4/26: Sick again..

Anya started vomiting again yesterday late afternoon.  Just like last Friday (4/18) and the one before (4/11), etc...  we started her again on Carnintine last night. 

 

We recently met and have been very happy with many of Anya's new docs here in Wisconsin.  It has been quite a refreshing change to see the greater level of care and communication between the specialties, as well as there much more rapid response and sense of urgency.  No revelations yet as far as a diagnosis goes but at least we now feel like she is finally being looked at seriously. 

oops

oops.  I just notice Katie just updated yesterday... Oh well.  A two-fer.

4/11: Update

Hello all.  Sorry it's been so long since any updates.  Not really much too report I suppose.  Same old story. Anya's sick right now, just like last Friday, just like the Friday before that.  She is still about 16lbs despite getting a consistent 1200 calories /day for several weeks now.  We aren't able to continue feeding her during the episodes like we thought we may be able to. So those few days of vomiting each week continue to take their toll on her weight gain.  She is getting so long.  Funny how I would normally say "tall", but when she can't stand it become "long".  What ever you want to call it, it's getting to be quite a distance from head to toe.  She is still as cute as ever. Still smiles. Still occasionally giggles. Still brings us to tears. Still humbles us. Still breaks our hearts. Still fills our lives...            We're still hoping. Still fighting. Still praying...         Still working on a full recovery.

Sorry for not updating sooner!

I know we have been terrible at updating since the move. Not sure where the last couple weeks have gone! The boys are still not in preschool so much of our day involves entertaining! Still trying to get settled. We were actually suppose to be enjoying a family vacation in mexico this week but unfortunately we're still in Wisconsin. We made it to the airport and check in only to find out Pete's passport had expired!!! Needless to say we had a disappointed family, boy did we need that vacation:)
 
Anya is doing well. She still continues her 7 day cycles. So frustrating, we haven't gotten too far with her new doctors here in Madison but we are going to see a couple more in May. I keep holding out hope that someone can help us with this vomiting issue. Poor little peanut is just so skinny! The vomiting is def. the worst part of her illness for me to handle emotionally. I just feel so bad to see her little body retching, puking and lethargic. Well, I hope we can do little bit better with the updates in the next couple weeks. Thanks so much for the continued love and support.
 
 

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3/19 Update

Hello all.   Anya had her 1st EEG when she was about 2 weeks old. It was normal.  Her 2nd, at around 2-1/2 months, showed very slow signalling w/ continuous spikes representing all her neurons firing at once.  Although that did not mean she was having seizures, it did indicate she was at high risk to do so.  Her 3rd EEG, at around 5 months, showed the sames spikes but the signaling was slightly faster (but still markedly slow). Which meant things were improving...  Anya's had her 4th EEG done last week.  In the 1/2-hour long procedure she had only 1 spike occur and the background signalling speed was "Normal".   YEEE  HAAAA!!!  That's my girl!!!!!  We are trying to schedule her MRI next.

 

This past week has been a really good one for Anya.  Happier than ever and doing well with her playing and misc therapies.  We made it a whole 12 days between vomiting cycles (she's sick again now, started yesterday).  With her new J-tube she's been consistently getting near 1000calories/day (excluding yesterday and today).  Although her sleep patterns have regressed, at least she is happy when she is up.  For the past few weeks she's been waking at around 3am and just wants attention.  Anything for the princes... 

 

I remember writing about a year ago that she just needs DESIRE in order to thrive.  Happy to say 'She now has it...'  She desires attention. She desires play.  She's got the desire we prayed for. She going to do it....  

3/8: Seattle Doc went well

We felt our trip to Seattle to see Dr. Klinghart was well worth it (but time will tell).  He seemed very knowledgeable, caring, proactive and offered much hope.  We finally, after so long, have a solid plan of attack and protocol to follow to address Anya's issues from multiple angles.  We won't get into it too much until we know if we're on the right track.

 

As many of you know we recently moved to the Madison area.  Aside from getting burglarized on Wednesday afternoon the neighborhood is very nice.  That's right...  I (Pete) was with Anya at her Neurology appointment while Katie stayed home to give the boys a nap.  She decided to take a nap her self and awoke to find two guys robbing us.  They fled when they saw somebody was home but Kate was pretty shaken up as you can imagine.  We are just thankful nobody got hurt.  I don't want to get into too much detail because I'm not sure if this website (babyanya.org) was the homepage on the computer they stole, so they potentially could be reading this.  If so, please find a safer hobby and sorry if our attack dog licked your hand too sloppily.

 

Oh yea, the point of this website.. Anya...  She has been having more frequent vomiting spells (every 4-5 days) and is down to 15.5 lbs.  On Wednesday (the morning of the robbery) we had Anya's G-tube replace with a J-G tube.  This will allow us to continue feeding Anya directly into her small intestine and by-pass her stomach while she is sick.  With this she can continue caloric intake even while sick which may be huge for her. EEG on Monday and MRI coming soon.  Fingers crossed.

 

Feb. 25

Good News, we made is safe to our new house! The kids traveled great and the roads were good. The weather is a bit cold for us, won't take long before we get used to it!! We like our new house, and so far the area seems to be very nice! No complaints.

 

Bad news is Anya started her vomiting cycle this week! Poor baby girl. All the kids are sick, the boys have a bad cold and I'm sure Anya picked that up as well. So between moving boxes, unpacking, blowing sick little noses and giving extra hugs we are a busy household! We have a very important dr.'s appointment this Friday in Seattle WA. Please say an extra prayer that Anya gets healthy and is able to travel safely. This doctor appointment could really give us some much needed answers. Thank you.

 

2/18: Better now.

Anya snapped out of it last night and has been able to hold food down throught the night.  Time to pack in as many calories as we can in the next 7 days until she starts it all again....

 

Poems

I just wanted to share a couple poems I came across today.  We, as parents, can only guess what Anya is feeling.  I couldn't help but assume it is in these words...

 

 

source:

http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/faculty/jfleitas/bandaides/lauren_poems.html

please check out her website as well...  I think Lauren is about 18yrs old and is suffering from Porphyria/

 

With courage and strength we fight the good fight, all day, everyday, through day into night. Our battles are lonely, confusing and trying, all the time we're determined not to think about dying. But we fight the good fight, and we know we can win, for our will to survive really does lie within. We hold our heads high and we live for today, we always are trying to keep our illnesses at bay. Through good times and bad, we keep our futures in sight, for we will not give up, we fight the good fight. Lauren

Dark, it's dark. The light runs away from me. Not alone, but lonely. Scared. Anticipating. Angry. However, a bleak light shines through,  making it past the cold wall that surrounds me. Sad, but hopeful,  for the light that shines through  renews my faith in something. Something. As long as there is something, I have hope. Lauren

  

Dominic suffers from Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome (CVS), just like Anya. Oh wait, I forgot, Anya doesn't have CVS according to one of her doctors because CVS is not a real disease. It is just something teenage girls make up to avoid going to school... (what a Jack-ass)...

 

From: http://www.cvsaonline.org/CVSAKidsZone_files/CVSAKidsZone.htm

 

I Wait

By Dominic Gallardi

 

I know it's always there,

Waiting to strike;

I know you all care,

But, this is my fight.

 

I count down the days,

Wishing it not to come;

I feel the first faze,

But, know I know I can't run.

 

I hope for a cure,

To this ugly disorder;

Until then I pray,

Each occurrence will get shorter.

 

Thank you for listening,

To my feelings and fears,

Thank you for helping,

Dry the children's tears.

2/15 Sick again

Again sounding like a broken record but she is puking again... Morning started great, happy as can be and then around 9:30 she started.

2/24 Happy V-day

We are so happy to report Anya is doing GREAT! She has been so happy these past several days.  She is smiling a lot and giggling consistantly and appropriately when being tickled.  Her breathing has been great as she is still getting over pneumonia.

Discharged!

Settled in.

Anya made it to childrens okay and is all settled in. Its a brand new hospital w/ nice big rooms and a beautiful view of the snow covered city from our 8th floor, corner room. Too bad nice views don't cure pnuemonia. She's getting a couple more xrays later tonight to reconfirm pnuemonia. She is still requiring oxygen, has labored breathing and weezing....

There goes my baby......

We're finally in route (6pm). Snow storm making the drive long.

3/4 pnuemonia again

We're back in the er and anya again has pnuemonia, a lttle worse this time. She will be transported to Childrens Hospital to be admitted shortly. On top of that she began vomiting again.

2/2: Still going..

We thought she was going to snap out of it a few times yesterday but unfortunately she did not.  She held down water from around 11pm until about 4 this morning and slept really well but then slipped back down hill.  After finding a few articles dating back to the early 1900's we had reason to suspect her Uric Acid levels to be elevated.  We began testing on Thursday (pre-episode) and sure enough, they were. We tested again yesterday during the episode and they were elevated even higher.  We plan to test again after she recuperates.  Uric acid levels are essentially dependent on how our body breaks down proteins, so hopeful this will be a valuable piece to her very confusing puzzle.

2/1: Spoke to soon again

Baby-doll seemed great this morning. Couple more smiles and just normal energy level.  But then around 8:30am she fell into another episode. Again, 7 days from the start of her last episode..

1/31 Doing Great...

Anya has been doing so well these past couple days. She is smiling a ton. Smiling when she's tickled, smiling for books, she smiled after a taste of tea, smiling while playing with toys. It has been awesome... (see video above or on Video/Pictures page). She is getting the hang of reaching for objects and seems to be driven to successfully do so... We're so happy and proud of her...

Home now

CT and Xrays where fine. We are home now. Anya is still lethargic but hasn't vomited in 2 hours...

1/25 back in the ER...

Anya's currently in the er getting dehydrated, chest x-rays and head CT scan. Nothing new, so not to worry. Just want to be thorough. I'll update when I hear anything.