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fevers and coughs and irritated bladders, oh my!

yes, i know it's summer. my kids don't seem to though, because it seems that they are still managing to get sick! yesterday layla started coughing like she was going to die and tonight i discovered that shane has a fever. joy. he said he woke up with a headache this morning so i gave him some motrin and he seemed to be better and did normal, lazy, summer stuff (mainly he watched tv, took a really long time doing his chores, and picked on his sister) until wyatt got home and then he went over there and played for awhile. he came home saying he was really cold and i told him to put on a sweatshirt - it's not a particularly nice day. before dinner he said his headache was back and he was particularly unwilling to get up off the couch to come eat. when he finally did get there, he said he felt fine, other than the headache, but he was freezing and he had that kind of doped up look to his eyes so i figured i ought to take his temperature. 101.3. oops. i guess he's sick.

layla doesn't seem too bad today, but i did learn something very interesting and hopefully helpful today. last week i took her to the dr. to find out what's up with her urinary problems. she leaks, she has accidents over and over again, she'll pee like 5 times in an hour, etc. etc. so they wanted a sample which came back fine so the dr. referred us to a pediatric urologist. i called today to try and get and appointment and was told that i had to talk to the nurse first - so i left a message. they guy called me back rather promptly and i told him why we'd been referred there. he told me that they don't see kids for wetting problems until they're at least 5 or 6 and before that they don't consider it anything more than potty training issues. great. but he didn't totally dismiss me and was giving me some pointers on things i should do to help her since he said it sounded like she was developing a 'dysfunctional voiding pattern'. wow. don't want that! basically, she has to pee every 3 hours during the day, even if she goes in between then. still, every 3 hours she's on the pot. then i asked him if i was crazy or if there could be a connection with stuff she drinks or eats? i've noticed that it seems to be a lot worse after she's had juice. she pees like crazy all day long. and he said, that no, i'm not crazy, that's actually a really big thing. he asked if she drank apple juice and orange juice. well, duh. he said that those juices are most likely irritating her bladder which is causing her to have to pee lots and not be able to control it very well. he said there were other foods that can cause this too and he emailed me a list of foods that commonly irritate the bladder. apple juice was the first one on the list. apples, grapes, canteloupe, strawberries, pineapple, citrus fruits and juices, chocolate, tomatoes and tomato sauces, caffeinated or carbonated drinks, vitamin c, pickles spicy foods and artificial sweeteners can all cause bladder irritation. who knew? so we're supposed to avoid all these things for 2 weeks and if she does better, then we're supposed to add things back 1 at a time to see if she reacts. just like checking for an allergy. this ought to be fun considering layla's fruits of choice are apples, grapes and strawberries. i think that will be the biggest problem there. i don't let her have soda, so that's not an issue, same with artificial sweeteners, she doesn't like pickles or spicy food. the juice thing will probably be a little bit of an issue, but it'll be just one more thing to be mean about. not sure what to do about pizza either... but i'm so excited that this might be the cause of her problem. now if we can just find what foods are causing her skin issues and shane's attention and learning issues.

Comments

  1. I'm telling you, the natureopath is the way to go. They run blood tests on all that stuff. Glutin is a huge one for things like attention and learning issues. Also artificial sweeteners AND colors, including the yellow they put in cheddar cheese! I had a friend whose son was severly ADHD and she was able to control it with his diet. And Glutin is in EVERYTHING! That I learned with Mackenzie's issues. Food, I'm telling you!

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  2. i know! i'[m thinking of trying the feingold diet. so where did you find this natureopath? and does insurance cover it?

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  3. My sister made the appointment for the one I went to (in Marysville, it's called the Center for Optimal Health) As for insurance, unfortunately most don't cover it, but mine did cover the blood test (they send that to the hospital in Everett) and his office visit charge isn't bad.

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