some tests at last...

Well, it's been a little while since the last post and today has included enough new stuff to warrant an update. Over the last week or so Jasmine's skin has been bothering her greatly. It always coincides with her teething, but none the less, when she's not distracted (ie trying to sleep) she's miserably itchy.

Despite this she puts on a brave face and had a great time at Hatton Country Park over the weekend.


She Particularly loved the tractors, though the birds of prey brought lots of pointing and exclamations of "Sa!" and "Eo!" All before she eventually passed out and gave Mummy and Daddy a couple of minutes respite! :D

Her general development is going well. She isn't yet walking alone, but is growing ever more confident in her cruising abilities. Things within reaching distance are fair game as far as Jasmine is concerned, normally associated with a good deal of babbling and pie-eyed expressions of innocence! ;)


Today's excursion involved a trip to a new paediatrician. After summing up Jasmine's history to date and tackling the usual unvaccinated status we started to assess where to head with Jasmine's treatment.

Despite our dedication to being as natural as possible it is clear that currently Jasmine is just too uncomfortable to sustain this wishful thinking. In light of this we have reluctantly decided it is best to return to steroids, at least for a short while. The paediatrian recommended a 1% hydrocortisone ointment (a little more greasy than a cream), combined with a new emolient: Cetraben. We've not done a whole lot of research into Cetraben, though at the moment I think we're all approaching our wits end and will try practically anything, if only to get a couple of nights unadulterated sleep!

We also went through the traumatic experience of have some blood tests done for Jasmine. The nurses were astounded at how strong she was, causing them to fail taking the bloods from one arm and needing to call in support to pin her down. It took four adults in the end to stop her spontaniously combusting!! Not pleasant. Still, the tests should hopefully confirm her calcium levels are ok (in light of her rice milk diet), bone component levels (indicating potential vitamin D issues), and test for coeliac disease.

We've also been given a couple of dinky little tubes to spoon in a couple of stool samples. Yummy! We have just one hour to get the samples to the lab before they spoil ...who would have thought that poo could spoil! The stools will be tested for malabsorption and faecal elastase. Hopefully this will confirm our suspicions of issues with her gut.

So tonight was the 1st night of the new regime. We don't get the new emolient until tomorrow, but used Aveeno instead. She seemed to accept the new steroid at least, though she could equally be relaxed as she had a nice bath beforehand.


Hopefully all will go according to plan, hopefully we'll get a few uninterupted hours of sleep!!

The tour

Well it's only been a few days since the last real post but it feels soooooo much longer, the last post really sums it up.

We had another meeting with the dietician where we let them know that we had stopped all dairy (including the hydrolysed formula). Our mission with the dietician was to address whether this would provide the sufficient nutrients for Jasmine (alongside her already varied and healthy diet). We were asking because Jasmine seems to fit into clothes where the labels suggest they're suited more for a 6-9 month old. I know Dairy is the major contributer to the nations 'tubby' babies and clearly being dairy free will have an impact on her weight, but we felt we have to check.

Is essence, Jasmine's varied diet doesn't ring any alarm bells for the dietician, and despite not having any dairy derivatives she is not concerned.

We wanted to pursue some tests aswell as so far much of our approach to tackle Jasmine's eczema through diet seems involve alot of 'guesswork.' The tests we had in mind were for Leaky Gut, any mal-absorption issues and possibly for Candida.

Apparently this is beyond the scope of the dietician though... >.<

Immediately following our wonderfully productive meeting with the dietician we had another appointement with our local GP. We had a number of issues we wanted to bring to his attention; Jasmine's weight, her walking style, a rattly chest she's had for a little while now, and following the dietician's ineptitude, advice on tests. The Doctor is the joint owner of the practice and his attitude to us has usually been acceptable. This time he was merely arrogant.

We weighed Jasmine on the Doctor's scales (normal adult ones) and gained a not-overly-accurate 8kg reading, placing Jasmine on the 2nd centile. ....ie tiny. The Doctor didn't think it unusual. <frustration> Jasmine had gone all afternoon so far without a nap, it was almost her dinner time, she's teething like a crazy thing, she's still sickly and it was very hot in the Doctor's office. Asking to see Jasmine's chest to assess any rattle seems harmless enough, but exposing Jasmine's skin = itchy. exposing her skin with the prevailing list of angry baby points = fervently itcy!!!

Jasmine was soon raking her sides, chest and back with her nails whilst the Doctor tried to listen with his stethoscope. Naturally Jasmine was screaming in annoyance aswell. With Jasmine getting more and more worked up the Doctor at least says that her chest is clear and there is nothing to worry about there.

He then has the audacity to throw in his opinion regarding Jasmine's vaccine status, as if that has anything to do with our visit or Jasmine's condition <frustration>. Following a brief discourse where it is quite clear we are at opposite ends of the spectrum regarding vaccines we agree to disagree.

Jasmine is too upset by this time to even attempt to walk so showing how she tends to point out her left foot as she steps is impossible. The Doctor briefly examines Jasmine's ankles, knees and hips and just presumes this will correct itself if it was even anyhing to have worried about in the 1st place <frustration>.

We enqured about a referral to the Homeopathic Hospital in London. He denied our request. We asked why as it was NHS. He responded 'Is it?' <frustration> His Ignorance was shining through, we pressed for a referral and left is at "I'll get my staff to research the option." <frustration> He was prepared to refer us on to another pediatricitian (or anyone else - read 'official').

We then mentioned that we would like to pursue some tests and get a blank faced response. We pressed on high-lighting leakygut and mal-absorption. He stated that that could be something that the Homeopathic Hospital could organise... <frustration>

The Doctor brought up vaccines twice more before we left <frustration> I wish he would just respect our decision, whatever his own opinions.

Yay for the UK's medical system... Indoctrination and propaganda! ...it's a wonderful thing.

Bah

Jasmine is not a happy bunny :( The child minder informs us that she has barely played and barely smiled today. She's still itchy, sleepy, thirsty and generally unsettled I can only hope it's part of Jasmine's dietary adjustment and her body passing through a healing/detox phase.

We've a visit with the dietician tomorrow where we'll hopefully get Jasmine on some suppliments to go with the rice milk and discuss how gaunt she looks at the moment. Following the dietician we've an appointment with another doctor to inform them of Jasmine's egg intolerance, discuss her possible walking issues (our little penguin), to check her blood circulation (little blue feet) and generally update them on Jasmine's condition.

I hope she feels better soon.