The Ramblings of a Parent (aka Ulog No1)

We face a million decisions every day – at least it feels that way! However, some are so straight forward and easy that we barely notice them, while others leave us questioning ourselves and unable to finalise a solution.

Today has definitely been a day where I have worried from the moment I dropped my youngest off at school …… is he ok to go to school today? They grow up so fast but the worry never ceases, it just changes. As I write this my eldest a teenager is in the next door room. He is off school because of the year above are sitting exams so his lessons are cancelled. I know in my heart of hearts that he is playing Fortnite and not doing any of the work I asked him to complete…. But my little one, he is my main worry for today.

Recently my youngest had an upset stomach, nothing of any real significance, except that now a couple of weeks later he is still having bouts of tummy pain. Yesterday morning, half way to school it started again, so we turned back and headed home. Today we sent him in under strict instructions to get the school to call if it got too uncomfortable. So far – no phone call …. And he should be home any minute.

I am 99% sure that it is nothing serious. My eldest when he was much younger used to get unpredictable stomach aches, and we never made it to the doctors because they would always pass before we could even get an appointment. We ultimately found out that he was intolerant to gluten. It was a bit of a fluke that we even discovered it. We had been to see 4 different doctors about his eyelid. Sometimes his left eye lid would move slightly slower than the right one. He didn’t even know it was happening, but my husband and I were acutely aware of it. My husband decided to try a gluten free diet for a whole host of reasons and nothing to do with our son’s eye. But we also decided that it was easier if we all ate the same – so we all gave up gluten. Within two weeks (while waiting for the neurologist’s appointment which we subsequently cancelled) my sons eye issue had completely resolved. When he went back to school it would sometimes return and was always when he had eaten pasta or bread at school.

The result is that we have all been gluten free every since. My youngest is almost exactly the same age as his brother was when we became aware of his allergy – but this time the gluten is already gone (except during school lunches).

So, my parenting dilemma is: do I go to a doctor? Or do I start a process of eliminating foods which could be a trigger and see if we can resolve the issue? He has already had the usual blood tests this year when he had suspected meningitis and everything was normal.

I am very wary of any medical intervention and through sheer good health my youngest has never even had a course of antibiotics, so he should have incredible and completely natural gut bacteria. I have a niece who has a corn allergy, and we have quite a bit of corn in our diet because we have no wheat – I think perhaps I am worried that I will end up with one who cannot eat corn and another who cannot eat wheat – feeding this family could get complicated!!!! Whatever we decide we need to have a solution before the return to school in September – because only during school holidays can we completely control our child’s diet.

Of course, there is always the option of just waiting to see what happens if give his body the maximum possible time to resolve it one its own.

I think when my computer goes wrong that it is complicated, but it is nothing compared to the complexity of the human body and trying to work out what is happening there!!!