Doren's Diagnosis

It all started back in Korea when Doren had some blood work done and the docs discovered he was anemic. A few weeks later we moved to Germany and once we got settled in we checked in with a new doctor about the anemia and she discovered something else in his blood that set off some red flags. So we gave them a stool sample and there were more red flags. She referred us to a German pediatric gastroenterologist and that's where he got his first colonoscopy and EGD (down the throat) earlier this year. They knew he had some kind of IBD, or Inflammatory Bowel Disease, not to be confused with IBS, which is Irritable Bowel Syndrome, but they didn't know what type for sure. They gave us a medication that was so bitter and horrible that no amount of yogurt or honey could mask the awfulness and he wouldn't take it. Even if he had managed to swallow it I'm sure he would have vomited it right back up. We (meaning me) also had to give him a horse-sized suppository every night which was later shown not to reach the location of the inflammation because it was higher up. So these were not working solutions. A few months later we heard about a new American specialist moving here with the Air Force so we made an appointment with him because 1) second opinion, 2) his office is closer, 3) obviously easier to communicate with, and 4) maybe he had access to other medications that a 2-year old can tolerate. They took more blood and more stool samples and it was enough for this new doctor to want to do his own EGD/colonoscopy to see for himself what was going on inside Doren's intestines. The day before the procedure, and the same day my parents and grandma flew in, Doren was on a clear liquid diet and the next morning I took him to the hospital early in the morning. Of course nothing ever happens on schedule in hospitals so the poor boy had to wait two more hours than scheduled. He was crying and miserable and asking for food and water but I couldn't give him any. It was so heartbreaking and honestly made me think of all the refugees traveling for miles with nothing to feed their children. But unlike those poor children at least I knew Doren's suffering would be over after a few more hours, so it really wasn't so bad.

Anyway...long story long! They did the procedure and determined that Doren does, in fact, have an IBD. He has Ulcerative Colitis which is Latin for 'boy makes copious mud". It's a disease that causes inflammation in the rectum and colon and, according to my understanding, is caused by something off in the immune system. The only symptom he shows is diarrhea but not like the kind you get when have food poisoning and you're on the toilet thirty times in one day with nothing but poo-water shooting out. Thankfully, Doren (only) poops anywhere from two to five times a day and it's either runny split-pea soup or like canned dog food. That's as solid as it ever gets. There you have it. Every day for many months earlier this year I had to take his pants outside, sometimes more than once a day, to be hosed off because his diapers could not contain the volume. There were many impromptu baths. There were many pants.

At the follow-up appointment the doctor explained more about what to expect, prescribed a medication that is, hallelujah, flavorless and suggested we order this book to understand more about what's going on.

I can't wait to cozy up with this fun Fall read!

He also told us that Doren needs to be on a Paleo diet. Oh.

I've made lots of Paleo stuff over the years just to (hang on, gotta change another loaded diaper...) make something without regular white flour and sugar. Like, instead of regular muffins I would make Paleo muffins to at least cut out that amount of white stuff from our diet. For those who don't know what it is, a Paleo diet is basically eating only what hunter-gatherers would have eaten before cultivating the land. This includes meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, roots aaaaaaand that's about it. What is not allowed are any dairy products, refined sugar, processed oils, legumes (including peanuts), and any grains including wheat, oats, rice, corn, quinoa and all of the lesser known grains. So that's a lot of no-no's. There are many counter-arguments to Paleo, for example that broccoli didn't exist ages ago, etc., but whatever. This is what the doc is recommending and I think it's good that he wants to work with the diet and not just medication alone.

When I think about it, the Paleo diet is actually more restrictive than Vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free combined. At first I thought, "Well I guess I'll switch him to gluten-free pasta and cereals." (Leaning into microphone) WRONG. It's all grains. No pasta or any kind of warm or cold breakfast cereal. This means that literally everything he eats, unless it's a piece of fruit, has to be made from scratch or prepared by this gal. Obviously I have to cook meat and he's not old enough to chomp on raw vegetables...well, he could but in his case he just sucks the juice out of the carrot and spits out the pulp. I mean, it's a good thing - cooking whole foods from scratch, but, geez, as if I weren't in the kitchen enough already. I can't imagine how this would work if I also had a paying job to manage. It's so time-consuming and something always has to be cooking.

I don't know how long he will need this strict of a diet, so for now there goes "easy spaghetti night" and German Dinner. Sob! Wasn't the whole point of that so that I wouldn't have to think of "what's for dinner" every single night? I mean, the rest of us can eat the other stuff but I guess it would be good if we all ate a little less bread. Doren will eat whatever I give him but if he sees the rest of us eating something different he will let his displeasure be known loudly! He was wants his food plus what the other guy has. He sees all!

The cruel irony is that bread is basically the only food group in Germany. Everything might be closed but, (pounding fist on desk) dammit, the bakeries will be open!! We go to the bakery two to four times per week and he knows we're there and always asks for a piece of whatever I bought. How do the Germans eat bread all day everyday without having problems?! I'm pretty sure food sensitivities are against the law here. I've never heard of anyone in the boys' schools who is gluten-free or dairy-free. The idea! Honestly, not able to eat bread IN GERMANY. It's like not being able to eat rice in Korea, which he can't have either. Gone are the days of a quick bowl of cereal on a rushed morning or a handful of pretzels or cheese for a snack. You can't even buy Paleo stuff off the shelf like gluten-free stuff. Any Paleo to-go bar is just nuts and seeds and Doren is a little too young for that serious of chewing.

Fortunately, there are a ton of Paleo blogs and recipes online, so one of the first things I made were cookies because who doesn't like cookies? The ingredients were banana, avocado, egg, baking powder, cocoa powder and honey.

Mmmm. Soil.
They look the same going in as coming out.

Doren had two or three during the day and on his last one I noticed he also had a full diaper. As I laid him down to change his pants he started spewing black out of his mouth and the inside of his diaper was black. Apparently not these cookies.

I also made Sweet Potato Banana Blueberry Mini Muffins, which were a hit, and this Sweet Potato Bread. The key to Paleo is always to have a cooked sweet potato waiting in the fridge.

Sweet potato "bread".
More like flavorless damp sponge.

Calling this "bread" is really stretching it. So far everything is kind of bland, mushy, cakey and grainy, but he seems to like it. This morning the older boys had Cream of Wheat but Doren had porridge of banana, cinnamon, coconut and the rest of that cooked sweet potato blended and warmed up. I should probably give that to the brothers but it may take some convincing.

As far as diseases go it could be much worse so please don't feel the least bit sorry for us. It can be a serious condition if it isn't dealt with so I'm grateful it was caught at such a young age. But that's actually one of the things that perplexes the doctors - that he's so young to have this. He's growing fine and not showing any other signs of problems that are usually associated with UC, so hopefully we'll prevent any further damage with the diet and meds. They are still "looking for the zebra" though.

Nice chatting with you but it's been well over twenty minutes. It's high time I get back to the cutting board.
Raise a glass to solid poops in our future!

Grandparents and Barcelona

'Tis a sad day after a wonderful two weeks. My parents and Grandma flew in to see us and they just left this morning. My Grandma now has more freedom to roam the earth after years of taking care of her parents and then my Grandpa, who passed away in June. As soon as they walked in the door it was a non-stop two week jubilee of love, giggles and snuggling.

It's fortunate that they came when they did because the very next morning I had to take Doren in for a procedure early in the morning, Marc had to be at work and the boys still had two more days of school. Without batting a jet-lagged eye my mom got them off to their schools and picked them up while I was gone all day.

Poor boy recovering from another endoscopy. The hardest part was not being able to feed him anything but liquid for over 24 hours.

A few hours later he was all better and it was more of this. Doren loves Papa Bob so much. 

<3

Muther is always up for a craft.

So many lovings.

At a Jelly Market

We went to Gartenschau to see all the pretty flowers.

We also went to some castle ruins and had lunch in a cozy little German restaurant.

Another reason it was great they came when they did is because Marc had a business trip in Barcelona Monday through Wednesday, so I took advantage of three free babysitters, just like Momcation, and flew out to meet him on Wednesday for two nights. Fancy! This is one of the many things I love about Europe. In the same time it takes to fly from San Diego to San Francisco (and probably less money) I can fly to an entirely different country.

I couldn't get over how, besides the obvious, everything is so much easier traveling without the boys. For example, I took the train to the airport and had to make two transfers. There was plenty of time between each transfer and all I had to do was walk to the other side of the platform. When I have the boys and stroller and bags the transfers are three minutes long and on the opposite side of the station requiring two rides on an over-crowded elevator, if one even exists. When I got to the airport I sauntered right through security because there was no line. With the boys the line is always a mile long. My gate was one of the first in the terminal and the plane wasn't nearly full. With the boys, the gate is the last one in the terminal and the plane is always over-booked. I can't explain this phenomena! It's just the way it is!

For a few weeks before the trip I was trying to get back into Spanish mode. I took six years in high school and college and used to be pretty conversational. But now I'm so used to trying to think of everything in German that all the Spanish has flown out of my head! Simple sentences that used to come so easily are now mottled with German, like "Me gustaría eine Flasche agua, bitte." Oy! So I spent the flight reading and listening to whatever I could to try to remember stuff. I didn't appreciate it when I was learning it in school and now I absolutely love it!

Arriving in Barcelona was thrilling with all the Spanish faces and visions of olives dancing in my head. Ahh, Barthelona...Barthelona. Hearing the language and seeing the words on signs, even though I forget a lot, are still easier on my eyes than German. I think it's safe to say I was grinning like Goofy walking through the airport, being so excited to have a little break from the boys and my normal days. If anyone is going to Barcelona I recommend the Aerobús. Its €5.90 to multiple stops in the city, it leaves every five minutes in both directions and you don't have to mess with the Metro. Fun fact: the bathrooms in the Barcelona airport all smell exactly like a Caramel Macchiato with a hint of orange zest.

Marc met me at the stop and we waded into the city streets. Yes, the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain...except for the two days I was there. It was clear before and clear after, but they got their year's worth of rain when they got me. Not a drizzle or normal rain, but the big, fat, sideways kind that soaks you no matter what you do. And, sure enough, the rain boots I had for ten years disintegrated a few weeks ago so I was on the hunt for wellies. But first, dinner...

I know, Mexican in Spain, but we had to because our cute friends from Croatian Vacation told us we had to go to this place. Oh, sí. ¡Sí!

The best margarita and street tacos EVER at El Pachuco.

Everyone has a lot of plants and laundry hanging from their balconies, which no one bothered to take in even though Niagara Falls was coming out of the sky.

Our "hotel" was, um, nothing to blog about. The only memorable thing was that the walls were so thin we might as well have had a Kleenex dangling between us and the neighbors because we could hear every single word clearly. If you must know, they were Americans talking about Warren Buffett paying his taxes and the CEO of Wells Fargo stepping down.

Oh my goodness, this waffle. I couldn't tell if the sauce was garlicky or caramelly. It was so amazing.

My cute little coffee, except I could have drank like five more.

Ruins found under the city.

We're assuming they manufacture suppositories here.

Another one of Marc's artsy shots.

Who knew Barcelona was right on the beach? I didn't! I thought you had to drive an hour or so, but it's right there on the Mediterranean. There were even some pretty decent waves and lots of surfers. We had a nice morning with no rain so we did a lot of walking and ended up at this beach which I imagine is pretty crowded in the summer.

Moments before the deluge. We hid under a bridge but still got wet because of the sideways rain.

Earlier in the day we walked to La Sagrada Familia to go inside but found out you have to buy tickets in advance and come back at whatever time slot they give you. We returned at 6pm sharp. The exterior is so detailed and the inside is much bigger than it looks on the outside.

Definitely the most unique, spectacular church I've ever been to.

I already really love stained glass so the best part of the whole thing for me is that the colors are in rainbow order. Nice touch, Gaudi!

A must-see

After the tour we had plans to meet one of the guys from Marc's class and his wife, who also live in Germany, for tapas. After Mexican and Vietnamese meals I definitely wanted to have the tapas experience. It was raining really hard and we had a long way to walk. We went into every shoe store we passed during the day and no one had rainboots in my size 41. (Fyi, apparently the only shoe size available in Spain and Germany is a 38. I've seen it with my own eyes.) Despite having an umbrella, I blame my big feet for the fact that I no longer needed to avoid the puddles and river of water flowing down the sidewalk. My shoes were completely filled with water. But we still really enjoyed meeting the other couple, drinking wine and trying lots of tapas. Hopefully no one noticed my shoes were off or the puddle of water under my chair.

We left early the next morning but our flight was delayed, then delayed again, and then rerouted a longer way. We also had train problems because of more delays. I guess it isn't always easier without the boys. Its a good thing they weren't with us for all of that. A lot of Spanish came back to me and when I returned to Germany I found myself saying "Sí" to people and "Eine Kaffee mit Sahne, por favor." How do jet-setting Europeans keep it straight?!

The family met us at the train station with the boys in mustaches. Even though I was gone only two nights Doren looked like he either didn't recognize me or was so upset he couldn't even try to smile. Gee whiz!

It's nice to see you, too, Doren.

My 84 year old Grandma walked four miles and could have kept going. She's amazing! 

She has more energy than me for sure!

Thank you for coming, Mom, Dad and Busha! We loved our time together and have so many sweet memories. XO