Answers

On Tuesday, I laid out the details of my daughter's tummy mystery.  In summary, beginning in September, she experienced varying degrees of stomach discomfort.  It ranged from mild pain to nausea and vomiting, and resulted in weight loss.  Erratic blood sugars were part of the package too. A gastroenterological odyssey began, which took us through blood tests and trying different medicines and ended at the outpatient hospital for an endoscopy. By this point, it was the beginning of February.  We'd been at this for five months. 

After the procedure (which deserves its own separate post) the doctor spoke with us. There was no physical evidence of any problem, including reflux. A couple of days later, she called to say there were no viruses or unwelcome bacteria living in there. The celiac biopsy was negative. The only result to come back was the lactase. She'd call when it was in, but it could be a couple of weeks.

Three days before we left for Disney, I received the phone call.  It turns out, my child makes less than half of the lactase enzyme that most kids her age make.  She's lactose intolerant. The doctor recommended lactaid products, or chewing lactase replacement tablets before consuming dairy.  I'm happy to report that this has resolved the problem.

Happy may sound like a funny word to use.  But I'll go ahead and add 'relieved,' and 'validated' too.

Perhaps it was the close to six months of worrying, but this seems to be about the best we could have hoped for.  The alternatives were unsettling.  Celiac is a nightmare to live with.  Gastric reflux would include a lifetime of medication.  I was fairly convinced it wasn't an anxiety issue, and relieved to be proven right.  A host of other unpleasant possibilities could have been found during the endoscopy, none of which I even want to consider.

When it comes right down to it, what's one more thing to worry about before she eats?  She has a pre-eating routine which involves blood sugar checking.  She then stops to consider what she's eating as she counts the carbs.  The habit has been easy to pick up. 

The dairy tabs aren't magic, of course. The birthday party with the pizza and ice cream cake was too much.  On a daily basis, though, she's eating her meals, asking for more, and growing. 

And now her blood sugars are wacky from the growing instead of the erratic digestion...which is just fine with me.