Update on J

We had to be at the hospital this morning by 7:30 so my husband and I got dressed and woke J up and dressed him just before we headed out the door. We didn't want to chance him going to the kitchen and asking for milk, then having a tantrum when we didn't give him any. So I dressed him, gave him his prevacid (per Drs orders), and we hopped in the truck and headed to UMC. Once we arrived, we checked in at the front desk and they immediately sent us to the 6th floor where we were met by a check in nurse who immediately got J in his room and in a gown. He was nervous by everything happening so fast so he did his nervous humming, but I am so thankful that they did move so fast b/c he was hungry, but had no time to slow down and think about it. I expected the worst b/c breakfast is practically the ONLY meal I can get him to eat and he looks forward to it. Once we got in the room, we waited about 10 minutes for the Dr and anesthesiologist. During that 10 minutes, he started to grab at my purse and pretend to eat things from it, poor thing!

On the way to the hospital...

Dressed in his little gown


Cheese!

Pointing to all the "CHOO CHOO"s (school buses) passing by the hospital


The Dr came in and told us that one of us would have to go back with him while they put him to sleep. He is a total momma's boy, so we both agreed I should go back with him. Let me tell you, it was such a tough thing to watch. When he got to the procedure room, he was in his little bed (which he called a choo choo) and was immediately surrounded by 5 nurses doing things to distract him. He was so nervous, yet still distracted. Then the anesthesiologist came from behind and put the mask over his face. At first he didn't fight it but when he felt how weird it made him feel he started to cry, but by then I could tell his fight was weak and the nurse laid him back and within seconds, he was out =( I gave him a kiss and left the room. That is so hard for a mom to watch. My husband and I waited in his room for him. After about 15-20 minutes, we heard J crying. Isn't it funny how a mom just knows her baby's cries?? He was wailing and saying "Momma!!!" That broke my heart b/c as a mom, you want to run to their rescue, but I knew they were going to take him to recovery first and then let me come to see him. He cried for 5 minutes straght and then the Dr walked into the room and said she needed me to come in recovery now b/c he came out of the anesthesia screaming for me. When I walked into the room the anesthesiologist was holding him and she and another nurse were frantically trying to calm him. When I walked in, he reached for me and then relaxed in my arms. He calmed down enough to catch his breath, but then continued to scream as they checked his blood pressure and O2 levels. And he wanted to IV out. Poor baby! Nothing I could do or say could help him feel better at that point. He just wanted out. So I said, "Do you want to go home?" He said "Lets go" in the weakest, saddest voice, through his crying. Then he asked for Daddy. After they got his vitals, we headed back to the room and he went to his daddy.
Not a happy camper after waking up :(



Oh, so I'm sure you are waiting on the findings!! The Dr saw two large stomach ulcers and the lining of his stomach is red and inflamed. She did some biopsies and said that she thinks those results will tell us more, so we have to wait until next week for that, but as of now, we think that the ulcers and irritated stomach are why he really won't eat. He was discharged an hour later (sans shoes b/c momma found out the hard way that his foot was sore from the IV) and we took him to Huddle House for a waffle. We were instructed to have him on a light diet for 24 hours, but the Dr agreed it's impossible to do with him since his diet is so limited, so she told us to give him what he will eat and if he throws it up then try pediasure for 24 hours. Well he ate his entire waffle with no problems afterwards.


One of my blog readers,D, asked a few questions about J's issues and seeing a GI for them, so I wanted to answer her questions here just in case anyone else is in the same boat. So many times serious issues can get dismissed and your child will just be labeled as a picky eater, b/c let's face it, toddlers do become picky eaters! However, I am constantly learning that mother's intuition is a gift from God and we should always listen to it and make our children's Drs listen as well. And if they won't listen, find one that will. For the record, J has had 3 pediatricians so far and the 3rd on is a charm. So with that said, let me answer D's question! J was diagnosed with a dairy intolerance at 2 weeks old and with reflux at 3 weeks old, so he's always had GI issues but we didn't take him to see a GI until he was 5 months old and was still puking up more than half of his formula. At first the GI told us that he was just a "happy spitter", but I knew that it was not good for him to be throwing up more than half of each feeding and still throwing up 3 hours after a feeding. Then at 6 months old, he had blood in his stool, so they switched his formula to Alimentum and we eliminated soy from his diet. He stopped spitting up completely, so the GI no longer needed to see him. He never was a big eater when he started solids. In fact, I remember Dr. B (the GI that did his procedure this morning) look at me with disapproval when I told her that all he would eat were nuggets and sweet potatoe fries. But at 13 months old, it was hard to determine if he was going through a phase or not, so I tried to introduce other foods and he did accept some variety, but he gagged on most them and downright refused others. At 18 months old, he was hospitalized for a bad case of stomatitis. It was after that, that his eating just came to a halt. He refused everything but french toast,waffles, nuggets, fries, pb&j, and beenie weenie. Now he only eats french toast (thought not as much as usual, waffles, fries, and pb&j on occassion. So as you can see, his diet intake got smaller. A few weeks ago J's pediatrician thought he had giardia, so they referred him to the GI for further testing. While asking about his BMs she inquired about his diet and I told her and she was VERY concerned b/c he has had the same awful diet since he was 13 months old. She said, in fact, it's not even a diet. So she immediately ordered to have all of these tests done and will place him in feeding therapy once we know for sure what's causing his issues. So basically, J has always had a GI history, but I had to request a referral to a GI on my own. If you feel that there is something more than just picky eating going on, I say fight until you get the action you know is needed to make things easier for you and your family.