Same song, second verse
Sometimes the details I write about our never ending medical crises bore even me. Consider that fair warning.
The newest kink in Annie's little body has to do with potassium; specifically--too little of it. We had a routine blood draw on Thursday, (Miss Fran got it on the first try--it pays to have friends in lab places), the results of which showed low potassium. Low potassium (like high blood pressure, the change of seasons, or the wrong radio station) can cause nausea, as well as about 5 other hideous symptoms. May have been why Annie was looking so pekid last week. Anyway, our GP & the Endo doc at Children's conferenced over the phone (always a bit of an alarm when more than one doctor weighs in), and gave us some instructions to rectify the situation. I think she's a bit better today, and tomorrow we'll go back to Miss Fran to verify that her potassium is where it should be.
This episode is another weird Addison quirk. All of your electrolytes are delicately balanced by your normal endocrine system. But with hers, it's all controlled artificially with medications. Too much medication whacks her out. Too little whacks her out. The barometer falling whacks her out. And again, this just gets more complicated because she can't TELL me what feels icky.
But the good news is she's trying REAL hard to let her needs be known, which is the other subject we'll tackle tonight. How loud can Annie scream? What octaves can she reach? When do the neighbor's ears start to bleed? It's not that I'm ungrateful for her efforts to communicate. I just wish she'd be a little less emphatic. Tonight Annie's blood pressure seemed low compared to everyone else's in the house.
I finally decided to help her take a walk around the house thinking that maybe she'd let me know what she wanted when we got close. I started getting warmer when we walked down the hall. I hit the jackpot when we got to the bathroom door. She wanted to take a bath.
Jean
Great peace have those who love Your law,
And nothing causes them to stumble. Psalm 119:65