Antibiotics for Becca

Becca is sick. Not from the celiac this time, but from a viral/bacterial infection of some sort. She has puffy eyes, a sore throat, a fever, and loss of appetite. I wouldn't have jumped to take her to the doctor as quickly as I did, except for the call I got letting me know her playmate from this past weekend has now tested positive for strep.

Our dilemma is what to do if the throat swab they took on Becca today comes back positive. Strep is risky business if untreated...but so are antibiotics for our Princess Becca (PB). She is allergic to zithromax (gets that from me unfortunately). All other antibiotics leave her nauseated, with stomach cramping and diarrhea. And when you tell your family doctor that your gluten-intolerant child needs to have all her prescriptions include instructions that the formulation must be gluten-free, they tend to give you that look--the one reserved for uptight, paranoid, delusional, hippie parents.

Any time PB's tummy hurts, she stops eating. Since her celiac disease and hidden dairy problems have left her so tiny, I hate watching her on a self-enforced fast. Our family doctor has indicated that it is fairly safe to wait out the results of the test and to even see if Becca kicks the infection without antibiotics. On that advice, we have decided to delay beginning treatment until the results are in, which could be two days from now. I hope we are making the best decision.

Updates on the strep/not-strep and antibiotics/no antibiotics dilemma will be forthcoming.

Where We Are Today

Becca's petite size is a source of constant worry for me. She was always little (being a preemie) but in the past year she has really slowed down. She hasn't gained a pound in longer than I can remember. I thought for sure it would turn around now that we are aggressively treating the celiac and the dairy intolerance. However, we are still waiting for the scale to budge.

For reference, PB is currently 30 lbs. My father checks her weight daily. When she finally hits 31 lbs we will have a little online celebration. I promise to decorate the blog with something very festive. For now, we'll keep letting her drink the lard through a straw.

Of COURSE I'm joking. Sheesh. I can't believe you would have even considered that I was serious.

(Honey, hide the lard before DFS shows up would you?)