G's upset tummy and his HORRIBLE day...

Even though we have removed dairy (lactose) from Grayson's diet and replaced it with soy, he is still having stomach issues. This weekend, he had terrible diarrhea. How he was acting was MUCH worse than having to change his dirty diapers. Usually, he's a very happy little boy. But this weekend, he was so unhappy. He moaned, whined, and cried a lot. What made it bad is that we knew how he was acting was a result of how he was feeling. It was very obvious. There wasn't much we could do to please him. We felt terrible.
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So, we decided to take him to the doctor as soon as we could get an appointment. The hike back to Dallas to see his old doctor is a long one, especially when Gray doesn't feel well. Therefore, we made an appointment with a new doctor where we live. That doctor is literally five minutes from our house, which is awesome.
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The doctor's office is very nicely decorated, very clean, and new. The doctor was nice. I like him. The exam went well. The doctor took his time with us, explaining to me what could be going on with G. Of course, there could be LOTS of things going on. But one thing he strongly suggested we get checked is possible food allergies. That requires a blood draw that will test for a list of about 10 food allergies. He said it would especially be a good idea since we have to wash Grayson's face after he eats. We've had to use a rag with at least warm water - and sometimes, soap for a long time...since he was a baby. If we didn't wipe away the formula or don't wipe away food or drink, his face gets splotchy or even rash like. The doctor seemed concerned by this and asked me if I ever told my former doctor that. I told him I did. All his nurses told me was to always wash his face after he drinks and eats. He said that could be an indication of a food allergy or food allergies. Interesting...
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He also suggested that we start taking Gray to an occupational therapist for his eating. He often enjoys the taste of a food but has trouble with the texture. He will either gag, hold it in his mouth, or spit it out. Again, the doctor asked if this has been going on a while. I told him G has always been like that. We couldn't even give him infant Tylenol or infant Motrin as a baby because the taste (even good flavors like berry AND flavorless) made him throw up his entire bottle. The doctor was surprised that was also overlooked or dismissed by our former doctor. So, we will be taking to an occupational therapist soon who will help him with tastes and textures. Eventually, he will be able to ENJOY more foods and get better nutrition. He said there are even classes to help kids like Grayson who have trouble with tastes and textures! I'm so glad we are finally going to get him some help with his eating! I agree with the doctor - if he doesn't start working on this now, it will only get worse. No one knows what it is like trying to come up with meals for a little one when they eat so few things. It is very stressful. Ray and I spend more time trying to think of what to feed him and offering him this and that than we do preparing and eating our own meal.
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We are currently waiting to hear from the blood test and from office of the occupational therapist to set an appointement.
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The BAD news is how the blood draw went. It was a nightmare, to say the very least. The doctor looked up our insurance and sent us over to LabCorp. There was another place he could send us but he didn't want us to go there because that lab has been known to hold on to specimens (rather than sending them off right away), causing a person to have to go back to give another sample! How horrible.
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So, we headed over to LabCorp after G's doctor appointment. Those places are so understaffed. The girl who works the front desk also does the lab part. We were third in line, and our wait was way too long. Finally, Gray's name was called. Come to find out, she said she would be drawing blood from his arm (like they do adults - in the fold of his arm). That made me very nervous. I said, "He's only 15 months old". She said, "It's okay. That's how we do it. We do it like that on babies who are a day old". I said, "I've NEVER heard of that". First, we tried doing it with Gray sitting in my lap. She tied the rubber band real tight on his arm - just like they do an adult. I'm sure it hurt, but he didn't say a word. She spent a lot of time pushing on his arm trying to find the vein - way too much time. I was getting really really angry. She wiped his arm with the alcohol rub and was going to stick him. I had to hold his arm still. Needless to say, it was not easy. He is very strong. Besides, I hated holding him while she poked him. Because he is so small and his veins aren't easy to find (and because he was hard to hold still), the girl couldn't find the vein. So, she fished the needle around in his arm while he screamed and cried. It was horrible. HORRIBLE! She pulled it back out and said we would try it with him lying down. I was livid. I said, "Whatever. Let's just get it done. That really hurt him." I guess I could've said never mind at that point. I was tempted to. But I decided that since we were there, we would just get it done this time. Afterall, if she didn't get it yesterday, we'd just have to try again in a day or so because the test had to be done. We got him laid down and pinned again. She tied the rubber band on real tight and began mashing his arm looking for his vein. It took forever. She couldn't find it. She said she wanted to try the original arm again. I knew he was so sore from what she had just done. BUT we turned him around so she could do it. She tied up his arm with that stupid rubber band, mashed on him arm some and then stuck him again. She couldn't find the vein! I wanted to kill her. I was holding him very good this time. He wasn't moving. What he was doing was screaming, crying, and sweating. I felt like the worst person in the world. I know he wondered why his mom was pinning him down for someone to torture him like that. Finally, the stupid STUPID woman found his vein. To make matters worse, it took forever to get a vial full because she used the butterfly type of needle (that is attached to a tube that runs to a syringe/vial). It was a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE experience. I hated every minute of it. And I KNOW it really hurt Grayson. Usually, if he gets upset from a poke, he is fine once we pick him up and love on him. NOT THIS TIME. He continued crying all the way home. When he did stop for a few seconds, he would look at it and cry some more or hold it with his other hand. I'm really glad they got the blood they needed for that test. Hopefully, that will give us some answers. BUT what happened yesterday will never happen again - NEVER!
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To ensure it will never happen again, I called his doctor's office this morning to tell them what happened. The girl was very nice, very understanding, and said she would ask the doctor to call me. He called me within an hour or so. He apologized. He said he does shots in his office but usually not blood draws. He said he doesn't like the kids sitting in the waiting room having major anxiety about getting their blood drawn and associating him with it happening. He would much rather send his patients to another building. That makes sense. I completely understand his viewpoint. BUT he also understood where I was coming from. I told him outright that I felt great about Grayson's doctor visit yesterday but if coming to him involves putting Gray through that, I would have to find another doctor. He said he doesn't see Grayson having to give blood for anything else in the near future, besides a finger prick possibly on an upcoming milestone doctor checkup/exam. He assured me that if he does need a blood draw, he would do it himself. That was very reassuring. Needless to say, it doesn't erase what happened yesterday. I worried all afternoon, evening, and through the night that Grayson would think about or dream about me being a part of him getting tortured. What a horrible thought. Also, I don't want him to have a bad medical experience like that again because he has to give blood throughout his life. He IS young. However, I was young when I had some bad experiences with nurses and doctors...and it still affects me (gives me major anxiety about blood draws, shots, procedures, etc).
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Anyway, like the lab tech warned, he does have bad bruising on his arm today. I hate looking at it. It shoots a pain to my heart - honestly, it does. In one way, I KNOW I did the right thing by letting her do her thing and getting it done (and sparing him from having it redone today by her or someone else). But of course, I do feel terrible. I don't want him to think I wanted that to happen or even that I let that happen - but I guess I did let it happen. It will NEVER happen again. I will make sure his doctor does it himself. And if ever our insurance forces us to go to a lab like that again, I will somehow look into paying full price without insurance coverage just so he won't have to endure that again. It was emotional and physical TORTURE. :(
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Well, my sweet love is waking up from his nap. I need to close.
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Let's hope Grayson forgets that horrible experience (by some crazy chance), that we get some answers from his blood test, and that his little arm heals up real soon.
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