12.04.2003

There's A Party In My Pants

Leelo took a different bad turn this afternoon. (If you are eating lentil soup or have a touchy stomach, stop reading now.) The worst case of the trots, ever. We're talking eight diapers in one afternoon. Pure liquid with no pretensions of cohesion. The weird thing was that it smelled exactly like breast-fed baby diapers, which is a bit loopy, don't you think?

It stuck me as odd enough to call Dr. G's office (traditional pediatricians) to see if they thought it was an issue of concern. They told me the nurse or doctor would call me back. Strangely, neither did. I suspect that they've blackballed me, or think I'm a deranged Munchausen-by-Proxy mom. WTF.

All good parents know that you're supposed to give your kids PediaLyte in this situation so they don't get dehydrated--unless your kid's on some kind of crazy restrictive diet that doesn't allow artificial colorings or sugar. So as the clock hit 4:55 and I still hadn't heard from Dr. G, I put in a desperate phone call to Dr. P, our DAN! doctor. His receptionist took my name and number, and told me that the doctor was out and would be back in the morning. Sighing, I told her that I'd figure out something.

But lo and behold, 20 minutes later Dr. P himself called with a long, detailed ration of advice after he'd asked me many, many questions:

-Take the boy off all supplements and meds
-Get him to drink lots of water
-Give him Lactobaccilus (pro-biotic) 3x/day to thicken up his output and help his gut heal
-Feed him clear vegetable or chicken broth to replace his electrolytes
-If he can keep it down, feed him overcooked rice or overcooked steamed vegetables

This to continue for about 48 hours, until he shows signs of significant recovery. Not so sure how this will work for Leelo, as he won't eat rice or steamed veggies, and that first sip of vegetable broth made him gag and retch and cry.

But I am certainly grateful to Dr. P. This is the second time he's called me back within an hour after his staff told me that he wasn't available. He also said that he'd fit us in tomorrow if we needed to see him, even though he's already overbooked. He is my new hero.

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