Oh my, it's been a long couple of weeks. A week ago on Thursday, my 15-month-old daughter had her endoscopy to look for a serious disorder called Eosinophilic Esophagitis. Endoscopies require general anesthetic, so as you can imagine, that whole thing was scary. She came out of it fine, but then we had to wait for the results. Waiting for medical test results is just awful. They were supposed to be available on Monday, but of course the doctor didn't read and sign off on them, so we wound up waiting until 4pm Tuesday. I wish I was someone who loses her appetite when stressed. Sadly, I'm the opposite, I think. Otherwise I could have gotten ahead on my diet and actually accomplished something during those incredibly long few days.

Fortunately, the results were negative. No scary diseases, except the very scary allergies she already has, of course. Apparently her most recent bout of symptoms was caused by a new hypoallergenic formula, which apparently wasn't "hypo" enough for her. She was supposed to move to the "Junior" version of Neocate (you can check it out at www.neocate.com if you are interested) because she's no longer a infant. Apparently her stomach didn't agree, which is why we were ankle-deep in puke around here for several weeks. It's taken her two weeks to get back to normal. I'm going to put off trying new foods for until after her vaccinations on next Thursday so that she can try to put back on the weight she lost during the "Great Neocate Junior" incident. Her little skirts fall off her waist now, and her medical alert bracelet is loose enough to come off if you work it a bit. By the way, the Neocate company is allowing me to return the two unopened cases of the Junior (which cost nearly $300) but they are charging a 20% restocking fee. How very nice of them after nearly killing my child with their "safe" product, eh? Maybe I should just sell it on ebay.

If you're the curious type (like me) you can learn more about EE and related diseases here - http://www.apfed.org/ee.htm
Parents of EE children really have their work cut out for them and they deserve all the support they can get.

I feel fortunate to have the support of so many wonderful friends and family. There is going to be no easy answer to my daughter's problems. She's going to be sick, off and on, for probably many years as we try to find enough food to nourish her. Hopefully her immune system will right itself as she ages and will realize that most foods really aren't poison, and she'll be able to tolerate some of the foods that currently make her ill. If not, we'll be patrons of the Neocate company for a very long time.

Wonder if I should invest in some of their stock...