After the teeth...

After Ava's dental surgery things seemed better. She ate better and more often and was not throwing as many fits.  I had asked her doctor and dentist many time what would cause her teeth to decay at such a young age. Do you think she is lacking something? Is there a deficiency? We never got a straight answer. The most common was, maybe she was born with weak enamel and food got caught in them causing them to decay. I'm not a doctor or a dentist, maybe their right. It didn't feel right to us that this was the answer but how do we know.

At her 3 year check up she had grown 3inches and gained 3 lbs. Amazing!! Was it the teeth all along? Is she going to catch up now? Hey maybe they were right. Things were better for a while. In January-February of 2011 we knew there was more to this then her teeth. Ava threw several hour long fits that was above and beyond what had ever happened before. She was screaming crying, throwing things. It was unbelievable. Neither David or I could calm her down or get her to stop. We yelled at her, put her in her room, threatened to take things away and at one point I even cried with her out of frustration. She could not tell us what was wrong. She would just yell " I don't know!" It was a cold snowy winter and her complaints of her knees hurting were more frequent. Her fits were worse and she would decide on a whim weather she would listen or not. Some days she refused to eat, others it was refusing to get dresses. Yes she is stubborn but this was ridiculous!

After talking about it, David & I began wondering maybe were yelling and punishing her for no reason. Maybe something is wrong? There has to be more. At her most resent visit doctor check up she had not gained an ounce. They said maybe her knee pain was "growing pains." Wouldn't she have to be growing for this to be so? Finally we decided to go beyond our pediatrician and start with what we know. Auto immune disease/ arthritis run in my family. I called the doctor and got a referral to see a Rheumatologist. As everyone knows getting into a specialist can take forever. The first appointment they had available was June...we were in February. We had no choice but to wait.

As the weather got warmer Ava's fits became less and she was eating sometimes. She gained an ounce here and there but nothing significant. June came and we told our story starting from the dental problems, along with family history. This was a concern and yes she did have symptoms of arthritis but nothing visible. It didn't warrant any more tests and she told us to keep a watch on her and come back if there were anymore symptoms. No at the moment Ava did seem better but it was also warm out and who isn't happier when it's warm & sunny? Once again we thought maybe we were over reacting, Ava is fine.