanted her to get into a GI Surgeon for a consult. She also ordered blood work to check her liver function and check for Siliac disease, among many other things. That all came back normal. Yay! In the meantime she wanted her to continue with the Prevacid because she agreed that there were heartburn issues. Turns out we weren't timing the Prevacid correctly so it wasn't having a chance to be effective. Once we were administering it correctly there was vast improvement. No more stomach ache and her appetite was up and she was eating a lot. However, she missed a couple days (not back to back) of her meds and would get a stomach ache. The Specialist felt that because she was so sensitive to missing a dose she wanted to do a EGD and scope her esophagus, stomach and upper portion of her small intestine and biopsy her stomach.
Before that was to happen we got her into the surgeon. Long story short, yes, while her gallstones are small and more than likely not causing her current problems it will eventually need to come out. The natural course, typically, is for gall stones to grow and grow therefore increasing pain and discomfort in the patient. Her GI Specialist wants us to have another ultrasound at the beginning of Summer to measure them again.
She had her EGD about 2 weeks ago and this was the result: she has Gastritis. Basically, her stomach lining is damaged/weakened and her stomach is "bruised". This is not something that can happen externally (i.e. wrestling with her sisters or gymnastics). Kids get a virus or bacteria that damage the stomach, and then it can be exacerbated by being put on antibiotics and the meds weakening the stomach even more. She said it could take months for her stomach to heal. She has been put on a small, restricted diet (like reducing fatty foods and highly acidic foods) and her Prevacid was increased to 30mg. Over time it should be alright! I was thankful to hear nothing more serious was going on and that my little girl will be okay. What a process this has been.....sheesh!
Wow, what a lot of anxiety and worry! I'm glad that she's going to get better. Super glad she doesn't have Siliac's, gluten-free would be a real pain. And expensive. It sounds like it's been quite a journey to sort it all out.
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