“As Needed”

There is one topic I have written about on this site a lot: poop or the lack thereof.

From the day Sam was born the one thing he wasn’t so good at was pooping. We have tried everything: Miralax, acupuncture, herbs, Senna, a gluten free diet, a dairy free diet and every combination of the above – sometimes all at once. We have had Sam’s intestinal track studied from above and below. We went to a physical therapist who specializes in chronic constipation. We have even had a biopsy done to check for an underlying medical issue to his chronic constipation. Every bathroom in my house has glycerine suppositories in it. As recent as December of this year, we spent three nights in the hospital for an impacted bowel.

And then, suddenly, something shifted. After the hospitalization in December, Sam started pooping. Daily. After a solid month of daily poops, I started to slowly dial back on the herbs and the Senna until Sam was only getting Miralax. And the poop kept coming. Next, we started to cut the Miralax down bit by bit. And the poop kept coming.

It’s been seven months now of daily or every other day poops – and only a small amount of Miralax.

When the appointment reminder popped up that Sam’s three-month check-in at the gastroenterology clinic was upon us, I reached out to his doctor and told her how we were doing. I asked if she needed to see us. Her response was: “I am happy to see Sam on an as needed basis from this point on”.

That’s right. Sam has been downgraded to “as needed”. The boy who almost needed surgery to clear out his impacted bowel in December is now cleared to only see his GI doc if needed.

Over 5 years of obsessing over poop. Worrying about poop. Wondering what can be done to help Sam poop.

He has it figured out. We will see his GI doctor when and if he needs to.