Catchin Up

Holly Cow, I'm way-hay behind. Let's see.....the last thing I posted about was potty training with Larkin. She's still not potty trained. I guess I'll start there. Larkin was diagnosed with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) late last year. Although we knew she had IBS when we started potty training her, we wanted to try anyway. It didn't work and she's still in diapers to this day. But here is the miracle. In January, we had a little get together for my friend's birthday. One of our friends heard Larkin's raspy voice and asked if she was sick. I told her that she's always been hoarse....from day 1. She asked me if she had nodules on her vocal chords. Not knowing what the heck a nodule was, I googled it. The best way to describe it is that it's like a callus on her vocal chords from the way she speaks and thus the way her vocal chords rub together. This can cause hoarseness. BINGO!! I took Larkin to the ENT (ears, nose & throat DR). He put a scope up her nose and down her throat. She was so happy about it, NOT. Not only did the doctor see the nodule (which is treated though vocal exercises), but he saw that her voice box is very red, irritated, and swollen. He suspected acid reflux. Really, reflux? Jacob had reflux as a baby and so we know about reflux. Larkin never throws up. I was shocked. She needed an upper GI. This is a test where they give her a barium drink and take x-rays and watch it go down. They watch for the barium to come back up. Larkin's did. She actually has a significant amount of reflux. While she does not actually throw up, the acid comes up and burns everything, including her voice box. If left untreated, her voice could be damaged permanently. As a vocal major, this was hard to hear, especially when Larkin's name means 'song bird.' They wrote a Rx for Prevacid. Okay, here's the miracle. Larkin was on the Prevacid for not quite a week when it happened. She had a 'normal' bowel movement. She hasn't had one of those since July 2009. (I'll spare you the details). The Prevacid is for acid reflux, but for her it seems to help her IBS too. For the first time since July, she doesn't need Miralax every day. She's starting to eat more and being less irritated after she eats. It's all coming together! So, now maybe we can start potty training. Maybe she'll start growing some freakin hair!