Draw time and the difficulty with flow

Samantha had a blood draw today. We picked her up from camp and handed her a full water bottle with the instructions to drink. She had the 30 minute drive to the lab to get in as much as she could.

Samantha's never been a good bleeder, even as a baby. She's learned that the more the drinks the easier the draw. Now that she's 9, we don't have to argue about it--she equates more water with less pokes.

But today, Samantha wasn't a good bleeder. She drank a lot of water, but had expended most of it at camp. She tried to drink a lot until she felt too full to drink more.

I typically sit in the lobby of the lab while she goes back in the chair by herself. We've come to know our phlebotomist well. Samantha likes to do it by herself--it makes her feel grown up. While we were sitting in the lobby today, Samantha and the phlebotomist were giggling. They were laughing because the draw started out well and blood was flowing and the moment they mentioned it the flow stopped. It happened twice.

I'm so glad that it isn't a negative thing, these blood draws. And that Samantha can find humor in a somewhat sucky situation.

When she was a baby and I had to hold her down because she was screaming and squiggling during a heel stick. I never thought this would get any better, but it has. It has been at least two years since Samantha last cried at a draw. And now she takes it like a champ.

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In May, when our school had an open house, Samantha had her autobiography displayed on the the third-grade wall. It said: "My name is Samantha. I was born in Gilroy. I was born without a thyroid. My parents were so happy that I was their daughter . . ." Of course we are!

Today we had another follow up with the pediatrician to deal with Samantha's chronic bronchitis. He feels as helpless as I do. He was looking over her chart and recognized that there is a pattern as to when the bronchitis shows up: Spring through Summer.

She's been allergy tested and we've been released by the gastroenterologist but they're is still something wrong.

Last night Samantha started to giggle and then she couldn't breathe. We ran to the nebulizer and started Xoponex and saline. Her eyes looked panicked as she gasped for air. I talked her through it--I don't think either of us blinked the entire time. And when she started to cry I told her that she couldn't.

So today, when she fell asleep on the pediatrician's exam table I got some time where she wasn't listening to tell him how exasperated I felt. I said to him, "I told her she couldn't cry last night because when she cries the breathing is labored and difficult. I hate telling her that she can't cry and tough it out, but I don't know what to do."

He feels as lost as I do and wants us to look into some alternative medicine to help: biofeedback, acupuncture, as well as our allergist.


Our non-CH child, Alyssa, has terrible food allergies that we have yet to determine. She's allergic to strawberries and the non-organic wreak havoc on her face. And dairy--she's been tested for casein and a general panel but has shown no problems. There is something in milk that is an issue as she becomes very ill when she has milk. She's been getting huge water blisters in her mouth every couple of days from something that she's eating.

So with Samantha's chronic bronchitis and Alyssa's allergies we're going to explore a completely organic and non-processed diet. We're worried and desperate and praying that this helps with both.

We're also getting Samantha re-tested this week in preparation for our next thyroid check with pediatrician. Sometimes her illnesses and her inability to get over an illness signal a high TSH.

To draw or not to draw

We have a mid-year checkup with our pediatrician the first week in July and I need to have blood draws done before then. With Samantha on a considerable amount of prednisone and inhaled steroids, as well as antibiotics, I begin to waver about the draw. We (her doctors and I) are never really sure how all this medicine impacts her results.

It fits into our schedule to have the draws done this week, but Samantha is tapering the prednisone and will be on it until at least Wednesday. I suppose I won't make a decision until later this week.

It's been a sucky start to the end of the school year. She missed nearly 3 days of the last 5 because she couldn't stop coughing and breathing was difficult. I am crossing my fingers that it's not indicative of our summer.

Back to bronchitis

We're two weeks from our next blood draw. We're alternating 88 mcg 4 days a week and 100 mcg 3 days.

Samantha has bronchitis again. We've somehow managed to go almost 9 months without breathing problems, but now that her levels are fluctuating we find ourselves in this place again. Our pediatrician was as disappointed as we were--we thought she'd outgrown it.

We're back to Prevacid, prednisone, antibiotics, and breathing treatments.

The older she gets the more I notice that she doesn't bounce back from these bouts. She used to take her treatments and be back to dancing within minutes. This time she's more tired, pale, and just over it.