Siena's 15 months check up

Weight - 18# 15oz (less than 5%)

Height - 29 1/2 inches (15%)

Head cir. - 45cm

We saw a different Pediatrician today because Siena's normal doc is on Maternity leave. Overall he said she looked great. She has very advanced awareness of her surroundings (ducking under tables), developmentally she is doing great. Her body looks very well proportioned however he was concerned because her weight dropped to less than 5% when she has normally been in the 25%. Had she always been less than 5% he would not be concerned but because of the 20% drop he does want us to watch her and make sure she doesn't lose any weight. Part of the problem is due to her sensitivities / allergies to certain foods, mainly dairy. Every time I introduce dairy into her diet she gets a rash, this last time was with cream cheese, if she has too much of something over a period of time the reflux starts and she gets very gassy. Towards the end of April we did a wheat trial and with in a few days she was randomly vomiting. As soon as we stopped all wheat and gluten the vomiting stopped.

It if difficult to get her calories because she doesn't want to eat baby food any more but she won't eat enough finger foods to fill her self up. I cook her eggs in olive oil for fat. She has been eating goat's milk cheese which she has really seemed to be liking, however when I added some powered goats milk into the rice milk she refused to drink it. I tried adding coconut milk back into her bottle because she loved that before and now she is refusing that as well. It is pretty frustrating to deal with a picky eater, especially with these sensitivities. The doc said that the sensitivities can be just as bad on a person as allergies. For her, the irritants can cause reflux, intestinal irritation and possibly bloody stools. She has had all and because we can't see in her body to actually see what is happening to her, we need to avoid the items that cause her to have problems and hopefully she will out grow it one day. So she is still on a soy free, dairy free, wheat and gluten free diet. It is a lot of work!! She also got her last DPT shot. She was a trooper for that!

On another note related to Siena, I received a letter in the mail from the insurance company stating that the MRI was not covered because intermittent torticollis was not a valid reason for an MRI. The thing is, I was told by the neurologist and the physical therapist that Siena DID NOT have torticollis and that is why we needed to pursue the MRI. I looked over the letter and there was a doctor's name on it that I didn't recognize. I looked him up and he is a neurologist at Sutter, however I have never spoke with him, nor has he ever examined my daughter, so why is he submitting her records and false records at that???? I called the neurologists office and spoke with the nurse and she said that they never had patients get refused for MRI's and she also had not clue who that doctor was. I explained to her that the insurance company was sent records stating that my daughter had intermittent torticollis and that I was specifically told by the neurologist that she did not have it. So now this nurse is looking into it. She'd better to because yesterday I received an explanation of benefits from the insurance company and the bill is $6747.00 for the MRI's. Well it says at the bottom that the MRI is not covered due to the diagnosis, however because I went to a eligible provider for the service, I was not responsible for the $6747, which means the Dr. is and I am sure they are not going to be pleased to see that bill! I am sure this will all get straightened out but it is still annoying and I am not happy knowing that doctors who have never even spoken a word to you are writing up records like they know what is going on!

** Thursday update**

Talk to the nurse at the neurologists office and apparently the Dr. Siena saw actually did put in her record intermittent torticollis on the record. Why the hell would he write that when he told me she didn't have it? Anyways I told the nurse her record needed to be changed because as along as it said torticollis on it, the insurance company would not cover it.