Diagnostics Center

The pediatrician doesn't have an explanation for other symptoms not GI related. She admitted Paul is her first case of Fructose Intolerance and doesn't know much about it. She referred us to the Diagnostics Clinic at Childrens. His appt. is April 1st. He is out of bed most of the day but still feels bad. I think he is improving, especially since he was able to go back to school after 10 weeks. Friends are good medicine. The teachers have been very supportive too. We are thankful for our family and friends who love us so well.

Milestone

The last few days have been a very difficult transition for Paul to go back to school. He still feels miserable, but especially bad in the mornings. This morning his whole entire body was hurting, so I rubbed his legs and back to try to alleviate his discomfort. He begged me to let him stay home, however, as the day goes on he does get used to it and usually feels a little better. I picked him up for lunch and then stayed at school while he finished the rest of the day. He did pretty well. I have also been giving him IntestiNew which is a powder formula to heal his intestinal lining hidden in a smoothie consisting of 1/2 banana and Oberweis milk. I do have really exciting news. He swallowed his first pill today!!! While it was small, he is starting to get the feel of it and making progress. Thank you so much for your prayers.

Progress and Diet Discoveries

I am happy to report Paul went to school for 2 hours today (with me in the room) and then was tutored after school for an additional hour (while I went to Whole Foods). He held out pretty well this afternoon and said he wants to try going tomorrow morning (even P.E.)! He is still feeling stomach pain and nausea and is constipated (4th day) but is willing to try despite those difficulties. We talked about the fact that he can feel awful at home or at school, and at least at school he can see his friends. He is a little humiliated about the restroom situation and we are not sure how that will pan out, but he has persevered through so much, and I am really proud of him. On the dietary front, we found out bacon from Subway is cured in sugar and that romaine lettuce has twice as much fructose as glucose (bummer). I thought he could eat Caesar salads. Each new discovery helps in his diet dilemma. Someone asked me what he is eating and I replied "chalk, drywall and a little bark"! Although, there are more and more things we are discovering. We have found all natural peanut butter cookies made with brown sugar which seems to be okay. He is NOT doing well with any fruit except rasberries (small amount) and bananas (which are 75% glucose). Donuts are okay too because sucrose (table sugar) can be tolerated (1/2 glucose and 1/2 fructose in small amounts). CRAZY. Some high fructose corn syrup he can tolerate if it is 1/2 glucose and 1/2 fructose. The problem is not knowing the ratio, and I don't want to take risks at this point. I found some glucose tablets online at amazon.com today, so maybe we will experiment. One slice of white bread is ok. We are using all natural peanut butter and he can snack on most nuts and can eat a small amount of celery (1/2 and 1/2). Corn chips are okay too with guacamole (although he hates it). He can also have Cheerios and Shredded Wheat for breakfast (although most of his diet is restricted to the Celiac diet for wheat products). We have found he doesn't do so well with oatmeal (which I don't understand yet). He can have organic white flour tortillas with cheddar cheese, which is what I will bring him for lunch tomorrow. We had a delicious meal delivered to our front door today of homemade mac and cheese and roast beef with some fat free jello and steamed veggies. Paul could eat the mac and cheese, roast beef and jello. It was a home run dinner! We feel so loved. Also, I think he will be able to get into the Diagnostics Center at Childrens (not sure when yet). They specialize in handling patients with unexplained symptoms, like the weird symptoms that seem unrelated to his digestion issues. We should also get the urine and saliva analysis results from the homeopathic Dr. shortly, which may be able to piece some more of the puzzle together. I will be glad to learn about specific enzymes geared to helping him digest carbs and proteins at least.

Corn Syrup History

In the mid-1800s, hydrolysis (acid converting) was applied to cornstarch to produce corn syrup. Then, in the late 1960s, an enzymatic method of conversion was developed that increased the amount of fructose in the syrup which changed the proportion of fructose to glucose in corn syrup. Some of the glucose of the corn syrip is converted to fructose. Today, it is estimated that high fructose corn syrup is 40-90% fructose. The number of products on the market are into the thousands that contain high fructose corn syrup. Yogurt, baked goods, crackers, drinks, soda, pancake syrup, jams, ketchup, energy bars, lunch meat, cold cereals, canned fruit, salad dressings, hamburger and hotdog buns, prepackaged cake, bread, and muffins, etc. This information came from "High Fructose Corn Syrup and the Fibromyalgia Connection". For a person fructose intolerant (difficulty digesting), instead of digesting the fructose, they produce hydrogen and methane gas which causes pain, gas, bloating, gurgling or diarrhea. Fructose is the simple sugar found naturally in fruits and many vegetables and the main ingredient in high fructose corn syrup.