another appt, another round

Saw Dr. Mielke yesterday afternoon, and the DMSA test we gave NBear a while back was not as successful as she had hoped. Are you kidding me? All that pee collection for THIS? She said something like, "It didn't show a big 'pull'", which basically means it didn't do a good job of extracting a large amount of the metal toxins in NBear's body. *feel free to gasp for air here*

So now what?

"I'd like to do the test again."

I felt the color drain from my face. Sure, the Huz mentioned that NBear had thrown up a little bit during the testing period (I swear, it was just a little - I personally feel she didn't lose any of the DMSA's effect) which then led to Dr. Mielke's concern that some of the meds must have come out, thus affecting the level of chelation.

"You mean...you want us to give her the tablets again? Where would we be right now if the test results showed a good pull?"

She said we'd be looking at scheduling a chelation program for NBear, according to what our financial situation was. So you mean you also have a program for "broker-than-broke"?

I'm sorry, but I wasn't happy with this appointment at all. I know, I know - Dr. Mielke doesn't write up the test results herself, but something just irked me about how all this was being handled. First of all, if the kid THREW UP because of the tablets, why would you want to try that route again? I didn't have the heart to see her go through that, even if it was just a tad. Second, I was not about to shell out major bucks for another follow-up appointment just to hear the same thing! So...I did what i thought was best.

I suggested we try another route.
Suppositories.
Yes, suppositories.

Poor NBear, but I just need to know that another route will be better, even if this is a bit invasive. Our other choice would be via I.V., and to be quite honest, I wouldn't have a problem with that either. But our kid and our wallets sure would...

Those stupid metals. If I could, I'd pull an "Inner Space" move and vacuum them out myself.

As always, wish us luck.

*If there are any parents out there who have tried this with their kid - I need you!*

Urine luck! (great title, honey!)

Wow - thanks for your happy thoughts and prayers, guys! NBear took the 3 DMSA tablets without a fight :) Now, I must add that they really didn't smell as sulfuric as I thought they would - I was even brave enough to take a brief whiff of the powder when I opened the capsule.

And ok - maybe the reason she was fine with downing them was because I DROWNED the powder in Cherry flavoring, and the "huz" shot the liquid in her mouth via syringe. The kid didn't even have a chance to blink before we both started chanting: "Swallow it, swallow it, swallow it!", like those white-faced voodoo priests before performing a cleansing rite. It's easy to recognize when a kid hasn't swallowed, anyway - their cheeks are ballooned, they don't breathe properly, and they refuse to take a swig of the "chaser" you've provided for them. (In her case, it was pear juice.) So, the chanting contined until all was well.

Now, we begin the pee portion.

We're supposed to collect her urine for the next 6 hours, right? Step # 1 is to lock the other bathrooms in the house, giving her access to only one. (thereby eliminating any missed samples) Step # 2, is to put a clever medical tool called a "hat" in between the rim and base of the porcelain throne. It is truly a lifesaver when one needs to collect both urine and stool samples. Wanna join the club? :)

....more later. Lunch calls.

I'm okay! Really.....I.....am....

Our minds are so full of information right now, it wouldn't surprise me if brain matter started oozing out of our noses.

Meeting #2 with Dr. Mielke was all about answering our questions (phase 1), going over the lab results (phase 2), and getting the rest of our pharmacy goodies (phase 3) - all in a mere two hours. Needless to say, phase two was my least favorite:

So - she hands us a stack of papers and said they were NBear's lab results. You're kidding, right? - sneered my inner dark self - this REAM looks like the rough draft of the book "War and Peace"! We're going through all of this? Shouldn't you have allotted 6 hours, then? How could 1 stool sample, 1 hair sample, and 3 urine samples have come to this? *side: I must remind myself to post about THAT experience as well! We could all use a hefty laugh.* Alas, all I had the strength to say was, "Oh." Here is what we (hubby and moi) were told, or rather, how we understood what we were told:

*NBear had some serious viral issues - results showed that her digestive tract tissues had some serious inflammation going on

*As for food allergies, our hearts sank when EGG WHITES and YOLK were on her "not-to-eat" list. There go the morning over-easies, the gluten-free cake mixes.....*sob*....also on the list was wheat, rye, cow's milk, and our good friend, gluten. Incidentally, her body's reaction to gluten was so high (she scored a 0.859 on a scale of 0-1!) that Dr. Mielke wondered if the poor child could possibly even suffer from celiac disease. (same link, but look at the 5th paragraph. *lol* Notice the last sentence there? I hope the Pope plans on hiring some people from the "Gluten-Free Eucharist Ministry". Soon.)

*Yes, metal toxins - mercury, lead, arsenic - were still an issue. Chelation was definitely going to have to happen, if we wanted to move forward. I'm not going to lie about my fear of chelation. How can I possibly be 100% FINE when there are things like this and this? OMG. We did receive a test kit - called the Challenge kit - to see if NBear would have a "positive" reaction to the chelator known as DMSA. (I'm assuming that "positive" in this context does not mean happy faces and plus signs, but rather if:

1) she is willing to take the chelator orally, despite the fact that its sulfuric content matches that of a rotten egg...in both smell and taste, I may add. *clearly remembering Dr Mielke's face as she stressed the words "...it...tastes....hooorrrrriiiibbbllleee!"

2) she does not have a bad reaction (a bad reaction to ingesting rotten egg-like powder? Now who ever heard of such a possibility?)

3) it works for her. Alas, some chelators can be picky with the metals they choose to adhere to, and may not secrete them as planned. Let's hope NBear's metals are high on the attractive list .

Would it be so bad to ask all of you who read this to please ask the big G-man (aka J-man, HS-man) to keep her in mind when I administer the test tomorrow? *groan* I'll also have to follow her around for 6 hours after the capsules are taken. Just call me Princess Urine-Collector. *Where's the catheter when I need it?*

***Last Word:
~ Two teary tantrums and one "woe-is-me" speech to hubby later.......and I am fine. really.
Did I also mention that my wallet is now concave? That book idea doesn't sound so bad after all.