We got a bill today.

It was a pathology bill.

It was…substantial.

After the first biopsy and bloods, the pemphigus guru repeated the bloods (for the third time) but sent them to a specialist pathology unit.

Ivy’s indirect immunoflourescence for Pemphigus - positive.

Ivy’s IgGs  - deficient.

Positive Ectodermal Dysplasia. DNA and OPG pending to determine the type.

Why that little girl had to go through all of those tests to prove what we already knew, I will never understand.

Just because one lousy doctor blew us off and said ‘it couldn’t possibly be’ .

Shame on you Dermking. My wallet may recover but my little girl may not.

In other Ivy news…

Gluten/wheat/lactose diet is a resounding success at four weeks in. We have gone from 6 - 12 of the foulest bloody mucousy bowel movements to 1 - 2 iron, antibiotic induced shloppe. Good news for Ivy (and for me, the primary changer of all t hings pooey) bad news for everyone else who is over the GF diet. (I could insert an evil laugh here but that would just be, well, evil, wouldn’t it).

Dave the wonder husband managed to extend our already extended credit card find some extra money and so we are going camping to Forster. It will be the first time all nine of us have been camping and I am really looking forward to it. Ok, maybe not the part where I have to share a tent with five farting children (you know, the average person passes flatus ten times a night - do the math people and these are kids, who fart on purpose. Because they think it’s funny. So we could easily double that number. Easily.) and two nappy clad, morning poo toddlers but the rest of it, sure.

However, Ivy needs to have a chest x ray today and an ear swab to check for pneumonia and other nasties for the girl who just can’t get better. Fingers crossed that it isn’t the big P because that could mean an end to our camping trip and we SO need this break.