My 6 year old son has been very sick off-n-on his entire life. He was born full-term and seemingly very healthy, but within a matter of months he began to have chronic ear/nose/throat infections which have persisted to the point of requiring two sets of tubes. At 8 months old he developed Eczema...no big deal right? Well, it got so bad that he developed a staph infection, which then developed in to Osteomyelitis in his left knee cap. 5 months later he broke his right leg. Shortly after, he had surgery for his first set of tubes. 1 year later he developed Spinal Viral Meningitis. 1 year later he broke his wrist. 5 months later he had surgery for his second set of tubes. 1 year later he developed Toxic Synovitus in his right hip joint and just this weekend he was hospitalized for his second round of Spinal Viral Meningitus. In between all of these MAJOR illnesses/broken bones, he has been sick with a constant runny nose and was eventually diagnosed with asthma.
My question is this: Could he have an Immune Disorder?! Am I crazy to think that? He appears outwardly to be very healthy...he's a fun loving energetic handsome little boy with a good appetite...he's a healthy weight. I inevitably compare him to his extremely healthy siblings as well as his peers who NEVER get sick...other than an occasional stomach bug or cold. Why does my son keep getting so violently ill??? He is homeschooled so it isn't as if he's around constant sickness and I'm a clean FREAK, so my house stays as clean as possible...he's around children at church and at playdates, but other than that, isn't expoxed to a crazy amount of germs.
Has he ever been tested for allergies? Allergies that go untreated, either food allergies or airborn allergies, can lower a child's immune system and make them susceptible to illness. Good luck!
First of all, let me say that I really feel for you and your son. To have to go through everything that you have gone through takes great strength.
The first thing that came to my mind when you said that you were a clean freak is that maybe, if you are cleaning too much, your son's immune system isn't as developed as it should be because it is not being exposed to germs. The purpose of the body's immune system is to protect us from germs and such that might make us sick. If the immune system is not exposed to germs, it can't become familiar with the germs and cannot build up an immunity to it.
As far as what to do now, insist that the doctors run whatever tests are necessary to uncover the cause. If the your doctor is unwilling to do what you ask, go to another doctor. Keep pushing the doctors until an answer is found.
Good Luck finding a solution to this ongoing problem. I hope you find it soon.
Yeah, it sound like he may have something going on with his immunity, possibly something chronic and low grade. When you have chance, check out this website, www.drhyman.com. There's a lot of great articles and videos there about allergies, immunity, skin conditions and the like, and safe and natural ways to treat these disorders.
My husband had Osteomyelitis when he was 12 and I cannot imagine a child 1/2 that age dealing with the pain that my husband described. Poor baby. I'm kind of tearing up thinking about it. No one could figure out what it was (this was 1982) except the best Dr I've ever known (RIP Dr. Zara). He didn't even do anything except read his chart. He wasn't his pedi but the family knew him. He diagnosed him immediately. Everyone in my family went to the same pedi... It's funny what you find out 25yrs later.
I would wonder about Immune issues, but I would specifically be checking into BONE related Immune issues. See if your pedi will send you to a specialist.
Does he sleep more hours than a lot of kids his age?
Hi L.! Have you looked at what you are cleaning your house with, doing the laundry with? I don't think it wouldhurt to look at the chemicals that are in your home and eliminate those. My sister was able to completely take her 7 yr old off of all of his allergy meds after just 2 weeks of using safer products! This includes their bath products which you think are 'childrens' so should be safe...but not necessarily! Also childrens multivitamins are not really being absorbed into their bodies (www.oligofructosecomplex.net)- my first thought at the broken bones. I don't think the solution is quite that easy here- but even if he has an immune disorder (and I'm sure you will hear from experienced momma on that) It is a good idea to eliminate anything that triggers his sensitivities. Go to www.livetotalwellness.com/themillers to review some of the conditions being agrivated by commercial products and more info! Hope this is able to help you somewhat!
my suggestion as a nutritionist is to get him off of all dairy/cow milk products. ALL - pizza, cheese, yogurt, milk and anything with those ingredients including milk chocolate. this is causing congestion as cow's milk is a mucus forming food.
and from when my sister's son had eczema, it turned out to be aggravated with cow's milk, but once we added probiotics and got rid of all flame-retardent clothing including fleece and treated cotton, then he became normally functioning. so most kids clothing and other products are treated with a flame retardent. so they use only untreated cotton in that household. no fleece at all! and most of those cotton clothes come from France - Le Petite Bateau is one of the manufacturers and i forgot the other. but available in the US, too.
and personally, if you use too many anti-virals, then the bodies immune system shuts down cause there is nothing to fight. we were designed to play in dirt. not in a bubble. but until the immune system calms down, probably best not to expose him too much. and increase his vegetables and fruits which have lots of phytonutrients to help boost the immune system naturally. and eliminate all processed foods, artificial colors, sugar, HFCS, prservatives and artificial sweeteners. this will just add to teh problem and over tax the liver.
Updated
my suggestion as a nutritionist is to get him off of all dairy/cow milk products. ALL - pizza, cheese, yogurt, milk and anything with those ingredients including milk chocolate. this is causing congestion as cow's milk is a mucus forming food.
and from when my sister's son had eczema, it turned out to be aggravated with cow's milk, but once we added probiotics and got rid of all flame-retardent clothing including fleece and treated cotton, then he became normally functioning. so most kids clothing and other products are treated with a flame retardent. so they use only untreated cotton in that household. no fleece at all! and most of those cotton clothes come from France - Le Petite Bateau is one of the manufacturers and i forgot the other. but available in the US, too.
and personally, if you use too many anti-virals, then the bodies immune system shuts down cause there is nothing to fight. we were designed to play in dirt. not in a bubble. but until the immune system calms down, probably best not to expose him too much. and increase his vegetables and fruits which have lots of phytonutrients to help boost the immune system naturally. and eliminate all processed foods, artificial colors, sugar, HFCS, prservatives and artificial sweeteners. this will just add to teh problem and over tax the liver.
Updated
my suggestion as a nutritionist is to get him off of all dairy/cow milk products. ALL - pizza, cheese, yogurt, milk and anything with those ingredients including milk chocolate. this is causing congestion as cow's milk is a mucus forming food.
and from when my sister's son had eczema, it turned out to be aggravated with cow's milk, but once we added probiotics and got rid of all flame-retardent clothing including fleece and treated cotton, then he became normally functioning. so most kids clothing and other products are treated with a flame retardent. so they use only untreated cotton in that household. no fleece at all! and most of those cotton clothes come from France - Le Petite Bateau is one of the manufacturers and i forgot the other. but available in the US, too.
and personally, if you use too many anti-virals, then the bodies immune system shuts down cause there is nothing to fight. we were designed to play in dirt. not in a bubble. but until the immune system calms down, probably best not to expose him too much. and increase his vegetables and fruits which have lots of phytonutrients to help boost the immune system naturally. and eliminate all processed foods, artificial colors, sugar, HFCS, prservatives and artificial sweeteners. this will just add to teh problem and over tax the liver.
You can ask to have him assessed for immune deficiencies. My son had the IgG and IgA test done-- an easy blood test. I agree with the other posters-- over cleaning is as bad as undercleaning, especially for immune disorders.
My son's immune system improved immensely with the addition of Vitamin D supplementation (600 mg a day), a probiotic (we use Florastor for Kids), and fish oil. The difference is night and day for us, and I would encourage you to discuss adding those to your son's diet with your doctor.
HUGS! I have 2 auto-immune diseases - one I was born with and went undiagnosed until I was 9yo and a lot of damage had been done, the other happened around mid-20's but not diagnosed until 12yrs later. I'm so glad you're asking questions and looking into things further!
Like others have said: we use probiotics big time in our house. My son was 10wks early with a ton of health issues and the inability to make white blood cells for his first 5mos. The top quality supplements used daily by all of us are: multi vit/min, fish oil, probiotic, buffered ascorbate C and my son gets whole cell D. We also get chiropractic adjustments on a weekly basis. Aside from all of his premie issues, he's only had 2 ear infections and 3 colds (which is impressive for 29mos). My husband and I haven't been sick in over 6yrs.
Please look into allergist, immunologist and compounding pharmacists. I have 2 compounding pharmacists that I can recommend if you message me - they were key in me getting the proper diagnosis for my Celiac, and have helped with many other things including infertility.
For his skin ailments, try coconut oil - we use it for everything skin related(sunscreen, moisturizer, cuts, yeast infections, zits, etc) - it cleared my son's eczema in a few days, and my oldest sister's eczema in 2wks.
Good luck!!!!!
EDITED: forgot to say that I agree with the others about over-cleaning. Two of my friends are clean freaks and have the sickest children ever, all with asthma and chronic ear infections even after tubes. Something to assess.
It sounds to me like there has been some vaccine damage that was down. This is not an uncommon thing. Do any of these episodes especially the eczema and meningitis correspond with a vaccine timing? Here is a link to some info on facebook. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Vaccination-Inf...
That sounds like a lot for a 6 year old to have gone through. What has your pediatrician said? I would definitely ask for a referral to a specialist. Follow your instincts and push for tests and referrals. If you don't feel like your Pedi is listening to you, find another. I don't have any suggestions on what the cause could be, but I think you should really follow your instincts here and push for further diagnosis.
Hi, L.:
See if you can get him a blood test ELISAACT
Look it up on the web.
Good luck. D.
i would take him to a allergist or a immunologist...my son was tested for immune issues and come to find out he has iga deficiency and that is the reason that he gets sick all the time..and we are in the process of watching him and testing him every couple of months to see if his levels are changing or if they are staying the same..good luck and please update and let us know what happens
