Yes, sometimes you bring home some little unwelcome guests. So makes sure that your pediatrician orders a stool test. Alanna's came back psoitive for Giardia. It's a parasite caused by dirty water, and since it lives in the intestines, it is passed easily in any "daycare" type setting.
She didn't look like she was having any symptoms, no loose stool, the opposite as a matter of fact.
Then she got diagnosed, and it was like all of sudden she was having oily loose stools. But she is such a healthy chubby little thing, it didn't seem like it could be making her very sick.
Well, she's been on the medicine for 3 days now, and guess what.
That acid reflux, gone! Before I couldn't even give her the smallest amount of juice/water, it came back up like a volcano. She was constantly spitting up, and she had 3 episodes of vomiting. All symptoms of Giardia, who knew?
It is Wednesday morning, and the last time I saw her spit up anything was Sunday. She must be feeling so much better!
And yet, things like this make me so sad, there are hundreds, thousands, of babies, not only all alone in a crib, but suffering from the most treatable things, that are causing them so much pain.
I had giardia when I was a kid! Of course I didn't live in an orphanage, we have no idea how I (and my mother and brother) caught it. They had to special order medicine for us and I remember it tasted AWFUL! It looked (and tasted) like the ooze from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles :)
ReplyDeleteDarya had giardia, too. Our pediatrician doubted it because her stools weren't loose. They were actually very hard and looked like playdough balls (gross, I know). But after her treatment her appetite was sooo much better!! Poor babies!!
ReplyDeleteJess, thankfully they flavor medicines now. She loves the stuff!
ReplyDeleteYour last paragraph has me in tears. Makes me so sad for my waiting little man and more furious at USCIS.
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