Bad Day for Wayne

This is a picture of Uncle D.J., Wayne and Aunt Jessica back in June 2006
Phoenix Children's Hospital

Today was a hard day for me to be a Mother. Royal Wayne our 2nd oldest son suffers from Abdominal Migraines. As a new born baby he would scream for hours, days, and all night long. I thought he must be hungry, constipated, tired, poopy, and teething. I finally went to the Dr. and confided in the Dr. this baby has some major issues but, what they are I do not know. At one point the Dr. thought he might have Leukemia. That was scary and something no parent wants to hear. He had an MRI done and I was sent away with this baby is just fine and he is probably teething. Well a few years went by and still Wayne would have these days where he would just scream and be inconsolable. Wayne started having terrible vomiting, diarrhea and screaming fits that would last for days. After, this happened a few more times I finally said enough is enough. I packed my baby into the van and drove him to Phoenix children's hospital. I told the Dr.s my story and that I was not leaving until they could tell me what was wrong with my little boy. They gave him medication they give chemo patients to stop the vomiting. He of course continued to vomit. This really concerned the Dr.s and us. They decide to hospitalize Wayne until they could figure out why he was so sick. The testing began and it was brutal. I was very pregnant with Jayden so I was not allowed in the rooms to hold Wayne during these tests. It was hard on me to see my baby suffering. Finally after 7 days of testing and IV's over 12 Neurologists decided that my son has suffered from Abdominal Migraines since he was a newborn baby. They also discovered that Wayne digests food and medication 4 hours slower than the rest of us. He also has Cyclic Vomiting disorder. Combine these 3 disorders and it makes for 1 very sick little boy. They have no medications to help him. They gave us some to experiment with. All it did was ruin his teeth and cause him 2 surgeries to fix his teeth. Spencer and I decided to take him off all medications and just deal with each migraine as they came. I really don't know how many Migraines Wayne has had since his diagnosis. Last night and today were really hard on him. His gets so sick and is in so much pain. Most patients start showing these symptoms at age 5-9. I was hoping that because Wayne started showing signs as a newborn that he would be growing out of this. I don't think that is the case. They seem to be getting worse. I just sat and held Wayne in my arms today and watched Spider Man 3. He told me it was a good day because he got to cuddle with his Mom. It broke my heart. I wish he was able to go to school and run and play with his friends and brothers. Grandpa Reidhead, Uncle John Griggs and Daddy gave Wayne a wonderful blessing tonight. It gave him comfort in his time of need. He came home and was able to eat dinner and keep it down. I sometimes wonder what are we supposed to learn from this trial? I hate seeing my baby suffer from something he has no control over. If we give him medication it knocks him out for a few days and that is no way to live. Seeing him just laying around in pain is no way to live either. I hope that he can grow out of this soon. I know this is rambling and hard to follow it is just hard to see me baby having such a hard time. It is hard when he tells that ants are eating his brain and I can not help him. All I can do is hold and love on him. I am so grateful that Wayne has hope of growing out of this.


Abdominal Migraines

What it feels like: The pain, generally around the belly button, can be very intense and last for more than an hour, or even several days. A child may also vomit frequently, lose her appetite, and feel nauseous and headachy. Some kids go weeks or months between episodes. Thirteen-year-old Hayden White began having abdominal migraines when he was in the third grade. "The first time, he lost 10 pounds and needed an IV to replace fluids," says his mom, Jill, of Reno, Nevada.

What's going on: Few people have ever heard of abdominal migraines, but they seem to be caused by the same neuro-vascular triggers that cause migraine headaches. Many children who get them have a family history of migraines and end up developing the headaches later in life.