“Huh,” was the only sound she made, my doctor, when I told her my diagnosis.  “Toddler’s Diarrhea,” I told Doctor  Holly,  “I think Latham has Toddler’s Diarrhea.”

I had been researching my 23 month old son’s symptoms ever since our doctor said I should have him tested for Cystic Fibrosis.  Latham had been suffering with chronic diarrhea and severe weight loss for 6 weeks and after a series of tests ruled out viruses and parasites, Doctor Holly revealed chronic diarrhea and severe weight loss are also symptoms of  Cystic Fibrosis.

As soon as she said it, I freaked.  But the more I read about the genetic disease, the more I believed my baby did not have it.  So, I started researching what Latham might have.

I typed ‘diarrhea in toddlers’ in the google search engine and Cystic Fibrosis was the first bullet to appear.  The second: Toddler’s Diarrhea.  According to Keep Kids Healthy, Toddler’s Diarrhea usually occurs in children between the ages of 6 months and 3 years and causes loose, watery stools.  Although they have chronic diarrhea, children with Toddler’s Diarrhea have a normal appetite and grow and develop normally, and usually drink juice.

BINGO!

After nap, every day, Latham begs for juice.  Although I only give him about 4 ounces of apple juice a day, mixed with water, I was hopeful Toddler’s Diarrhea was the diagnosis, not Cystic Fibrosis.  I pulled juice from Latham’s diet immediately.  And immediately began to see results.  Less than 24 hours later, Latham’s watery diarrhea began to firm up; 48 hours later, he had nearly normal stools; now, 2 weeks later, not only are his stools solid, he has gained 4 of the 5 pounds he lost during the last 2 months.

When I told Doctor Holly about Toddler’s Diarrhea, we had just tested Latham for Cystic Fibrosis.  She was calling to say our son did not have the deadly disease.

“I haven’t given Latham any apple juice all day,” I said after she revealed Latham did not have Cystic Fibrosis and asked how he was doing, “and I think it’s working already!”

“Oh,” she paused.  “I guess we’ll keep an eye on that,” was her only response.  “Just make an appointment if you think Latham needs to be seen again,” and with that, she hung up.

I have never been so happy and so irritated by someone in my entire life.  Happy that she just told me my son does not have Cystic Fibrosis and irritated that she just went from saying he could have Cystic Fibrosis to saying we’ll just keep an eye on him.  She didn’t say a word about the possibility of him having Toddler’s Diarrhea.

Not.  A.  Word.

Well, I’ve got a word for her.  Three of them, actually:  Latham is healthy!  And we couldn’t be happier.

I’m also happy I didn’t just wait around for Doctor Holly to tell me what was wrong with him.  I can’t imagine how much more weight my son would have lost, how sick he would be, and how many more tests would have been run trying to find out the cause of his severe symptoms.

I listened to my inner instincts.  I discovered what has wrong with him.  I did something about it.  And I am proud of myself.

I’m not saying I’m a doctor.  I’m not saying I can diagnose every problem.  What I am saying:  we know our children better than anyone else, even our doctors.  And it’s up to us to listen to our instincts and fight for our babies, especially when they can’t fight for themselves.