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!