Saw the new GI dr today

What a difference! She listens. She asks ME questions. She explains things. She attempts to FIX what's wrong. All things that the other GI docs did not do, seriously.

I was overwhelmed when we walked in b/c I was basically going in there having to explain to her over 2 yrs of GI issues that have gone unresolved. So I had to start from infancy when as a newborn he couldn't hold down his milk based formula, was switched to soy, diagnosed with reflux, diagnosed with MSPI, and was chronically constipated. However, from that list, the only thing that was treated was the reflux...so I thought. I told Dr U about the results from his EGD in February. He had stomach ulcers and duodenitis. She asked what was done to treat that and I told her that the dr told me to continue giving him his 15mg of prevacid and to just follow up as needed. She shook her head. She said that first of all, 15mg of prevacid is just not enough for him. It's not enough for his reflux and it's not enough to treat the obvious build up of acid he has sitting in his stomach which would explain the stomach ulcers. She really wanted to put him on something stronger than prevacid, but decided to see how increasing his dosage would help him first. Then I told her about the response he had to the Gluten free diet. She said that the constipation, duodenitis, and the positive response to Gluten Free is saying Celiac Disease and she cannot understand why the previous GI docs did not do the biopsy for Celiac while he was under anesthesia for his EGD. I told her that I did mention Celiac to the previous Drs and they brushed me off b/c "celiac patients have chronic diarrhea, not constipation." Dr. U disagreed, of course! Celiac patients have constipation as well. She doesn't want to do another EGD on J if she doesn't have to b/c he'd need to be put under again, so she wants to retrieve the records from the previos drs and see if she can tell anything from that. There's a blood test she can do to test for Celiac, but he'd have to go off of his GF diet and the test is not always accurate for toddlers, so there is a chance that he will need to have another EGD done for diagnosis. She pressed on his belly and told me that she could feel hard stool in his bowel. He had a BM on thursday and had a really hard time going, but that was 4 days ago and she immediately FELT a backup. It has me wondering why the previous Docs didn't feel anything when my child was going 7-8 days without a BM. So Dr. U says that she is going to run multiple tests on J b/c the key is to find out what is causing him to have some many GI issues and once we find the problem we can treat it. But first things first, correct the chronic constipation he's had going on for over 2 yrs! So she prescribed a stool softner for him to take daily. It has no taste and I mixed it in his juice but J told me that it is "naggy" and he wouldn't drink it. I'm sure he'll drink it when he wakes up from his nap though, lol. She's going to request his records from UMC and I'm going to email her the pictures I have from the EGD and she will follow up with me by Friday to decide what she wants to do next. Hopefully we can figure out what's going on with him. A huge part of me is hoping that he does not have Celiac Disease, b/c now he's showing more interest in eating, yet he's so limited b/c of the GF diet. But then I have to remember that he's possibly showing more interest in eating b/c his stomach feels better thanks to the GF diet. It's tough, but we can deal.

While we were waiting in the waiting area to be called, an older woman was playing with J. She held out her arms and he went to give her a hug so she picked him up and started talking to him. He babbled but didn't say any real words, so I knew what her next question would be. "How old is he?" I am getting that alot now, and always right after people try to talk to him. I often wonder if it's b/c he looks older since he's tall or should he really be talking all of the time at 2.5. I've been around kids all of my life and while I have heard 2.5 yr olds talk, I thought that some of them do still babble from time to time, but maybe I'm wrong. I told the lady that he was 2.5 and she asked if he was really quiet. I told her that his speech is delayed. He got down to play and was babbling to his reflection in the floor, but no real words. He has a vocabulary, but when he has a lot to say (instead of just identifying something) he babbles b/c he cannot put two or more words together well. The lady asked me if he was in speech therapy and I told her he is. And then it just got weird! LOL! She basically gave him a speech therapy session right there in the waiting room! Okay, not exactly, but everytime he went over to her, she was telling him to say this and say that. J didn't say anything but babbling. It was so weird. Then she asked me if he could hear. I know she meant well, but we were in a waiting room full of people and I felt like all eyes were on us now. I told her his hearing and his comprehension is fine. He fell backwards while he was playing and I said "Uh Oh are you okay?" and J said "Okay!" and the little old lady told me, "Did you hear him?? He said 'Okay'! LMAO!! I just smiled and nodded. He says far more than just 'okay' lady! But I guess this is something I need to get used to as he gets older. People are going to start to notice and they are going to start to ask questions. I have to remember that they all mean well and that his delay is just that, a delay, and he will catch up soon.