My frustration

Some things are never going to be easy, I have learned to accept that. Since Cruz and Prestyn were born around the same day (different years), I am fortunate to be able to schedule their routine well child checks at same time. The only day I could fit into our crazy schedule was Monday, January 30th. We showed up 30 minutes early, since check-in always takes forever and I didn't have my 4 year and 18 month paperwork. Thank goodness I took in plenty of candy snacks. Of course the Dr. was backed up and we would end up sitting in the waiting room for an hour. Filled out Cruz's paperwork and was glad they now have a autism screening. This is something they did not have with Prestyn or Degan. I was able to answer all of the questions fairly easy. Next up Prestyn's YOUR SON IS NOT DEVELOPING RIGHT LET"S JUST RUB IT IN PAPERWORK  4 year paperwork.  I usually handle and have accepted the fact that Prestyn is who is he is, but I just could not handle reading or filling out the paper work on where he should be. I wanted to tear it up and throw it at someone. Right then I had to take a deep breath and ask God to walk me through it.
Finally, they call us back. Prestyn must have known how stressed I was and made taking his weight really easy for momma and the Nurse. 38lbs and 40 inches tall my handsome Prestyn was.
Next up was Cruz, 25lbs 30 inches long. He has really stretched out the last couple weeks, he is loosing his baby fat, but still has those chubby little legs I love so much. I told the nurse what vaccinations I wanted and she responds, " I will wait until you consult with the Dr." We are on an alternative schedule and this Dr. or her nurse are not fans. But oh well!!
We wait and wait and wait some more (thank goodness for Angry Birds on my phone) I am able to keep Presytn busy until the evil lady comes in. She is just so rude and really makes me sick. I used to really like her too. 30 minutes later she comes in, usual grouchy self. She checks out Cruz first, everything is good, he passed the Autism screen, and is developing at the right rate or passed all the milestones as she says.
Next up Prestyn, I want to talk to her about his stomach and gut problem. He was tested for Celiacs and it came back negative, but if he even has the slightest amount of gluten his bowel movements are horrible. I expressed my concern to this lady. She proceeds to tell me that he could still have a slight allergy to gluten and not have celiacs and then she tells me the obvious thing to do is to keep him away from anything gluten. Are you kidding me? I know this lady, but I think it is something more. And it is my hope that one day we can let him enjoy pizza or chicken nuggets or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. That when it comes time to his first date he can take his date to Pizza Hut and enjoy pizza. But what if it's not only about the GLUTEN, and I just think it is? I want to know the what if? I want to fix his tummy so he can just eat like his brothers. I wanted to scream at her. Again I had to take a deep breath and ask God to help me through. I know I have done research and read about the relationship between bowel disease and autism. Do you think she mentions this could be a possibility? Do you think she suggests running some other tests that I know are out there? NO. She then proceeds to tell me with an attitude that we can take him to a pediatric gastrointestinal doc, if my insurance will cover it. By this time I am furious grab the number from her and she leaves. I took a deep breath got my boys ready and left.
I checked my email before we drove out of the parking lot and by the Grace of God someone in my Autism Listserv sent this article that has some new findings. I know there is so much controversy surrounding everything in this article and I am not saying vaccines do or do not cause autism. I did go on to read the actual case study from the American Society of Microbiology. Needless to say I will be sending this study and article to her email as well as a little note letting her know we have found a new provider. I am done with her.

Dear Cruz and Prestyn,

You guys are growing so fast it is crazy. You continue to amaze me with the new things you do daily.

Cruz, you are such a mommas boy and I LOVE IT! You don't take any thing from Prestyn and will stand up to him now. Hopefully one day you will realize why he locks you out of his room or why he pushes you down when you get in his space. You are going to be one tough "cookie!"

Prestyn, momma is not going to settle for no, or nothing can be done. I am going to fight for you until the end and we are going to make your tummy better. I love you son and thank you for working so hard at school and listening to your teachers and therapists.

Love , MOM

There were a couple of things I would like to highlight from the article.
The Daily Mail reported:

" … a team from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina are examining 275 children with regressive autism and bowel disease - and of the 82 tested so far, 70 prove positive for the measles virus … the team's leader, Dr Stephen Walker, said: 'Of the handful of results we have in so far, all are vaccine strain and none are wild measles.
This research proves that in the gastrointestinal tract of a number of children who have been diagnosed with regressive autism, there is evidence of measles virus. What it means is that the study done earlier by Dr Wakefield and published in 1998 is correct.
That study didn't draw any conclusions about specifically what it means to find measles virus in the gut, but the implication is it may be coming from the MMR vaccine. If that's the case, and this live virus is residing in the gastrointestinal tract of some children, and then they have GI inflammation and other problems, it may be related to the MMR."

The lead researcher, Stephen J. Walker, Ph.D., was also quick to state however, that this does not necessarily mean the MMR vaccine causes autism. Still, his research notes the same connection that Wakefield's team did, which is that many autistic children have chronic bowel inflammation, and have the vaccine strain of the measles virus in their intestines.

ALSO MOM's please take this advice very serious, and just further reason to breastfeed as long as you possibly can. This was taken from the same article.

What You Should Know About Gut Health and Autism …

In her research, Dr. Campbell-McBride discovered that nearly all of the mothers of autistic children have abnormal gut flora, which is significant because newborns inherit their gut flora from their mothers at the time of birth. Establishing normal gut flora in the first 20 days or so of life plays a crucial role in the maturation of your baby's immune system. Babies who develop abnormal gut flora are left with compromised immune systems, putting them at higher risk for suffering vaccine reactions.
If your baby has suboptimal gut flora, vaccines can become the proverbial "last straw"—the trigger that "primes" his/her immune system to develop chronic heath problems.
In short, there is a close connection between abnormal gut flora and abnormal brain development—a condition Dr. Campbell-McBride calls Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS).The best way to prevent GAPS is for the mother to avoid all antibiotics and birth control pills prior to conception and then by breastfeeding and avoiding the use of antibiotics after delivering.  This is because they destroy the balance of gut floras and promote the growth of pathogenic bacteria. In addition to breastfeeding,
I highly recommend the use of fermented foods and probiotics for your baby to help reduce his/her risk of GAPS.
Fortunately, it's possible to screen your child for GAPS before he or she is vaccinated, so that you can make a better-informed vaccination decision. Dr. Campbell-McBride describes the entire process in her book. It involves providing a detailed family health history to a knowledgeable health care provider, combined with stool and urine analysis, and these combine to give you a picture of your baby's gut health and overall immune status.Dr. Campbell-McBride states:

"If your child has abnormal gut flora, we can assume that your child has compromised immunity, and these children must not be vaccinated with the standard vaccination protocol because they simply get damaged by it. They should not be vaccinated."

These non-invasive tests are now available in most laboratories around the world for, typically, $80 to $100 each. This cost is insignificant compared to the incredible expense of treating an autistic child, once the damage is done.

I am very interested to see if I have abnormal gut flora. I am frantically making phone calls to see where I can be tested as well as Cruz and Prestyn. The reason I would like to get Cruz gut flora tested is because he has not had all of his "required" vaccinations. And if we can conclude that he has abnormal gut flora, we may need to think twice about some things.