My Baby Kennedy (TMI.....for the weak)

It is hard to think of anything serious being wrong with your child. I have friends with children that have a range of diseases or illnesses or conditions, but my kids have always been the healthy ones really(we thought). I guess that has been a blessing since I am the one who is always getting sick or having something going on medically. Last week we wend in for along overdue and needed "well-child" check up with our pediatrician. Kendra was overdue on a couple of vaccinations and so we caught her up on them - nothing too major. Kennedy on the other hand, well, I had many issues that we have discussed over the years that we needed some follow up on. Mainly - her bowel issues. Since birth she has had BM problems and it has never really been an easy one to resolve. She produced meconium for longer then she should have after birth, and since then she has had issues going poop. We initially switched from breast feeding to formula, then to lactose free formula and that helped a little but she struggle to go poop all the time. It seemed painful! We went through Karo in the bottles to Miralax. Once she started on table food, we tried lactose free milk when she quit formula. After she turned 3 or so, she quit drinking milk, but loved yogurt, and cheese and all dairy. Since then we have had issues with getting complete potty training down. It has been a battle of wills at some points, other times it is just a sheer volume issue. The kid can back up a toilet like nobody! Now she is my daughter and she is stubborn, but I played with things some (in her diet) and notice a difference when she is not eating dairy....but it is still not "right". She is not in control of things the way an almost 6 year old should be......So the pediatrician referred us to the GI doc and we saw her today. She took xrays of the belly (which showed a large amount of stool in the bowels), did a rectal exam and noticed the hard-ness of her poo, took 3 vials of blood to run tests for Celiac disease, thyroid issues (which is in the family big time) and allergies - so hopefully we will find out something from this. If not, she will see us back in a couple weeks, and we may have to do a scope and take some pictures of her insides. We are also doing in process of a bowel cleanse with magnesium citrate to "clear" things out. I know TMI....

Just another exciting day in the Ballard household.....what's next??

Blogging Limbo

I seem to have been in a blogging limbo lately. I have not felt like doing it. I have been pretty busy.....we are back in school now and I am also working. This is also our busy time of year, from September to January. I am pretty healthy - just doing infusions right now. Been losing weight and since this time last year have lost 40 pounds so that is great!

Ken was recently asked by one of the heads of the local MS chapter to blog for the next 6 months while he fundraises for the MS150 in May and gets ready for the ride. He saw one of his videos on You Tube that he made about me and MS last year. The guy just thought the video was awesome and wanted to link to it on his You Tube tab as well. Ken makes some pretty cool videos, but then again I am partial to his work.... :)

Our nephew, Geramy, and his band, American Lab Rat, are doing a show to benefit MS, Dallas Rockers 4 MS coming up on the 25th. This is pretty hard metal music, but it is also pretty good if you dig that type of music! Check them out, and come out to support the cause! It is so strange to think that Ken got him into guitar when he was 13 and now he has a band that is making a name locally for themselves and doing things for the community at the same time. I am pretty proud of him - he kept himself out of trouble in his teen years by taking the music route and when many people did not believe in him, we have always supported his love. I would love to see him go far, he is a pretty great guitarist!