Gavin.

July 22, 2020

Gavin.

So many of you family members and friends are wanting to know what in the world is going on with Gavin so I figured why not blog about it. I decided a long time ago to start blogging because my memory left with each child birth push. I don’t remember anything anymore. So here I am to pour it all out! Thank you for worrying about Gavin and thank you for wanting to know how he’s doing now.

Let me start from the beginning. Gavins pregnancy was great! I did great. Gavins birth was amazing. The doctor scraped my membranes on my 38 week appointment then said ok walk over to the hospital I’ll see ya later. So we did just that he was born within hours. Easiest delivery ever. I feel like an hour after birth Gavin was screaming!!! But not enough to worry! He did excellent in the hospital and we left right on time. With in days Gavin started to get sick. He was breastfeeding and always so angry after each feeding. He had bellyaches all of the time. So we went to a very special, very expensive, formula. That helped a little bit. Gavin still got sick more than not. You can ask my sister and mom. Heck you can ask my big three. They’ll all tell you “Gavin cried all the time!!”. Having a crying baby meant he was on my hip 24/7. (Side note if your baby cries a lot get a food allergy test done!!! PLEASE!! Excessive crying means something IS WRONG!!!) Gavin slept with mom and dad. Gavin went where I went. He was attached to me. Between his bad days Gavin was a perfect angel. He laughed, giggled, ran around, played, he was just so happy. When you scroll through pictures (hopefully they download) you’ll see his happy days. To his sad days. His sad days were awful. His happy healthy days were perfect. He was the best baby, aside from constant crying.

Why did he cry so much. Well we figured he had an intolerance to the formula. So we did everything possible to make it easier for him. Then at 11 months I said SO LONG FORMULA and hello to cows milk. We did whole milk for Gavin. At this point Gavin didn’t like eating much. He mostly drank breakfast essential chocolate milk in his sippy. That sippy cup up the only thing that he would be happy with. So by god that sippy went everywhere with us. It also spilled all over. Bed, floor, couches. Mom and Dad love hated that sippy.

Once Gavin started eating more solids we noticed his pooping wasn’t regular. He would get sick for a few days with a high fever and just lay on the floor screaming. He did this for two years. One day around 2.5 years old we were at Chick-fil-A. Gavin ate some chicken and threw it up immediately! Ugh typical Gavin throwing food up. So we shook it off. Trust me when I tell you this, every time he puked I died a little inside. He was puking so much. Around 3 years old we went to Chick-fil-A for the millionth time (gallegos obsession to say the least) Gavin again took one bite and puked everywhere. This is when it hit me. GAVIN HAS FOOD ALLERGIES!! I got Gavin into the allergy clinic soon after. (March 2, 2016 Gavin was 3) As I sat in the clinic I was talking to the doctor about what he eats and what happens. He looked at me and said you’re in the wrong place. You need to see a doctor who deals with throats and GI. I’m not joking he said Im guessing this will end up costing you a lot of money because when a scratch test comes back negative you have to pay for each poke. I said I do not care. Get it DONE! So we did. Gavin came back with many allergies. And that was just the foods I could think of that made him puke right away. The doctor was surprised to say the least. (Points for momma bear not letting doctors tell me what’s up with my kid).

The test showed he was allergic to peanuts, soy, wheat, barley, lettuce, oats, rice.

Anyway. He ends up sending us to a dietitian. We see her for a while and get Gavin on good foods that he can eat. Life got a little easier. Then before long he started getting sicker. By now when he got sick, he’d be sicker longer!

At this point in life he was starting to get anxiety. You wouldn’t think a small kid would get anxiety. But nope. They can easily. Gavin didn’t want to go anywhere. Which meant going to preschool was IMPOSSIBLE.

We found a lovely preschool that had the sweetest teachers. Mason went to them so we were happy to enroll Gavin. Gavin hated it at first and honestly probably never really like it. But these sweet teachers cared about Gavin and his feelings. They were moms after all. This helped Gavin learn that “mom always comes back, til then you’re ok, I’m here for you”.

Going to preschool and having anxiety about leaving mom only triggered his episodes. But after a year the teachers decided to no longer teach. So we had to find a new preschool. Which we did. Which meant starting over.

At this preschool (I won’t mention the name) I would drop Gavin off he’d be fine walking in then when I had to leave he would start screaming then hours later id pick him up, he would still be screaming. People literally had to pry him off of me when I left. Only people who work with children know that kids screaming for hours can be annoying especially when they aren’t yours and especially when it’s three times a week! So eventually they just started to ignore him. One day I dropped him off he was screaming and I came back he was still screaming. But this time. He was all alone. He was all alone and terrified. They eventually got so sick of him being sad that they ignored him completely. That day was the last day for this preschool. It broke my heart to pieces. We went maybe two months. He did have good days. But more bad days. And he missed many days. Which meant paying for preschool that he barely went to and he hated. Yep, I was done!

Dennie worked like crazy, I wanted to work but Gavin was way to hard so I stopped working to stay home with him full time.

Gavin was my puking child. If he smelled something bad he’d throw up. We were in an antique store in logan one day it smelt so awful that Gavin couldn’t handle it anymore and puked all over the store. We would go to parks if it was to hot he’d get sick. We would go to carnivals if he had to much fun he would puke. We’d go to the dentist he’d have to have the awake sedation just to barely survive it! If Gavin got to cold from water he’d get sick. Everything triggered Gavin. Once a trigger happened. Gavin would be sick between 2-6 days. High fever and puking constantly. Not one time out of the mouth. It was five times out the mouth each time he needed to throw up. He would do this twice an hour. So really average ten times something he would come out of his mouth, AN HOUR!! You know when you puke something comes out twice maybe three times. Double that. Then double that again. That was Gavin. Life was hard!!

Fast forward to 2 years later! Time for kindergarten!! Imagine my sad story about preschool go ahead and copy and paste it here. Same deal. Always missing school. Crying at drop off. The whole bit. It was hard. Poor teacher was VERY patient to say the least. He was finally were able to cope half way into the year. Gavin earned stickers daily. One sticker if he only cried a little bit. And two if he didn’t cry at all! IT WORKED!! Stickers led to money or treats. Yes I did bribe, don’t judge. Soon after Gavins anxiety subsided school was fun! But his allergies didn’t change. So we decided to see if his allergies got worse. Sure enough they got worse. This time the scratch test showed basically everything outside, boxelder, birch, juniper, oak, cottonwood, elm, maple, willow and a few more trees. He was allergic to many grass types and many weeds. He's allergic to cats and dogs (never noticed this). Still allergic to all nuts and peanuts. We tested some of the foods he was allergic to before but they didn’t show up as allergic. Yet food still made him sick.

So now at 6 years old Gavin is allergic to the outside, foods, AND has anxiety. It’s a good thing he’s so cute, quiet, and has the most gorgeous eye lashes I’ve ever seen! His adorable face was the reason everyone could deal with his condition. (Tired laugh)

Although he missed much of kindergarten he survived!! He finished his first year of school. Such a mile stone for this sick boy.

Fast forward again.... FIRST grade! First grade meant all day school. Wow big jump to say the least. Massive jump for Gavin. We were BLESSED to have the most forgiving, patient loving, kind, teacher. When you miss mom you need someone that’s as loving as mom. His teacher was just that!! But the problem at this point was school lunches and longer school days away from mom (and dad). I was working at the school yet he still missed me.

We started to notice if any foods I made left the fridge and sat in his lunch box til lunch time it would make him sick. So that made me lead to believe he has a histamine intolerance. Any lunch food provided by the cafeteria that sat out for to long he was allergic too. Basically if it wasn’t fresh he couldn’t eat it! And at home if we made left overs. He would puked. If he ate to big of bites he’d puke. So his foods were getting smaller and harder to present. When it comes to Gavin, food is not his friend. Any advice would be great just sayin!! But do not sell me anything. He’s most likely allergic to it!

Anyway.

We started to notice again that Gavin would come find me over the smallest things. He’d show up to my classroom saying he has a rash. When really it was an itch. He’d come find me and say mom I have a headache when really he needed to see me. Because this became his thing and I didn’t stop it in time it led to an actual problem. His small rashes became real. His headaches became migraines. He was literally making himself sick because I didn’t provide professional help with his separation anxiety. I should have gotten him help before it got to the point of realism. Use me as a guide on what not to do!

Come January 19, 2020. Gavin was sitting in computers and got a headache. Apparently computer class is FILLED with tension. So his teacher text me and told me he’s not doing well. I only had a few more hours of work so I asked that he lays down in a dark classroom to wait til I was off of work. So he did. After work I grabbed him and went home. He got worse and worse. We ended up in the hospital, which by the way wasn’t our first time. Maybe fifth time in the past few years. So we did many tests and started an IV Fluid treatment. All of the things. But Gavin didn’t get better for a good solid week. Now days when Gavin gets sick he looses pounds. He holds high temperatures that are scary for a few days. So we worry about his brain and organs. Finally January 24th a Friday after missing a weeks worth of school and work Gavin and I get to go back to work and school. Yay. We were so excited....

Then life changed for the worse.

***This is when you take a deep breath and I tell you thanks for sticking along with this long, at this point story!! ***

Ok now that you had a second, google “Charles W Leff jr. Mendon family” Take a good read.

(A blog to come in due time, it’ll be a hard one)

Welcome back. Now times all of Gavins issues by A MILLION!!!! Separation Anxiety through the roof!!

From January 24th to today July 21st Gavin has been to the hospital many times. He’s had five IV Fluids. Doctor visits. Counseling in and out of school. Don’t forget to add homeschool and the fact that before March he had already missed 24 days of school. Gavin is a mess!! Gavins Trauma counseling stopped due to COVID and because well he had me again 24/7. Gavins school counseling stopped due to COVID. He didn’t need to go when I was able to be the bandaid. But like all bandaids they fall off. Gavin was sick weekly. All of February he was sick. He was on Cyproheptadine. A migraine preventative through March but he got every side effect to it so we took him off of that. He was sent back to see his primary children’s doctor (the first time was when he was a toddler). She advices to see a Neurologist for any brain issues because of the migraines. But that’s been on hold due to COVID. She confirms he has cyclic vomiting syndrome and abdominal migraines. He did blood work and a urine sample. Everything looked fine aside from a “huge infection somewhere in his body”. But because he was so sick and had a temperature no one wanted to see Gavin, due to COVID. The end of March he just went to the ER rather than face to face appointments because no one would see him. As much as the quarantine was annoying it was also good for us. Good that my kids could stay next to me and I could stay next to them to deal with trauma together.

At the end of the quarantine I will be grateful that it happened when it happened. We Gallegos family needed to stop and just be together. We needed comfort after what happened. I thought we were going to have Gavin get better. I could watch what he eats and I could be with him all the time. But nope. July 7th Gavin walked downstairs and said “mom can I have peanuts?” I was running around cleaning and making beds so I gave him the look of are you serious and walked away. (Note to self the look of “no that’s a stupid idea” doesn’t work in 7 year olds).

Within three minutes of the question he walked upstairs and ate two peanuts. I thought my child was going to die. He got hives everywhere. He was coughing as if they got stuck in his throat. His eyes were pink. “Mom I can’t breath!!!” If you have visible head swelling or pink eyes you’re in trouble. It can get bad quick. But because of my quick skills he didn’t die! No really I’m shocked we didn’t end up in the ER. I took pictures, called everyone for advice and had his epi pen handy. Side note never run out of liquid benadryl you never know when Jessica will run out and she might need some. I only had chewables and no one in Mendon had Benadryl!! How’d that be to not need Benadryl? Anyway. I was able to calm down Gavins hives and he was good! Dennie and I was talking on the phone he said “Well prepare for Gavin to be sick for the next week!” But guess what, he wasn’t sick the next day! He was a healthy kid for two days! We went to the park on the 9th and on the way home we stopped at Wendy’s. I had my typical six kids to feed so we got a quick lunch. Five minutes into eating I had to pull over because Gavin started to throw up. Oh shit here it comes. Ugh!! .....

Nope. He was fine! Wow his body didn’t shut down like it usually does. Hallelujah. He finished the day happy. Over that weekend he went to my moms. Saturday, Sunday and Monday. He came home Monday evening. And was a happy go get kid! Tuesday comes around and like lightning out of no where Gavins gets a headache. Gosh dang it!!!!!

Tuesday night puking all night. All day Wednesday he was sick. Wednesday evening I was babysitting so I couldn’t take him to the ER. Thursday I take Gavin to the ER. I might have mentioned every other time Gavin is sick an IV Fluid helps. So we were there for three hours getting all the fluids and zophran available. Gavins doctor was rushed to his room because at this point Gavin was severely dehydrated (that’s how much he pukes, it happens fast) he couldn’t move his body. His fingers and feet wouldn’t bend. He couldn’t bend them without discomfort. His blood work shows how badly dehydrated he was. We finish the IV.

We go home. Confident it’ll help.

Friday Gavin is just super tired and puked a little bit. Not bad enough to worry, still looks terrible. Saturday Gavin went down hill. He still wouldn’t talk. Wouldn’t move. He was super skiny. Dark circles around the eyes. Sunk in eyes. Cheek bones showing. Ribs showing. When I say I was scared they were going to open a case on me I’m not kidding. He was so malnourished. I called Dennie Saturday night and told him that he needs to leave work immediately as soon as you get home I’m taking Gavin to primary children’s. It took all night for Dennie to drive home. When he got home Gavin and I got ready and left for primary children’s we got to the ER at 1 o’clock on Sunday July 18, 2020. They did all of the right tests they found his sodium levels are extremely high. 169 when they should be between 135 and 145. If his sodium levels fall too fast he could have brain swelling if they stayed high long enough he could have serious consequences. His kidneys weren’t functioning like they were supposed to. He had a “significant injury” to his kidneys. Luckily those organs are simple organs you don’t need half of your kidneys. But if Gavin keeps doing this and it affects his kidneys again it will affect his future and he will need a kidney transplant. Gavins phosphate is low it was at 201 and it needs to be around 401. He was getting poked and prodded every hour, they needed to check his sodium levels every hour and be on IV fluids. At one point they were also worried about some kind of food syndrome, I can’t remember the proper name for it but if you eat too fast you can get really really sick. So they put him on B12.

Both Gavin and I really wanted to go home yesterday I was quite shocked that they wanted us another night but with sodium levels they don’t joke around with that. I had no idea sodium levels can affect your kidneys and your body so much. Gavin did mention that these are the best doctors he’s ever had and he’s fine with sleeping here for as long as it takes. I wasn’t gonna leave until we fix him anyway.

As of today July 22 Wednesday, Gavins sodium level is now sitting at 148. He isn’t puking anymore and he’s had two bowel movements and is urinating again. It’s been one week and one day. It took a full eight days for him to feel better he lost a total of 11 pounds. Hospitalized for four days.

Before we leave today he is meeting with a food behavioral therapist and an acupuncture therapist. We need to learn to have his brain and stomach coexist. He has to tell his brain, when eating, that food isn’t scary he’s not allergic to everything. He’s going to keep doing pressure point therapy and learn how to breath before and after eating. He will start seeing an acupuncturist. He will keep seeing Dr. Skaggs he does pressure point therapy. I highly recommend him by the way he’s in Ogden Utah. He also needs to get back into therapy to control anxiety. From A to Z we hope to fix this little man or at least lessen his anxiety and his CVS episodes.

Between Logan ER, Cache Valley ER and primary children’s ER, primary children’s is 100% better. Thank you mom and dad for the advice.

Friends and family, Thank you for asking, praying, and worrying about Gavin. And heck if you have read this all the way to the end you’re now family so thank you. We appreciate the love from everyone.

We can’t wait to shower and sleep for a week.

Thank you Dennie for being able to run home as soon as possible. Thank you Rev Frac for allowing him to come home!! Dennie you’re our better half. Thanks for being the best dad out there. Gavin misses you so much!

And my big three thank you for being such good siblings and kids. You kids have always been the fastest wet wipe, toilet paper, throw up bowl runners. Gavin can’t wait to see you guys.

Gavin James let’s not do this again. I love you always. Xoxox -MOM