My FructMal Girl

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Showing posts from 2017

6 Months Post SIBO & SIFO Treatment

It has been 6 months since Tootsie was treated for Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth and Small Intestine Fungal Overgrowth. She is still doing great! She is eating normally, without ANY restrictions. She takes a daily probiotic and multivitamins and that's it! She has attended two overnight camps through church and school and we didn't have to pack any food or ask for accommodations. She was thrilled to have a real cinnamon roll! Halloween was pretty awesome for her this year too. She wasn't limited to Dum Dums and Smarties. Life is good! We'll see what the next 6 months brings... 😁

FINAL GI APPOINTMENT - CURED! No more SIBO, YEAST, or FRUCTOSE MALABSORPTION!

We just got back from Tootie's FINAL GI appt! That's right. Her last one. EVER ! Dr. Abdullah and Dr. Buckle said she's HEALED !!! I wish I would have recorded those words so I could play them over and over. They don't believe the SIBO or the FM will come back. Her only supplement remaining is the probiotic, and a multivitamin & vit D. I told them I was sad we wouldn't be seeing them anymore, but that I would be sending all my friends. So here you go, my friends, meet the dream team! Prime Health Clinic | Pediatric Gastroenterology Dr. Bisher Abdullah (GI) | Dr. Heather Buckle (ND) 1420 3rd St SE Suite 106 Puyallup, WA 98372 253-268-0720 Here is a letter I sent the doctors... Dr. Abdullah & Dr. Buckle, We can’t even begin to thank you enough for healing our girl. We have searched for answers for seven years, from Bellingham to Tacoma. We have sought online help from a doctor in Oregon and advice from parents all over the U.S. - a

3 Month Follow up - Post SIBO/SIFO Treatment

Here we are 3 months post treatment of SIBO, SIFO, slow motility, and constipation. I am THRILLED to report that FODMAP reintroduction (or in Tootsie's case, introduction ) is going fantastically well! Tootsie is eating all sorts of new foods without any issues. Here are the foods she has tried so far that are working well: wheat, garlic, onion, cashews, cantaloupe, blueberries, zucchini bread, raisin toast, lactose free yogurt, ice cream bars. She has even tried a few apple slices! We cannot believe it! This opens up a whole new world for her. She has been going to friends' houses the past week or so without a packed lunch bag! You wouldn't believe the amount of weight that has lifted from my chest. I knew her health & diet was stressful, but now that the stress is lifting I'm realizing how weighted down I was by it. She and I have eaten out at a Mexican restaurant where she had a chicken chimichanga with seasoned rice, she's had MOD Pizza with whe

2 Month Follow Up - Post SIBO/SIFO Treatment

Tootsie had her 2 month follow up yesterday and is doing great! She has gained 5 pounds and has grown 1 inch. Dr. Abdullah (GI) and Dr. Buckle (ND) were very pleased. Stools are perfect, no reflux, great appetite, and sleeping well. Yay! We get to start introducing FODMAPs in a few weeks. Dr. Buckle believes she'll be able to tolerate most foods! This is music to our ears. I sure hope she's right. We have been bound to the low FODMAP diet for 7 years! Excited to break free from the chains! So very thankful for this duo!! They have given us new hope...hope for healing & normalcy. I can't speak highly enough of their expertise and compassion.

NEW Gastroenterologist - APPOINTMENT #3 (SIBO RESULTS)

Today's GI and Naturopath appointment went very well! Tootsie's breath test results were NEGATIVE. Hallelujah! She has 7 days left of fluconazole and once that is finished she will discontinue the folate and N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine. She will continue with the other supplements until our follow-up in a couple of months. The doctors advised following a strict low FODMAP diet for 3 months before introducing new foods - this will allow time for the intestines to heal. Tootsie is feeling good. She isn't having many tics (stretching or verbal), she is eating well and having Level 3-4 stools on the bristol chart . And she just started sleeping through the night in her own room! It's amazing how intestinal dysbiosis can affect a person. Happy to have it resolved! We are so very thankful for our new doctors - for their compassion, their wisdom, and their desire to heal our girl!

FOLLOW UP BREATH TEST

(Please view disclaimer .) Tootsie had her follow-up lactulose breath test today to see if the meds were effective against SIBO. We'll get results at our GI follow-up in a couple weeks. We did get a copy of last month's results, which shows a strong positive. As you can see, she was well above the 20ppm threshold. We made the best of prep day again by doing a little shopping at the mall (Tootsie picked out some press-on nails...something she's always asking for, but I never let her get.) We also stopped by Michael's to check out "Slime Headquarters". If you don't know, slime is all the rage among tweens these days. (Here is a YouTube video on what it's all about). She did a manicure and pedicure in the room, we rented a movie, and went for a soak in the hot tub. The day went by pretty quick and the Zofran worked out well at keeping the nausea away. The smiles disappeared the next morning. She woke up feeling nauseous an

HALFWAY THROUGH SIBO TREATMENT

Tootsie completed 2 weeks of Amox-Clav (250mg, twice daily). She is doing well. The past few nights she has wanted to sleep in her own room. This is huge! She hasn't been able to sleep by herself for 7 months. Three nights ago she woke at 11PM and came to our room and finished the night in our bed, the next tight she made it until Midnight, and last night she made it until 2:30AM! She started metronidazole (250mg, 1/2 tablet twice daily) last night and will be on it for two weeks. Hoping it wipes out the methane producing bacteria and she is finally able to sleep peacefully through the night without waking. The supplements are going well. She does get a few minutes of heartburn after taking the MotilPro. Dr B (the ND) prescribed an alternative if the heartburn is too bothersome. She said it's a local discomfort caused by the ginger, but it isn't harmful. We'll keep plugging along with it for now. The alternative is Gentian (1 drop on tongue 3 times daily

NEW GI - APPOINTMENT #2 (SIBO RESULTS)

Tootsie had her follow-up with the gastroenterologist and the naturopath today. The results of the SIBO breath test showed a strong positive, with a peak hydrogen of 136 ppm (the threshold his 20 ppm). It was also positive for methane producing bacteria. The blood test showed elevated levels for liver function, blood glucose, and white blood cell count. Doctor would like to repeat these tests to rule out diabetes. (I don't believe she has diabetes. I think he was assuming her fasting blood glucose was 153, but the nurse had sent us to eat lunch because she wasn't able to draw any blood after 15 hours of fasting). The celiac blood screening was negative, which means she can continue challenging gluten as long as it agrees with her. Both the doctor and the naturopath thought they could get rid of SIBO once and for all. They also felt by doing so that Tootsie's fructose malabsorption will greatly improve...and possibly could cure it all together! Say what?! Th

THIS EMAIL BRINGS TEARS TO MY EYES

I blog about my kids' medical issues with hope it reaches a family struggling for answers. When I hit "publish" I often wonder where it will travel on the interwebs...and if it actually does reach the audience it's meant for. Well, I received confirmation this morning from a thankful mama. This email broke my heart and made it swell at the same time. It's a lengthy one, but a good one! ❤️ Thank you for sending this to me, "Jane"! I am so happy for your boy. Way to fight for him and not give up!! Our momma instincts are there for a reason...we must listen to them! * I did question whether or not this little boy could have HFI (Hereditary Fructose Intolerance), which is very different from Fructose Malabsorption. It can be fatal, as it can lead to kidney and liver failure. I asked his mom to look into it and have it ruled out. You can learn more about HFI here: HFI Laboratory HFI University . Hello! I can’t remember, but I think

NEW Gastroenterologist - SIBO BREATH TEST

The GI clinic is 2 hours from home so we booked a hotel room for the night. It was a great way to break up the really awful day of diet prep . Tootsie is not a fan of chicken or potatoes so we had to get creative. I cooked some chicken tenderloins in the Instant Pot with some water, salt & pepper, then ran them through the food processor and shaped the meat into nuggets. Then put a couple slices of Udi's White Sandwich bread in the food processor & rolled the nuggets in the crumbs. I refrigerated them overnight and microwaved them for 30 seconds when she was ready to eat them. She said they tasted pretty good. That's huge coming from a girl that generally won't touch chicken with a ten foot pole! I picked up some plain baked potatoes at Wendy's and some jasmine rice at Asian1 on the way. She took some Zofran at 11am and at 7pm. That really helped keep the nausea away from being hungry. Once we got settled in we went for a dip in the pool. It was

NEW Gastroenterologist - APPOINTMENT #1

Here we are 1 year later...Tootsie is 11 and Buddy is 13. We have a new GI doctor ("Dr. A") that I am super excited about. He has given us hope that we can get to the root of Tootsie's recurring SIBO issue. She has been dealing with this for 6-1/2 years now. We have seen so many health care providers over the years it's ridiculous... Naturopaths, Pediatricians, Walk-in Clinic doctors, Gastroenterologists, an Endocrinologist, a Neurologist, Counselors, Acupuncturists, and Massage Therapists. I finally feel like we have found the doctor that is truly going to help us. He's the only integrated GI in the state, meaning he works directly with a naturopath to formulate a treatment plan. We are currently in the info-gathering stage. Tootsie will have a lactulose breath test on Tuesday, February 21st to check for SIBO. She has had so many breath tests. Probably 8 of them...with only 3 successful ones. She usually vomits, which voids the test. This time D