Update on Harry {the ER}

A quick update on Harry.  Some preliminary tests indicate that Harry could have even more food allergies than we expected.  So in addition to wheat, gluten and dairy, he appears to react to beef, chicken (and turkey), peanuts and possibly eggs.  This is NOT good.  Most of my weekday staples for all three meals include beef (stew and tacos) or chicken (tortilla soup, gf pastas, grilled rotisserie) or eggs (scrambled, omelets or egg tacos for breakfast).  Even our favorite gluten free bread contains egg.  We are pretty upset.  He might be limited to fruit, veggies, fish and a few grains like rice and quinoa. We will know more next week (after the endoscopy and colonoscopy) but this is disheartening.  It is hard enough to plan meals and get enough fat and protein into Harry as it is.  All the gluten free dairy free things we bake for Harry have eggs in them.

These are small bowls of pure foods taped to Harry's back.  They had to stay there for 48 hours and he could not exercise, play sports, do recess or shower...YUCK!  It was actual little pieces of beef, chicken, potato, corn, rice, peanuts, egg, etc in there!  It kinda grossed me out.  This is a relatively new way to test for food allergies that have a more internal and delayed reaction (t-cell) rather than a quick histamine reaction (which is what the prick tests discover).

Also, yesterday Harry swallowed the pill cam.  He did GREAT at first and the nurses all told him that he swallowed it better than the teenagers do (first try).  It is a HUGE capsule...think of the biggest vitamin or capsule you have ever seen.  

{these are all with my Iphone}

After a few hours, Harry developed a severe headache.  He slept for a while and then when he woke he was allowed the first snack he could eat in 24 hours.  He had gf crackers and an apple.  Then about 2 hours later (and 6 hours into the test), he started vomiting.  This is not a good sign with the pill cam at all.  The camera needs to do down through the digestive system NOT up. It is a rare complication indicating that possibly the camera got stuck.  So, we had to drop Kate at my friends and rush to the ER.  After an ultrasound, xray, zofran, blood work and a lot of waiting, they finally let us come home.

{This is after the zofran kicked in and he was feeling much better}

If the nausea returns we need to go back to the ER to see if the capsule is stuck.  However, I am hopeful it is not.  He seems quite chipper this morning and is already dressed for a soccer tournament!

Tuesday morning he has the endoscopy and colonoscopy and once again, we would love your prayers.  Harry is an incredible kid but he is not the best patient. He gets really ticked off that he has to go through this sometimes. He has a HUGE fear of needles and it is a major ordeal whenever he needs to get stuck. He did okay with the IV line last night because they sprayed numbing stuff on before (note to self...ALWAYS ask for the numbing spray).

Some of this is simply so I will remember this and have it recorded somewhere.  Unfortunately, one of the doctors told me yesterday that Harry will have to repeat these procedures throughout his life to periodically check on his digestive system and I want to have it recorded how he fared.  I had no intention of taking photos or I would have had my real camera  with me but Harry asked me to take these with my I-phone.

Hope y'all have a great Memorial weekend!