Friday, October 09, 2020

Blast-ed bugs...

 Several weeks ago, during one of the worst episodes of sickness, we had Lochlan tested. A couple weeks later, those results revealed a high count of negative bacteria in his gut, as well as blastocystis protozoa. He's very sick. It was a strange relief to finally have concrete results that reflected what I have suspected for years. We've had prior testing, but the results have previously availed nothing. 

We started him on the treatment to eradicate the negative bacteria almost 2 weeks ago. Uncontrollable diarrhea immediately ensued, as well as a rather aggressive UTI. He's had to skip over 2 weeks of school, all told, as he is unable to control most of his bodily functions, though he tries. He has had some bad days and some good. Some days he screams - SO. MUCH. SCREAMING. Some days he laughs and canters around as if all is well. Some days he's a tyrant. Other days he's an angel. 



I found him an adult-sized trike which has been revolutionary. He mastered that thing in minutes and couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Now, he can keep up with his brothers on their bikes, which had become a huge frustration for him via his pedal car. 


His diarrhea and UTI has slowly improved, but yesterday morning he started the medication for the protozoa. The doctor had warned me to prepare myself and I took her warning to heart, so nothing has been particularly surprising or alarming. It was constant diarrhea and we finally ditched the underwear and pants, and just opted for a kilt, only (his preference, anyway). Typical Scotsman. :-) We ambled through an uncharted forest path, avoiding all other possible encounters with our fellow mankind and cleaned as we went. He really is happiest in the woods (that might be genetic, on the maternal side) and our day was full of beauty. Today, it was less diarrhea, but he was in so much pain this morning, it was dreadful. We'll see what the next few days hold for us, but I am full of hope that we are on the right track, and that we have isolated and attacked the true enemy of his gut. The coming days/weeks may be rough, but we can do this! 

We had our beloved friends, Kathy and Lionel, visit us during this time, and it revived us all. There is so much strength to be found in the love shared among true friends. 





We will have months of rebuilding to do, once we have eliminated the "bad guys", but this boy seems almost starving right now, so we'll fill that voracious appetite with all things wholesome and life-giving. If you have suggestions, throw them my way! We'll try anything and everything in the rebuilding (the gut health) process. 







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