The Ketchup Poo

On our last visit to Baby's pedia, I asked to be referred to a pediatric allergologist. Baby had clear mucus trickling down her nose for more than a week. It did not disappear in 3 days so it's not viral, but it also didn't turn yellow or green so it's not bacterial either. She's been letting out coughs, with clear lungs, and had skin rashes appearing, disappearing, and reappearing on her right cheek. So we figured, it must be an allergy.


The allergy doctor, Dra. E.A.C. gave a bad first impression. She made herself seem intimidating by "snapping" at us because we didn't fill in some fields (Occupation and Mobile Number) in her new patient's info sheet. She made up by being nicer towards the end (maybe because she realized we live in the same subdivision), even offered special treatment like having her secretary call us when it's our turn so we won't have to wait in line in the next visits. I doubt there's gonna be any.


Yes, she taught us (inluding the yaya) how to cleanse and moisturize Baby's skin, and it was absolutely effective. (But more on the ketchup poo later.) I love Baby super very much, but I have to admit her face looked like fish scales to some extent because she had very dry cheeks. Now she has very soft skin, just like the ones you see in the TVCs. I'm gonna tell you the secret, because I will feel much better maximizing the 900-peso consultation fee.


After bathing, pat dry baby's skin with towel. (Pat dry only, no rubbing.) Leave some layer of moisture on baby's skin. (Do not dry thoroughly.) Apply Physiogel cream to "seal" this layer. Physiogel cream is available at drugstores at around P500 per 75-ml tube. It's hypo-allergenic, perfect for baby's sensitive skin, even on the face. It contains no colourants, perfume, or preservatives. It's cream, which is preferred by the doc over lotions. It doesn't come cheap, but it does the wonders.


Now onto the ketchup poo story. Aside from the washing and moisturing lecture, Dra. E.A.C. also prescribed 2 drugs - Iterax and Singulair - and wanted to see how Baby would react to the medicines / anti-allergy / antihistamine. She even gave us free samples! (Told you she was nicer to us towards the end.) At first I thought it was ok, but seeing Baby's ketchup poo made me wonder, WTF is she trying to make my precious little baby into her little guinea pig or lab rat??? Even if she paid me millions I wouldn't have agreed!


Iterax is safe (also confirmed by Baby's pedia). But after one dose of Singulair, there was a little reddish part on Baby's poo. And the doc prescribed Singulair for 14 days. 14 days! I didn't know it was Singulair, so we had another Singulair on Day2. Lo and behold, 100% of Baby's poo was reddish!!! I had the shock of my life!!! I began to imagine what's happening inside my baby's tiny digestive system. Sure she had watermelon juice the day before. But she also had the same juice last month without resulting to any weird color in her stools! Of course we took the stool to the hospital lab at that very instant.


While Husband was at the Medical City for the fecalysis, I was in front of the computer trying to find some answers. I read whatever I could find on Iterax, Singulair, irritable bowel syndrome, and yes, even the Swine flu! Turns out, the Singulair granules is known to have some gastrointestinal disturbances as one of its side effects! (This is also confirmed by Baby's pedia, upon discussing this drug with another doctor.) So what the hell Dra. E.A.C.???


Finally the result came out. Color is reddish brown. Mucus present. Blood invisible to the eye (whew!), but visible on the microscope (WTF?). And there were some comments on the RBC/WBC. The pedia asked to stop the intake of Singulair. The next stools on the following days were not as alarming. There would be some reddish spots, but it was not the same ketchup poo. The fecalysis was repeated after 3 days to make sure that effects of Singulair were completely flushed out of her system. And the result was the best lab report I've seen ever. Everything was back to normal!


We were scheduled for a follow-up with Dra. E.A.C. on June 15. I'd be crazy if I say we're still going.