Joshua has an ear infection...would you like some Flagyl with that??

Joshua has his first official ear infection. After 6 weeks of being home with constant runny noses, I felt sure that one of the boys would get an ear infection. I knew that it was just a matter of time...

We took Joshua and Josiah in on Tuesday morning for their second round of vaccinations and I debated over whether or not to have the pediatrician step in to check Joshua's ear. Because this was a "nurse" visit, I just wasn't sure that I wanted to pay the extra copay for the doctor to step in for 5 seconds and give me a prescription or better yet, only to have her say that his ears are fine. So, we left the office to head home.

Back up a couple of days...Joshua started running a low fever Saturday night, but I checked and he had a new molar coming in. So, I gave him Tylenol every 4 hours to help with the pain and fever. He ran a fever off and on until Tuesday morning, when we took them in.

Back to the story :) A few hours after we got home from the doctor's office, Joshua starts TUGGING at his ear, like he's trying to pull it off. So, I call Dr. Albert's office to schedule an appointment. Of course, it's lunchtime by now and they don't have any openings until the following morning-Wednesday at 11:20. At this point, I'm still not convinced that he has an ear infection...

On Wednesday, I took him in and sure enough, he has a horrible ear infection in one ear and is well on his way to a bad one in the other ear. That will teach me to always listen to my "Mommy Instincts". It's been awhile since I've had toddlers, so I have to laugh this off and chalk it up to me getting back into the swing of things!

As the doctor and I were talking, I was discussing all of our "diaper issues" with her. I could see the wheels turning in her mind...she's looking through his chart and says to me "You know, Heather, Joshua is the one who tested positive for Shigella (see previous post)... but I didn't treat him for it, because he didn't have any other symptoms and everything says NOT to treat it unless you have definite symptoms. However, I'm wondering if he really does have Shigella in his system and that may be part of the problem." She prescribed a broader ranged antibiotic to fight the ear infection, but also eradicate the Shigella, just in case.

At this point, I'm ready to call in professional diaper changers, so I'm ready to consider anything that might fix it! We were still waiting for the results of both of their stool cultures to come back.

Lo and behold, Dr. Albert called me this afternoon to let me know that Joshua still tested positive for Shigella, but was negative for giardia (hmmm....). Josiah, on the other hand, tested positive again for giardia. So, we're changing the medication for the giardia to Flagyl (the NASTY tasting stuff) and we're treating both of the boys, since there's a high probability that Joshua's stool culture is wrong.

So...hopefully we'll get the digestive issues treated and they'll be out of lives for good!

Giardia

Jessica and Christopher went back to school last week, on August 13th. They are enjoying their classes and trying to get back into the routine of school. None of us can believe that the summer went by so quickly!! Matthew will be coaching Christopher's flag football team again and Jessica is training for volleyball. She was able to play in a summer league with the high schoolers from Summit-the only 8th grader asked to play with them. It was a great experience for her, especially since she LOVES volleyball!!

Joshua and Josiah are continuing to do well. We're still having some gastrointestinal issues that we're trying to get resolved. They completed their 3 day treatment of Alinia (for Giardia) on July 28th, but as of today, there's still no change in their diapers. I'm changing an average of 10 dirty diapers a day for each boy. So, their pediatrician has ordered a repeat of the stool samples for both of them and we are currently waiting for the results to come in. From all that I've learned online, alot of the Giardia from Ethiopia is resistant to treatment, mostly due to the fact that it's so common over there. When people have it over and over and over again, they become resistant to treatment. Our pediatrician prescribed the Alinia because it's a newer medication and only takes 3 days to complete, whereas the other treatment is very difficult in several ways. 1. It tastes HORRIBLE 2. It's very hard on their system (can cause severe abdominal pain, more diarrhea, etc) 3. many times the treatment is harder than the giardia itself, which I honestly can't imagine.

The other issue with testing for Giardia is that it's very difficult to catch. It's really random luck of the draw. It isn't passed with each diaper and that's where the luck comes in. I have friends who've adopted from Ethiopia and their children tested negative for Giardia multiple times over a 6 month period. But, they did have it and were treated with Flagyl (the nasty tasting stuff) and got better immediately.

I'm hoping that their pediatrician will be proactive and will treat them again, even if the stool samples are negative. If she doesn't, I'll be making an appointment at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston as they are one of the leading International Adoption Physician Networks in the country. I'd appreciate your prayers for healing so very much!