Dr. Appts.

Shawn and Joshua had their annual check ups yesterday. I had lots to discuss with Dr. Tappan. We talked about Shawn's appointment with the neurologist and Dr. Tappan wants us to see someone else. However, the doctor he recommended is not in our insurance network so I'm going to have to call him and ask if there is someone else he can recommend. We discussed multi vitamins (not all vitamins are SCD legal) and he recommended the vitamins that we already have, yea! I will have to crush them up to give to the kids because they are big horse pills. I'm currently taking 3 a day. Shawn will be taking one a day and Joshua will be taking 1/2 a day.

When I told Dr. Tappan that we started SCD, I was happy to find out that he was familiar with the diet and had no problems with the kids being on it. I can't tell you how much grief I've heard from some of my family members (Don included) about how they don't think the kids are getting all the nutrition they need when they aren't drinking milk or eating bread. So no problems with the diet!

Joshua weighs 23 lbs now and Shawn is 44 lbs. I can't remember their height and I didn't write it down. I was more concerned with their weight.

We checked today to see if the neuro psychologist that Dr. Tappan recommended was in our network and of course she is not. We called her to find out if she accepts United Health Care and she said that she is not in any insurance networks but most of the time the insurance company will reimburse you. So we called our insurance company and after a $300 deductible, they will pay 60%. So needless to say, we are on hold with this for the time being. I called Dr. Tappan this afternoon to see if there was someone else that he could recommend but he already left for the day. I will call on Monday to see what he recommends. Don wants to just pay out of pocket but even though I really would like to get Shawn a proper diagnosis, I'm not willing to pay that much money when we don't have it to spend. I do think it's important to get him diagnosed though especially since Charlie Crist signed a bill that would force insurance companies to cover therapies for children with Autism. Even though it won't go into effect for another 2 years, it would be nice to have the diagnosis for when it does go into effect.

Well, I didn't finish my spring cleaning but I think I had a pretty good excuse. I did get the top cabinets that I had left to wipe down but did not finish the bottom cabinets or the dishwasher (I did clean the inside of the dishwasher with baking soda and vinegar). I didn't clean out the fridge either. I did clean half of the master bathroom though. My excuse is this-I ordered a book on Friday and it came in the mail yesterday afternoon. I ordered the book that Kandee blogged about. You can read her post here and her update here. The book is called Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. I have been reading it every chance I get with a yellow highlighter in hand.

I've had several aha moments while reading this book. The first chapter talks about how during their second year of life, GAPS kids start developing fussy eating habits. Taken from the book- "refusing a whole lot of foodstuffs and limiting their diet to a handful of foods, usually starchy and sweet: breakfast cereals, crisps, chips, popcorn, cakes, biscuits, sweets, bananas, bread, rice, sweet yogurts. Most of these children would refuse to have vegetables, fruit (apart from bananas), meats, fish and eggs." Hello, this is totally Shawn!

It also talks about GAPS kids stools being abnormal; either constipation or diarrhea. Shawn's always had problems with his bowels. When he was 7 weeks old, he developed diarrhea that wouldn't go away and we had to switch him to soy formula. That seemed to help the diarrhea but then when he started eating solid foods, he started having constipation. After trying prunes and prune juice, his pediatrician put him on a pediatric mineral oil to keep his stools soft and regular.

Another point that sticks out is that it says a majority of autistic children have feeding problems. Excerpt from the book- "Some are very fussy and would accept only a very limited range of foods. Some cannot chew properly and would hold food in their mouth for a long time or try to swallow it in a lump." This is what I've been trying to describe to his pediatricians ever since Shawn first started eating solid foods. It was like he could not chew properly, like he wouldn't bite down all the way. He would just try to swallow things without chewing them all the way. I would have to give him tiny bites or things that would slip down his throat easily if he didn't chew it. The book does explain some possible explanations for this problem.

Right now I'm just reading and absorbing the information. I am definitely going to try the diet but I'm going to wait until after his neurology appointment next Friday. I want to get him diagnosed first. I've already started researching juicers. I used to have one but it was a piece of crap and I never used it so I sold it at a yard sale. When I buy another one, I want to really love it so I've been looking at this one. I'm not sure if I can talk Don into letting me spend the money on it but since it is for Shawn, he just might cave in, lol.

The diagnosis

We have none yet. Yesterday I took Shawn to his pediatrician for a consultation to see if he might be autistic. After a ton of questions, Dr. Tappan said that Shawn did display some characteristics of Autism and ADHD. He gave me some questionnaires to fill out along with one to give to Shawn's teacher and based on his scores, he's probably going to recommend a neuro psychologist for Shawn to see. So we don't really have a diagnosis yet but we do have a maybe so at least I don't feel stupid for thinking there was something wrong with him.

Warning- Shameless Plug

Other news- Don is going to be at the FishHawk craft fair this weekend selling our cross necklaces. The craft fair is at Park Square and they will be taking pictures with Peter Cottontail. Easter is just around the corner and our necklaces would make a lovely addition to any Easter basket. Please forward this on to anyone living in the FishHawk area. Thanks.