Finally an Answer

We talked to Brynlee's Gastroenterologist today and he finally gave us an answer we have been praying for. He told us that Bryn has lymphocytic colitis. This is an extremely rare condition that usually only occurs in older adults over 50. She has an increased amount of lymphocytes (white blood cells) in her colon and some inflammation. This condition is only detected through a biopsy because the colon always looks visually okay. A long with this, they were able to tell that she has some food allergies so we will be seeing a pediatric allergist to determine the evil foods that are making her sick too.

The cause of this condition is unknown but some researchers believe that it is an autoimmune disease (when your own immune system attacks the cells in the colon). People that have lymphocytic colitis usually have some other autoimmune disease such as diabetes, celiac disease, and some others. So far we aren't seeing those conditions.

The treatment consists of anti inflammatory drugs and corticosteroids. Because this is very rare, there are no liquid or chewing tablets for kids this age. The doctor has to find a pharmacy that will be able to do that. That will take a couple days. The treatment will last about a month then they will check her again. This condition usually goes away on its own, but Bryn has had it for a very long time, which means the case is severe. They are not sure if this will be a life long thing or not.

We are very grateful for all your prayers and we are so glad they finally found something and can treat her. She is such a perky, fun little girl with such a cute personality. I can't imagine how she would be if she actually felt good and wasn't in pain all the time. She is such a fighter.

Independent Girl

Our independent girl has officially potty trained herself. As of today, potty training is complete and I didn't do a darn thing. I kept trying and trying, but was unsuccessful due to Bryn's extreme stubbornness. This last Friday after we got home from school and work. She told me she wanted to go potty and wear underwear. This was nothing new, however the new thing about it was that she wanted to sit on the big potty and didn't want anything to do with the little one. She went for the very first time that moment and hasn't backed down yet. She didn't have control over her bowel movements and the pain it caused all weekend until today. She managed to control it mostly and make it to the potty.
I was really nervous leaving her with my mom all day so I put her in pull-ups. She told my mom every time. She has not had an accident since (except for the uncontrollable GI problems). I don't count the number 2 accidents because she has had a little bit more to learn to control then most kids her age, and she is doing pretty good at it. Bless her heart. This was the easiest potty training ever. Too bad it can't always be this way.
UPDATE: We heard from the GI doctor's office today saying that he would like to talk to both Ben and I in a couple days. I am not sure how to take that, but with a grain of salt. The only biopsy I have been able to look up was completely abnormal, however, I don't know what any of it means. Hopefully we will get some answers by the end of the week.

Baby Cleo

Ben's youngest sister, Kimmie just had a beautiful baby girl last Friday. Baby Cleo weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces and was 21 1/4 inches long. This is the first time Ben, me and the kids had seen her. The kids completely adored her. Brynlee calls her "Baby Cleo." She was so gentle and soft with her. She told Kimmie that "Baby Cleo is hungry." She didn't want to leave her side.

HOLY DiNoSaUrS

Our one and only vacation this summer we spent at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. We had never been there and Aiden has been wanting to go for along time. He was actually scared of these pretend Dinos. When he saw how big they were, he would say "Holy Dinosaurs!" I think it cost way more then it was worth, but he had fun. Brynlee just chilled in her stroller and slept most the time.

First Day Of Kindergarten

Aiden started kindergarten on September 1st. He was super excited and said he wasn't even nervous. He is attending all day kindergarten with his Aunt Mikayla at North Park Elementary in Roy. I am glad that Kayla is there to look after my baby boy. He is growing up WAY to FAST.

Our Little Trooper (Surgery Day)

Playing in the first waiting room

Daddy helping get me get on my hospital gown

Playing with magnets on the wall

Awake for just a brief 2 minutes (literally)

Minnie is recovering too in my hospital bed

Very very sleepy

On my way out of recovery. "Daddy save me" she said

Today Brynlee had an endoscopy and colonoscopy at Primary Children's Hospital. We have been waiting a long time for them to finally do this. We all want answers to her chronic bowel, weight and pain issue. Bryn did really well in surgery. The entire surgery took about 2 hours. They gave us wonderful pictures of her guts to bribe her with later in life. We really like our gastroenterologist. He is very thorough and he spent a lot of time with us after the procedure was complete. He said that they couldn't visually see anything abnormal but they took A LOT of biopsy's of her small intestine and colon. They are testing for any sign of inflammation that they couldn't see, allergies, and anything else I guess. The results won't be back for a week.
Ben was the first one to be able to go back and see her. Only one parent could go back to the first recovery room. She is such a daddy's girl that I let Ben. During that time, Bryn's vital signs crashed (blood pressure and oxygen dropped and her pulse jumped up). They had to call the doctor to get instruction on what he wanted them to do. They gave her some extra bolus of fluid along with the IV that was already running. She apparently was more dehydrated then they thought. They didn't let me go back until she was moved into the second recovery room and stable. Ben didn't tell me what happened until I had been in there for a minute and noticed all the extra fluid pumping through her IV at a fast rate. When he told me what her blood pressure was, I freaked out. HOLY COW how scary. While in the last recovery room, her BP slowly started coming up and her oxygen only occasionally dropped. She just looked horrible to me...like a white, pasty ghost. She is doing better at the moment even though she still looks like a white pasty ghost. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Thank you for all your prayers.

Eight Legged Freaks

Because Aiden has been so into Spiders and Bugs lately, we decided to find some spidery bug movies for him to watch. This one came out in 2002. He absolutely loved it...can't ya tell by his face. He loved it so much he has wanted to watch everyday since then. Brynlee was glued to it to. It was actually a pretty good movie considering it was about Freakin huge spiders. I just love my bug lovin little boy.