Dem Bones Dem Bones

(Fair warning: LONG post)

Will's Bones

Ever been to the chiropractor?

Will went two years ago. I took him to see if there was anything that could be done to help him stop walking on his tip-toes, which he has been doing since he was about 2 1/2 years old.

I've had two medical doctors give the opinion that Will should have surgery if he hasn't stopped tip-toeing by the age of 8. This surgery would include snipping the tendons in order to lengthen them so he would physically be able to walk flat-footed. Not something I'm really interested in doing.

So, we went to a chiropractor and he had a few things to say, but after two months of 2 -3 visits a week (!) I didn't see any improvement. Plus, the new year was coming with a new deductible to meet... so we quit going.

Starting mid-summer of this year, Will has been having severe headaches, possibly even migraines, lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of days. After talking with a friend in our homeschool group, I decided to bring him back to a chiropractor... but I chose a different one this time (Dr. R).

Will's first appointment was about four weeks ago. The initial reason for the appointment was the headaches, but I also brought up the tip-toes again. After a couple x-rays, the ultimate source of he headaches was said to be from his misaligned hips which he thinks is a congenital issue. (I was given further information, but not going to share the lengthy diagnosis here.) The doctor also felt as though Will was tiptoeing as a response to the hips to keep from hurting while he walked.

Will has had a total of four treatments this go-round. Dr. R hasn't popped Will's back even once (which I really like); he has solely used a sort of percussion instrument that taps.

Will hasn't had a single headache since then! Four weeks without a single headache is a FANTASTIC improvement for Will. I am so pleased!

Will has also started to walk flat-footed a *little* more. From time to time I notice that he's not on his toes, which is s wonderful improvement as well! It's just going to take time for him to recondition his brain into knowing that it doesn't hurt anymore to walk flat-footed now that his hips are figuring out how they should be properly aligned. It's going to take some work to stretch out those calf muscles of his, too. Whew! He's got some mighty tight muscles from tip-toe walking for 5 years!

So far, I am very pleased with the results Will is having!

My Bones

Shortly after Will's first appointment, I hurt my back somehow so I made an appointment for myself. After an x-ray, it was concluded that most of my problem was muscular. I got a few taps here and there with that percussion instrument (sorry I don't know what it's called) and then I had my first-ever acupuncture treatment. (Yes, he is a licensed acupuncturist, too.) I walked out of there a new woman!

The following week, I told Dr. R that the muscle in my shoulder has been bothering me on and off since Nathan was born (he had colic and I held him A LOT). More acupuncture and a dramatic improvement.

Today, I discussed my plantar fasciitis issues with him. Basically, it feels like someone is jabbing an ice pick in my foot between the heel and the arch. Nice, huh? I went to our family doctor about this earlier this year and received some inflammatory meds as well as some PT. The PT and meds really helped and has dramatically decreased my pain, but it was still there... nagging. Well, today I got a few needles stuck in different places than before plus a tug, pull, and tap here and there... and my foot feels as good as new! It's not tight. It doesn't nag. It doesn't ache. It doesn't hurt. At all! And my back and shoulder are still doing well!

I'm feelin' pretty good these days! LOL!

Nathan's bones

Nathan has had sinus issues since, well... forever. I remember telling Jeff when Nathan was 3 months old, "He's only been here for 12 weeks and for 8 of those weeks he's been on a decongestant." He's always had sinus trouble and I figured I might as well get Dr. R's opinion about Nathan's sinus situation as I've heard of chiropractors working on the sinus area.

Turns out his cranial bones are out of place! Dr. R was surprised that Nathan could even breathe or hear out of the left side of his head. After seeing Nathan's xray, Dr. R was very displeased that no one had caught the obviousness of the problem before. I saw the xray. I saw what he was talking about. And I teared up. My poor little guy.

Now I will admit, I have a bit of hard time with this. Backs and hips are one thing, but the bones around the brain are a different story... and scary one at that.

There were no tools used on Nathan. He laid down and I was right there with him. Dr. R applied some pressure on his head in the appropriate places with his hands then released and gave Nathan's body a few moments to adjust to the adjustment. Nathan was never in any pain and never winced or looked uncomfortable. During the moments of rest, we could actually watch as his facial features changed. It was really strange and cool and again, scary... all at the same time... to see his bones and muscles adjust to a more natural looking forehead and hairline.

Dr. R is also a homeopathic doctor and gave me a solution to take home for anti-fungal use against the current sinus infection. While on the topic of medication, I asked him about Nathan's eczema. It has been really bad this season. I have been rubbing him down with EV coconut oil this last week as I've heard it is a really good moisturizer. Dr. R pointed out the coconut oil has a particular acid in it that might actually irritate the eczema further and recommended shea butter and/or Desitin (zinc oxide) as a better topical remedy. Hey... I've got Desitin here at the house; I can do that! (And the shea butter will be a good excuse to place an order with Mountain Rose Herbs! :) )

Witt's Bones

Well, Witt really doesn't have any bone issues, thankfully. HOWEVER, I did ask if there were any tests regarding food allergies. I was just curious. Apparently there is a test that has something to do with electromagnetic fields. Huh. Who knew? Not me. I'm thinking that since we've met our deductible for the year, I might as well give it a go... even if it is just out of curiosity.



Speaking of curiosity... anybody else have good experience with a chiropractor? bad experiences? Have you been to a homeopath? Undergone acupuncture? I'd love to hear about it!

Nathan's Nose

I don't think I mentioned this, but last month I took Nathan to see Dr. P, our pediatrician, because of a sinus infection. Nathan never really seems to be able to breathe and he's always plugged up. Lots of sneezing in the morning. He has been on Allegra twice daily for 18 months now.

Dr. P decided to do a sinus x-ray to see what was going on. The sinus cavity below his right eye was 100% packed and the other was 75% packed. He was put on a very strong antibiotic (Cleocin) 3 times a day for 3 weeks. Nathan was on this same regimen last year for the same problem.

If the sinus infection didn't clear up, we'd be headed to an ENT.

Thankfully, it did clear up. This past week, I took Nathan back in and had a follow up x-ray taken. Although he wasn't congested, he still couldn't breathe really well through his nose. The x-ray showed why... there is is some sort of polyp or cyst or something that has grown in his right sinus cavity. It fills 1/4 - 1/3 of the cavity! Dr. P gave Nathan a steroid nasal spray and switched him to Zyrtec because I felt like the Allegra wasn't working for him. The remaining instructions are to return mid-July for another x-ray (if Nathan makes it that far without getting another infection). Oh joy.

Wanting to be an informed mother, I dutifully google sinus polyps when I get home. Here's the highlighted paragraph that lead me to stress:

It should be noted that although nasal and sinus polyps are rare in children, they should be taken very seriously. Any child with nasal and sinus polyps should be screened for cystic fibrosis, Kartagener's syndrome, and allergic fungal sinusitis.

Again more googling.

The characteristics for cystic fibrosis generally include: No bowel movements in first 24 to 48 hours of life, Stools that are pale or clay colored , foul smelling, or that float, Infants may have salty-tasting skin, Recurrent respiratory infections such as pneumonia or sinusitis, Coughing or wheezing, Weight loss, or failure to gain weight normally in childhood, Diarrhea, Delayed growth, Fatigue

Thankfully, he only exhibits the that I've highlighted in red.

As for the list of common symptoms of Kartagener's Syndrome:

• chronic rhinitis
• recurrent or chronic sinusitis
• recurrent or chronic bronchitis
• bronchiectasis
• olfactory impairment
• infertility

Characteristic features of fungal sinusitis are signs or symptoms of chronic sinusitis unresponsive to antibiotic therapy. Well, that's ruled out, too. It might take some strong antibiotics t knock out his sinus infections, but at least they do respond.

Now, I must point out that Dr. P did not mention any of this. Sometimes I think the internet gives us too much information. Dr. P only said that the "growth" was unusual and that if the steroidal spray did not reduce or remove it that we'd need to go to an ENT.

Now five days later after his appointmetn, Nathan's nose is starting to run again. The sneezing has decreased, so I think the Zyrtec is doing a better job than the Allegra, but he's still not breathing normally. I don't think we'll make it to July and truthfully, that's ok with me because I'd like to get this taken care of so my little boy can be comfortable. Poor little guy. :(

Say a little prayer for Nathan, please!

New Allergies

Friday night I noticed some patches on Witt's inner calves that he was itching. They looked just like previous cases of eczema and I treated them as such with some extra lotion to begin with. Sometimes that's all it takes.

Saturday morning he woke up scratching the back of his neck and right above the back of his diaper.

By noon he was itching his stomach and chest.

Sunday began the upper chest, neck, and shoulders.

Last night he woke up itching uncontrollably - even on his scalp. I gave him some more Benedryl and laid down with him for over an hour. He twisted and turned and scratch and itched. I turned the light on a few times to check him out to make sure his whole body wasn't red. Finally I sat down with him on his bedroom floor cut his fingernails as short as I could, changed his diaper, lotioned him up, rocked him and put him back to bed. He woke earlier than usual at 6:30 am this morning.

Today he's added the upper arms to his itch fest.

I have been giving him Benedryl orally and via cream all weekend. It provided about two hours relief and then he would be miserable again. Oatmeal baths provided some relief as well. I've been trying to keep him in light, long pants and his shirt tucked in to keep his fingernails away from his skin.

I've racked my brain over what this could be... did I miss something in his food? Have I changed soaps or detergents? What about poison ivy or poison oak? Maybe it's a latex allergy... he was in a blow-up pool on Friday. Did something bite him?

We had a similar occurance last year. I remember it was the first really nice day of Spring. He was out in a Tshirt and his diaper. He itched all the next day, but that was it. He was out all day Friday in a Tshirt and diaper "helping" me plant our vegetable garden. Could pollen be doing this?

I finally got a chance to bring Witt to see his pediatrician today. After careful inspection, Dr. P said it is undoubtably eczema... and a bad case of one... especially for a two year old. He said it is most likely caused by something environmental. He also said that although these sort of things tend to get worse from year to year, it is unusual for it to escalate to this severity from one year to the next.

He prescriped an oral steroid for the next 6 days, a steriod cream for up to 2 weeks, and Zyrtec once a day for the rest of Spring (until around Memorial Day). He said it is very likely that come mid-August we will need to start the Zyrtec up again for the Fall. He also highly recommended a bath immediately after being outdoors. He said that even when I take him home from the appointment, I should bathe him.

I'm going to start change my shirt when I come inside as well. I don't want an indoor snuggle session to end up as an itch fest. I think I need to cut his hair now, too. I've been putting that off, 'cause he's so darn cute!

So what's an allergy post without some pictures?

Here is Witt in the bath after his appointment. The dark marks are scabs from scratching. The red is irritation from the itching. After some Benedryl and lotion, his skin does calm down some.

So now, I guess we have our second entrance into of the "Environmental Allergies Club". (Booger Boy being our first.)

I'm sure I'll make some new allergy friends, but please stop signing me up for these clubs. The "Severe Food Allergy Club" is plenty enough for my plate, thanks.