Moving forward

I'm terrible at blogging these days. Life just tends to get in the way of pretty much everything.

I thought I would update since we had Bailey's follow up at MDA clinic yesterday which is a clinic we go to every 4-6 months and get to see several doctor's in one visit. It is usually an overwhelming day but when I left there this time I was actually feeling pretty happy in Bailey's care.

We saw Neuro-muscular which is the main clinic that follows Bailey and I am in constant contact with. They are going to try Bailey on a new medicine that may help with muscle fatigue. They aren't sure if it will work since it is typically used with a disorder that Bailey does not have but they figured if it does work then it would be great especially to possibly get her to school full time in the future. We should know within a few days if the medicine will help or not.

We saw Pulmonology who just went over how Bailey has been breathing and gave refills on her asthma medicine and did a chest x-ray just to make sure there were no changes in her lungs. Bailey was supposed to have a sleep study several months ago but we had to cancel it so we're looking at having that done in December.

We also saw Physical medicine and rehabilitation who looked at Bailey's hands and feet, how she gets around, and what she is able to do as far a self-care. We are thinking of trying out different AFO's from Nascott at the National Rehabilitation Hospital. The way they were described would seem to be better for Bailey. We love Shriners and Dr. vB but it seems better for Bailey at this point to try out something different.

Also we saw Nutrition who just told us to follow up with GI due to a 12lb weight gain that is pretty concerning but she is scheduled to see them in November.

Neuro filled out her school paperwork for our 60 day review meeting with Home and Hospital services and as of right now they are keeping her at a half a day (once we work up to that) and following up the rest with the Home and Hospital teacher. I am hoping to get her to the half a day point by the end of October/beginning of November depending on her health of course.

Bailey will see Genetics in November as well but as of right now ALL of her doctors are actively working together to get Bailey approved for REM so that they can start the process to have the Exome sequencing covered by insurance and then they will move forward with that. It will be a very lengthy process and we won't have results for several months but HOPEFULLY something will come from this that will help them know what to do to help with these dangerous Metabolic crashes that she continues to have. It is just far to critical for her to continue this way for the rest of her life. Help is needed beyond explanation.



School has been going well, her team has been great with keeping in contact with me and having lots of emergency procedures in place for Bailey. They are constantly making sure Bailey has all that she needs while at school. She has been asking me to stay at school longer so hopefully her health will allow that to happen soon!

Crushed

I've been meaning to update for the last few weeks but life for busy as usual!

On February 7th Bailey had her 6 month follow up with the MDA clinic where she sees several specialists in one appointment.

First up was Neuromuscular which we saw Meganne our go-to person between NIH and Children's. She unfortunately did not deliver good news. In my previous post I stated how close we thought we were to a diagnosis and well she totally cancelled that out. They got the last of the biopsy results from New York (mitochondrial lab) and they were negative for Mitochondrial disease. So there is one last blood test they can do through Genetics that is for Mito and after that we are back to square one again. Very frustrating to feel so close and then be pushed so far back. It hurts! We went over other recent information, saw Physical Medicine, and Pulmonary. Everyone is super concerned with Bailey's increased fatigue and staying sick every other week. Pulmonary diagnosed Bailey with Asthma which is why her cough pretty much never goes away. She was put on a daily inhaler, rescue inhaler, and nasal spray. She also needs a sleep study to make sure she breathes safely in her sleep and a repeat swallow study. She had blood taken to check her vitamin D and other levels to see if they are contributing to the fatigue!

On February 12th Bailey saw GI, she hasn't gained any weight in over a year but she's gotten taller so her BMI is not great and she's about 8% from not being nutritionally safe again. So back on feeds she goes, 480mls a day for 4 months until follow up.

February 22nd Bailey had follow up with the Developmental Pediatrician and we discussed her behavior and OCD tendencies which she's had going on for awhile. We are in search of a Child Psychologist to help Bailey learn to control her emotions and cope with change. It's hard to tell the root of the issues since she always has so much going on but we don't want it to get worse so to speak.

So we have a busy next several months all while adjusting to new medicines and back on tube feeds.

Our main focus right now is figuring out the major fatigue issue and getting control of her behaviors. I'm putting finding a diagnosis on the back burner for now. I don't know if we will ever know what's really wrong with Bailey but if we ever do find out it will just happen when it's supposed too. I just want to make sure she's safe, as healthy as we can get her, and happy! We can do those things with or without a diagnosis.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!

As most people know we had our "big" appointment at NIH on December 19th. I don't think those appointments will ever get any easier on me. I always leave there so distraught after spending 8 hours listening to people recite what is wrong with my child. I can deal daily but when it's all presented to my face in an 8 hour period it's a bit overwhelming.

- Our day started out signing new consent forms for Bailey and adding consent forms for Steven, Addison, & I.

- Then Bailey had a PT evaluation to see the difference in the last year since we've been there, they scored her on what she can and can't do and also gave us other things to work on and that her PT's can work on too. I did ask the NIH PT if she had suggestions on what we could all work on to help her get up from laying down easier, she has always had a major head/neck lag. I was devastated by the answer I was given. She told me that we could work on things but not to beat our head against the wall if it never improves because children with these type of diseases often don't gain better head/neck control it actually gets worse. No one has ever told me that. I'm pretty sure I shed a tear walking out of there.

- Then we had a small lunch break before they started their evaluations on Bailey and Addison.

- At the evaluations they went over everything that's happened in the last year, looked Bailey over, noted the changes and didn't say too much. They also evaluated Addison and as we suspected she is perfectly fine and they all called her "super baby" since she is so ahead of herself with everything! Such a relief!

-Then while we waited for Dr. Bonnemann to come in we all gave blood so that they can compare our genes to Bailey's(We will not get any type of results from this research for atleast a year).

- Dr. Bonnemann evaluated Bailey and did another muscle ultrasound on her. Her muscles are just so damaged and in ways they aren't used to seeing, it really boggles my mind and there's too I guess.

- Then it was meeting time! They are still awaiting one result from the biopsy(done in April) from Columbia University in New York. It is taking for freakin' ever! He did tell me they are most definitely leaning towards a Mitochondrail disease which is what we have thought and that he couldn't see it being anything else. There are several Mito diseases though so we aren't at a point to know which one yet. They also think she may have a CoQ10 deficency and if the results confirm that she will need to go on supplements. It would make alot of sense if she did have that because it is something that would explain her lack of energy! They also informed me that if she were to have another "crash" like she did August of last year they need to be notified immediately and she will be hospitalized (obviously), proper blood work done since it wasn't done right the last time, and she will need a spinal tap! EEK I don't like that idea at all! They also are debating on repeating yet another MRI. I mean really how many different MRI's does one need?

I forgot to add they want Bailey to go back to GI for a follow up. She has been off of her feeds for 9 months and has stayed the same weight for the last year 1/2, She's gotten taller though so she looks so teeny tiny! I hope she doesn't have to go back on feeds but I guess we'll see in February!

I'm supposed to contact our go-to person by the end of January if I haven't heard anything else about the results or a dagnosis or anything.

So NO we still do NOT have a direct answer but we are so close I can feel it. I've never felt like we were on the edge of reaching a diagnosis but I feel it now. I just want to know what we're facing and how to better help Bailey for the future!

Thanks to everyone for always helping us be so positive, for praying for us, for listening to us, for comforting us when we need it, and for just being there! It doesn't go unappreciated!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!