Many more Q's about a little farm girl.

[Farmwife]

Hi everyone! I'm still new to all this. So please bare with me and my worries.
I have so many questions. I'll line list them. If you have any comments or answers PLEASE leave them. Even if you don't know why, please let me know if your child had or has this.

1- Toe nails have curled under when first symptoms showed up? Any thoughts.
2- We notice the leg she gets knee pain in, in the past that same leg seemed weak and it would buckle under her. Why would it do that?
3- Sleeplessness, even though she's very active. She's a farm girl!
4- Her color is still not back. Still pale.

Dusty/Kat asked me about her blood test. I didn't remember at the time but... it seems like her kidney and liver enzymes were up. Her cholesterol was up. She's three. The doc asked if she eats eggs. I said she won't touch them. The following blood test came back normal.
My Grace is doing well today. However, for the first time she cried going poop this morning. That's new! The stool was soft. Any thought on how to make it easier when she's passing stool?
Sorry for all the Q's
Thanks, FarmWife

 

[Twiggy930]

Hi FarmWife,

So sorry to hear that your daughter has been unwell. I will see what I can do with some of your questions.

1. Clubbing of the finger and toe nails can be a sign of Crohn's. At our initial visits before my son was diagnosed all the docs checked for this. It is by no means a definitive sign of Crohn's as all sorts of things can cause clubbing of nails. My son's finger nails are slightly clubbed.

2. My son also has presented with weakness in one leg. This symptom came after all of his GI symptoms. After much investigation it seems his leg issue is due to an inflamed sacroiliac joint. Inflammation of joints can be an extra intestinal manifestation of Crohn's. I have been told that the leg issue will likely clear up when his Crohn's comes under control.

3. Not sure about sleeplessness. Is she on prednisone? Prednisone can DEFINITELY cause insomnia.

4. Paleness can be a sign of anemia. Anemia can be caused by chronic blood loss and/or poor nutrition. Kids with Crohn's can have poor nutrition even when eating well due to inflammation in the intestines. My son was pale for a long time and sometimes still is.

I am by no means trying to diagnose your daughter. I am sure there could be all sorts of reasons for these various symptoms. It does sound like she needs to be seen by a GI sooner than later though. With my son we were facing a wait of about 2 months to get into see a GI. Our pediatrician told us to go to the ER sooner if things were getting bad as we would be seen by a GI right away at the ER. One day my husband got tired of waiting and took my son to the ER and voila the GI team saw us right away. Always an option and when all these things are going on I think it is completely justified.

Hope you can get some answers soon. It is torture on us parents when we don't know what is wrong. Hang in there!

 

[Farmwife]

Thanks Twiggy930. It may sound strange but it makes me feel better that my child is not the only one going through this. We've thought about the ER too. Right now Grace is for the most part well. When and if we get a BIG flare up again we might just go in. At least when we finally ( still waiting by the phone ) get the call for the pad. GI, we might have a better picture.

 

[DustyKat]

Twiggy is spot on hun! :thumleft:

I have nothing to add except to say that my daughter also had clubbing of her fingers. I couldn't discern it but the GI picked it and predicted her disease at diagnosis had likely been present for two years.

Dusty. xxx

 

[Twiggy930]

Twiggy is spot on hun! :thumleft:

Ahhh... I feel like I've graduated! :ybiggrin:

 

[Tesscorm]

Twiggy - :medal1:

 

[Jenn]

Hi,

My son has clubbing of his fingers and toes. We noticed it really bad the summer waiting to follow up with a GI and get a dx. I think it's caused from his poor nutrition. They have lessened somewhat while medication is working, but are still curved.

He was really pale too - and blood confirmed anemic. His color was the first thing I noticed returning with his medication working.