Paranoid child has Crohn's Disease

[ITSMEAGAIN]

I have a question for those of you who have crohns' and are a parent.
Do you ever get paranoid that you've passed this along to your kids, everytime they get an upset stomach?
My oldest is only 7 and already are family doctor things he has acid reflux. We brought him in after he had a persistent cough that wouldn't go away with any regular treatment. Our doc said that kids don't feel the burn of acid reflux the way adults do they gag more then anything which makes them cough.
He prescribed a liquid form of Zantax and we weened him off of it after about a month.
Lately though he complains alot about having a sore stomach, and had a bout of diarhea that lasted 3 days.
I know i'm probably just over reacting but.. how can i not.??
I can remember being a little kid complaining of upset stomachs and having similiar issues and it always got passed off by both my parents and doctors as nothing unusual.
Does anyone else feel like this or have experienced anything like this??

Just Curious.
Tim

 

[imisspopcorn]

Yes!! Everytime one of them complains of a stomach ache or has diarrhea I immediately worry. I pray they never get this disease and they often pray for me to be cured! I don't really remember having any stomach issues as a child myself. For peace of mind you may want to discuss your concerns with the pediatrcian. Maybe you need to see a Pediatric Gastroenterologist? Especially with the family history and reflux. So far my kids are healthy... Your just a concerned parent who only wants the best for their child. It's only natural to worry.

 

[DanSJVDavis]

Absolutely. I often wish they had some simple test to determine whether she's at risk. I never want her to have to deal with this. Pretty much every time she has trouble pooping or has diarrhea, or starts puking I get majorly paranoid. I've even told her ped, just to let her know if I get all worried it's because I have Crohn's and I get wonky every time something goes bad with her tummy or bowels.

I worry that I'm stressing her if I get mad at her or tell her no or something of the like, but it's just as bad for me to stress over it. Best I can do is try my durndest to give her the best life I can and hope for the best.

 

[ITSMEAGAIN]

thanks guys for the letting me know i'm not alone or going crazy. i think i will talk to our doc about it.

 

[farm]

It scares me to death to think I may have given this terrible disease to my son. So far, so good; he's nine now. I pray all the time that he will never get this or those terrible migraines I have.

 

[Guestly]

Im sure I HAVE given it to my son because he was a poop demon BEFORE I was diagnosed.

From when he was born premature he was a delicate flower, he vomited constantly, was terribly underweight and had constant pneumonias until they realised he had such bad acid it was aspirating into his lungs and making them collapse.

He had a Nissens fundoplication (basically a knot tied above his stomach to stop the acid) when he was 8 months old and we thought all our Christmases had come at once. Unfortunately then came the poop, I swear to god, what come out of his bum was treble the volume of what ever went in his mouth - I used to bulk buy baby clothes at the charity shop because we had to cut his clothes off him all the time. Finally a colonoscopy showed ulcerative colitis and he was tube fed for a year, but he was desperately ill.

These days he has settled down a lot with a specialist diet and complete nutrition, but his gastro is still unsure of a certain diagnosis because he has upper and lower symptoms some of which could be side effects to having a knot above his stomach, some food allergies and some IBD.

We have one bathroom in our cosy abode....between Paddy and I it does occasionally get a bit shirty.

All my life I was a tummy-achey type of person, and now I realise what I have I am so scared of having passed it on. Having said that - being a kid he is remarkably resilient - much more so than me. He is immensely proud of his farting ability, (advantage of maleness) and if he does follow through he doesnt really seem to be too bothered - maybe because I still do his laundry!

I wonder if in some ways if you are going to get this - its better to start young - at my age you feel a sense of loss, at Paddy's age its just the way life is.

Here's an example, his last colonoscopy NO ONE could get an IV in his arm. (He has had about 13 operations and all his veins seem to have collapsed in protest). So he's lying on his bed playing one handed with his PSP while a doc slaps and squeezes the other hand. She's the fourth person to have a go so he's looking like a pin cushion now. "Wow Paddy" she says, "you must be the bravest boy in the entire hospital"....Without even looking up from his PSP he replies "Well Doctor" it's important in these situations to keep calm".... He was seven at the time!

This is the boy who once pulled out his gastroscopy with the tube fully inflated (ouch!) and who gets really excited about having bloodwork done!

As a good news to all this - he may poop for England, but he just won Silver in our County Judo Championships ( he was the lightest weight and youngest kid to enter). Perhaps he used fart warfare? Being sick is NASTY and I would rather he was the healthiest kid ever - with a nice layer of puppy fat too (rather than the scary sticky out ribs), but damn, does being sick make them determined - nothing gets in Paddy's way - he is my inspiration...

Right I am off to fight with my boy over bathroom time!

Byee!

 

[shazamataz]

another GREAT post Lishyloo - Gosh your house must be a fun place to live!

 

[Cog]

yes it does worry me - we even considered whether we should even have kids. Hopefully my daughter has my wife's genes for her gut and her teeth and my genes for eyesight She has already been tested for crohns once but hey by the time she gets older they may have a cure and all will be better anyway

 

[Becky]

My boys are still young, almost 4 and 1. My oldest sometimes gets constipated and has a little blood in stool. SO that does worry me.

 

[Sparky]

Yep, my heart stops every time my boy has trapped wind, tummy ache, squits - so far he's had nothing other than the normal kiddy tummy things, but every single time he says 'mum, my tummy hurts' my mind works overtime. I really wouldn't wish CD on anyone, and the thought that I could have given this to my boy is truly horrific.

 

[ITSMEAGAIN]

wow it's amazing how so many of us have this fear. I guess it's a natural instinct of a parent. I just hope my gut feeling is wrong about him.