Hallelujah!

Abby's daily vomiting problem has been solved!!!! That means an end to the mounds of puke-soaked towels and clothes. I am so excited I could explode!

It's funny how things work out sometimes. Last week I mentioned that Abby had a UTI that wouldn't go away. The new antibiotic she was supposed to take was pretty intense and had very specific instructions regarding when to take it. We ran into a problem when I read that it needed to be given 6 hours after or 2 hours before an antacid, and 2 hours after a meal. That just wasn't possible, so we decided to hold off on her antacid for the three days that she needed to take this antibiotic. She was going to miss a day or two anyway because we had issues getting it refilled this time. The first day Abby took the antibiotic was Thursday of last week. By the time she had her last dose on Saturday I realized that she had not thrown up at all for those three days while on this antibiotic. And for those three days, she had not taken her antacid. I wondered if it were possible that her antacid, which was supposed to help protect her stomach and reduce vomiting, could actually be what was causing her to vomit. It seemed crazy, but she had never gone three whole days without throwing up, so I wanted to test it out. On Sunday we did not give her the antacid and she went the whole day with out throwing up. I gave it to her on Monday and she threw up (all over her physical therapist!). That day I called the pharmacist and asked if the antacid could possibly have anything to do with her vomiting. The pharmacist said it was definitely a possibility. Vomiting is listed as a side effect. The way she explained it to me made perfect sense: the antacid is an acid blocker. It stops the production of acid in the stomach. But you still need SOME acid in your stomach for proper digestion. She suggested that maybe Abby's dose was too high and I should talk to her doctor. So I called the GI and told her about our experiment and what the pharmacist had said. The GI didn't think it was a dosing issue (I knew she wouldn't go for that), but instead a reaction to an ingredient in the medicine. She told me I could stop giving her the medicine - especially since the Upper GI test last week had shown no signs of reflux. So that's what we're doing. No more Previcid. And if you don't count Monday, we are now 8 days puke free! Can you believe that? And who would have guessed that all this time it was the ANTACID. The very medicine that was supposed to prevent vomiting. And we would have never known if she hadn't had such an uncommon strain of UTI that required such a crazy antibiotic. It was definitely an answer to some very specific prayers and another Priesthood blessing.

But just so you understand how big of a deal this is, let me explain what happens next. We have already noticed a difference in the way she tolerates food. She will eat more by mouth and we can give her fluids through her feeding tube at a faster rate. Starting today we will try to increase the amount of formula that she gets during the day with the hope of getting her off the night feed. (When we tried this before, it only made her throw up more.) We think that she is just too uncomfortable in her bed to sleep well because she has to be elevated. She moves so much that she never stays perfectly elevated and usually ends up all scrunched up and uncomfortable. If we can eliminate the night feed she can sleep flat and we think that will make a big difference in the amount of sleep that she gets (If it doesn't help I plan to take her in the the neurologist to see if it is a brain issue). More sleep for Abby = more sleep for mom and dad = a much happier home. HALLELUJAH!!

Abby's OT gave her these small pop beads to pull apart. Since they are so small, this task is something that she really shouldn't be able to do, but her OT wanted to give her a challenge because she thought Abby was capable of it. Well, Abby worked and worked on them until she finally got them apart! And she has done it over and over again. I pulled them apart too and it takes a fair amount of strength and precise finger gripping because of the size.

They are so tiny! Go Abby!