Tuesday, August 14, 2012

3rd GI Visit: August 14, 12


Sophie’s 3rd time at the pediatric gastroenterologist was today.

First: He is very impressed with her GERD progress but is still worried about the amount of meds she is on to keep it under control so he has ordered her to go to the hospital on Sept 19th to get a 24hr PH probe put in, basically they stick a tube (the probe) up her nose, down her throat and placed right at the top of her stomach. We will have to record her every cry, hiccup and nap for the 24 hour period it is in. The BAD part is, she cannot have ANY of her meds for 2 days prior to the procedure. He said that will be fun. <-seriously he said we will be in for a fun 2 days… I can just hear his voice dripping with sarcasm as I type this…

Once we get the results (2 to 3 business days after the PH probe is complete) we will know the severity of her reflux and know 1. How to better handle it and 2. Any further testing to be done.
Second: He reviewed her latest tests and decided that the severity of her colitis and shedding of the lining couldn’t be “just” intolerance. Even though her RAST testing came back within normal range (at 3 months old) he said it is an actual immune response. He will be prescribing an epi pen for severe cases once she turns 1yr old. Also he told us that she will be on formula (but graduating to toddler formula at 14 months) until age 2 but wants to test periodically with Nutramigen formula between the months of 10 & 12 and 16 & 18 to see if she can handle the broken down proteins in Nutramigen and we can better scale her allergies.

On a good note he is glad that she has finally gained all the weight back that she lost when she was so sick and is perfect! He said the Neocate has done wonders the last 5 months and we won’t take her off until we both feel she is ready.

He did say that her allergies to bananas, peas and sweet potatoes should be outgrown by age 5. He emphasized on the word should. As for new foods he gave us a tip to cause the least amount of GI upset. He said to place a swipe of the new food in her left cheek as well as a swipe on the outside and wait for a reaction. If no reaction (he said obviously the food on the outside will be wiped off) we can try half a teaspoon the next afternoon and increase from there. No more than 1 new food every week and give it a week after the “fail” of a food to move on <- which we knew.

Overall it was an exhausting trip. I am grateful for this doctor though, he is extremely thorough and he actually listens!

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