Medical stuff

I've been busy trying to get some craft posts up, because I have actually been busy doing some crafty things! It's been fun after going through a dry spell. But I wanted to take a minute to update you on some of the medical stuff that's been going on with us.

I think - I hope - I might be feeling a little bit more energy these days. The thyroid medicine may be kicking in, and I've been loading up on B-12, which seems to help me some too. My colonoscopy was normal, and the GI doc said I probably have some Irritable Bowel Syndrome. An ultrasound revealed that my ovaries are covered in cysts - not surprising, given that my OB diagnosed me with Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome a few years ago. At any rate, I need to follow up with my doctor, as the hormone imbalance resulting from this can also cause some issues.

Mackenzie has been diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which is the same neuromuscular disease that I have. The doctors don't know, however, if the CMT is what is causing her delayed gross motor skills and her spasticity, or if it could be a mild cerebral palsy caused by hypoxia during birth, or if it is related to her mild brain bleed while she was in the NICU. Regardless - she IS walking now, albeit stiffly, and she is improving every day. She's going to start receiving physical therapy through Early Intervention services soon, which should also help.

Makayla has continued to have food allergy issues...not just to milk, but from the food journal we've kept, it *looks* like she's also potentially reacted to soy, eggs, and fish. She saw an allergist last week, and she did some skin testing, which didn't really show anything (somewhat strange, but not totally out of the ordinary). They followed up with some blood testing, which I am supposed to call the doctor about on Monday to discuss the results and develop a plan. She saw a GI specialist on Tuesday, who thinks that her reflux issues are completely related to her food allergies (as do I), and he's not happy with the extent of what's been done on the allergy front so far. He wants her to see a particular allergist in Los Angeles, who is supposed to be *the best*. So he put in a referral for her to go there, and in the meantime, he put her on Prevacid. I was really happy with him, overall - he seemed to really know his stuff and took everything seriously. So now we are waiting for an appointment to take her to L.A.

Anthony had his 4-year check-up a couple weeks ago. He seems to be the healthiest out of us all!!

And Darrell's plugging along...allergies and sinus issues, like every spring...but otherwise doing well. He's been busy doing landscaping in the front yard - can't wait to take some pics and post them!!