Your story is my story 15 years ago

[Guest guest]

My name is Kim.  I came across this list and could not resist stopping in for a

post.  Reading your posts transports me back to a time when my daughter went

through what your children are going through.    My heart goes out to all of you

and the parents. 

My daughter, Kelsey, is now 15.  When she was 3 she had a flu bug that gave her

a high fever.  After that initial bug, she began having cyclical fevers of

unknown origin.  Her cycles were so regular, you could set a clock to it.  She

would begin looking peekid.  Before long, the fever would begin.  Day two and

three were the worst b/c she had fevers that were uncontrollable by just Motrin

alone.  And, she would typically vomit during the night of day 2 and 3.  Her

cycle would then decline and by day 5, she was getting over it.  I used to say

that she would have about 3 good weeks of feeling healthy out of five.  The

cycles lasted for 3 1/2 years.

I was so desperate for answers, I would stop anyone on the street and tell them

about my daughter's symptoms.  She occasionally got the mouth ulcers but they

were not too bad.  I changed pediatricians and ended up with the one we have

now, through the University of Michigan.  Kelsey was even presented at Pediatric

Grand Rounds with no answers given to her condition.  Kelsey was tested for

EVERYTHING...Cat Scratch Fever, Mediteranian Fever, Cystic Fibrosis.  You name

it, she was poked and prodded and tested.  At one point, one doctor hinted that

the problem was me!  Like a Munchausen by Proxy thing.  Ugghh.  It was terrible

being slightly accused of something when all I wanted was to help my sick child.

Finally, after being so exhausted by a search for a cure, I happened to be in a

health food store one day.  Like I said, I would ask ANYONE about my daughter's

symptoms.  I explained my Kelsey's condition to the lady at the counter, who

also gave health food advice to people.  She told me that it sounded like an

allergy to something.  She recommended that I try an elimination diet to see if

it changed anything.  She said very common allergies that children have include

milk, corn and wheat.  She told me to pick one and try it.  She said, " Start

with milk, that is a common one. "   So, I removed every milk product from

Kelsey's diet.  I was vigilant for about 3 weeks.  Lo and behold, for the first

time in 3 years, her cycle broke.

We maintained the milk-free diet for a year or so and the fevers were staved

off.  She may have had one or two in a couple of years but the cycle

was reliably broken.  About 3 years after the cycle was broken, we began to

reintroduce milk.  She was able to tolerate it just fine.  I should also say

that during the cycles of fever, Kelsey's growth was stunted and her growth

curve changed on the chart.  That was both height and weight.

Kelsey is now 15.  She no longer has fevers.  She also caught up with her

growth.  And, she is very healthy with no residual effects from her cyclical

fever.  The medical doctors did not believe the cycles were caused  by

allergies.  They claimed that she grew out of it.   Truthfully, I have no idea

what stopped the cycles.  It could have been development or it could also have

been the milk.  I am just thankful that they stopped.  That was a very horrible

time in our parenting lives.  Of course, at the time we had two children.  Now

we have 8 children so I'm sure we have had other challenging situations come up

since. 

My best advice to all of you would be to hang in there.  Hopefully something

will trigger a stop to your children's fevers.

Sincerely,

Kim