His "Cheese" face - he's saying while we take the picture!Last Friday Jackson had his upper endoscopic procedure and three biopsies taken - one from each: esophagus, stomach and duodenum (small intestine). We arrived at the Pediatric Surgery Center around 7:15 and Jackson had about 45 minutes to play with the "cool toys" in the waiting room. Actually, it was the nicest waiting room I had ever seen! He was mad when we pulled him away to go to pre-op. There, in the room, a small DVD player had been set up so he could watch a movie while we waited for the procedure to begin. He, of course, chose to watch "Cars" and this kept him preoccupied and unaware of the other crying children throughout the center. However, their cries were not lost on Mommy, who at this point had to lie down from the nausea I was experiencing. Once I laid down, my back started to spasm (the stress had caused me to have so much tension). Anyway, the anesthesiologist finally came for Jack and we were able to be in the room while they gave him the gas mask. He struggled while they held it to his face (even scratching himself some) but, finally, after about 30 seconds he gave one last kick and was out. Let me tell you - this was pretty scary to watch! Anyway, we were brought to a post-op area and only had to wait about 10 minutes before the doctor came in with a followup. Jackson was waking up and had done wonderfully. The preliminary pictures showed no signs of any major damage to the stomach or the esophagus. We were to get the results this week on the biopsies. They brought us to see our baby, who was very distraught at this point as he was coming out of the anesthesia and being held by a nurse he did not know. David immediately grabbed him and we held on to him for the longest time. They gave him a Popsicle and he finally calmed down once they removed the sensor from his toe that monitors his vitals. We were even able to leave through the front door due to him being so calm - He was doing so well! It took him, and me, a few days to recover from the experience but after Saturday, he was finally feeling back to normal. Mostly, he was just grumpy and very tired; he didn't each much but when does he really??
Now, on to the results: We had our consultation with Dr. Dave' today and she told us the following -
1. The results of the esophagus biopsy were 100% normal. He has no damage and/or allergy issues here. We are to keep him on prevacid until further notice though because this may be eliminating any damage caused to his esophagus by acid reflux (though we still aren't certain he has this).
2. The results of the stomach biopsy were also 100% normal. There are no allergy issues and or stomach problems to report. He did not test positive for cystic fibrosis or lymphoma.
3. The results of the small intestine did show some questionable problems. There is some minor damage to his "vilae" which may be a result of either 1) celiac's disease (an allergy to wheat, barley and rye) or 2) an infection such as a virus (stomach, cold, etc.).
4. She also wanted to have an x-ray done of his colon to ensure no problems were happening there. This had not been done before and we wanted to rule everything out. He has some problems with having normal bowel movements - he has a lot of constipation that immediately turns to very loose bowel movements. Any backup in the colon would affect the small intestine and make his stomach feel full.
5. Finally, she also asked us to have more blood and genetic testing done to make a better determination on the celiac's disease. If he does NOT have the celiac's gene then we can be certain that is not the condition he has. If he does have the gene, then it is likely that is what we are dealing with and he will have to go on a gluten-free diet permanently (for the rest of his life).
6. Our information has also been sent to "Our Children's House at Baylor" to begin the process of meeting with their eating therapists, nutritionists, etc. to begin eating therapy. We will have the results of the genetic testing by this time and his diet will be determined accordingly before beginning.
Jackson has had a rough few days from all this but he has handled it all so well - he really is such a big boy! Please keep praying for us; I know God is with us in this struggle and he will take care of us - he always has!
On another note, we have begun the process of "weaning" Jackson off pacifiers. His obsession with the binkie has become a little excessive and may be interfering with his eating - meaning he doesn't want to take that thing out for anything! So, we have begun the first stage by cutting off the tips. You should see him - he gets so mad at that binkie, bites it, then throws it across the room. He'll then scream, "I want MY binkie!" Now, he's starting to get used to the new "shorter" tips so we're going to cut them a little more. We tell him that he is getting too big for the binkie and it is getting smaller. Pray for us on this too as it has been pretty tough!
As for our little "bun in the oven" - our appointment last week with Dr. Neal went very well. The baby has a very strong heartbeat and my blood pressure and weight are great. So far, I've gained about five pounds which is on the lower side but perfectly fine. I've lost my appetite quite a bit so I have to remind myself to eat, but if too much time goes by without a small meal or snack, I begin to get a bad headache and feel very weak. So, I may not be hungry but the "Little Baby" sure is! We have our ultrasound scheduled on June 14 (less than two weeks from now) to check up on the little buggar and see if we're having a boy or a girl. I still have my bets (and hopes) on a boy but who knows. Yesterday, I was 17 weeks and the bump has significantly become a "pregnant belly" though still small enough to make people wonder if I've had a few too many beers. We are so thankful that everything has been perfectly healthy to this point with my pregnancy and the baby.
When we find out more test results, I will post those. In the meantime, we are going to be swimming in the pool to get out of this extremely hot Texas weather!
Now, on to the results: We had our consultation with Dr. Dave' today and she told us the following -
1. The results of the esophagus biopsy were 100% normal. He has no damage and/or allergy issues here. We are to keep him on prevacid until further notice though because this may be eliminating any damage caused to his esophagus by acid reflux (though we still aren't certain he has this).
2. The results of the stomach biopsy were also 100% normal. There are no allergy issues and or stomach problems to report. He did not test positive for cystic fibrosis or lymphoma.
3. The results of the small intestine did show some questionable problems. There is some minor damage to his "vilae" which may be a result of either 1) celiac's disease (an allergy to wheat, barley and rye) or 2) an infection such as a virus (stomach, cold, etc.).
4. She also wanted to have an x-ray done of his colon to ensure no problems were happening there. This had not been done before and we wanted to rule everything out. He has some problems with having normal bowel movements - he has a lot of constipation that immediately turns to very loose bowel movements. Any backup in the colon would affect the small intestine and make his stomach feel full.
5. Finally, she also asked us to have more blood and genetic testing done to make a better determination on the celiac's disease. If he does NOT have the celiac's gene then we can be certain that is not the condition he has. If he does have the gene, then it is likely that is what we are dealing with and he will have to go on a gluten-free diet permanently (for the rest of his life).
6. Our information has also been sent to "Our Children's House at Baylor" to begin the process of meeting with their eating therapists, nutritionists, etc. to begin eating therapy. We will have the results of the genetic testing by this time and his diet will be determined accordingly before beginning.
Jackson has had a rough few days from all this but he has handled it all so well - he really is such a big boy! Please keep praying for us; I know God is with us in this struggle and he will take care of us - he always has!
On another note, we have begun the process of "weaning" Jackson off pacifiers. His obsession with the binkie has become a little excessive and may be interfering with his eating - meaning he doesn't want to take that thing out for anything! So, we have begun the first stage by cutting off the tips. You should see him - he gets so mad at that binkie, bites it, then throws it across the room. He'll then scream, "I want MY binkie!" Now, he's starting to get used to the new "shorter" tips so we're going to cut them a little more. We tell him that he is getting too big for the binkie and it is getting smaller. Pray for us on this too as it has been pretty tough!
As for our little "bun in the oven" - our appointment last week with Dr. Neal went very well. The baby has a very strong heartbeat and my blood pressure and weight are great. So far, I've gained about five pounds which is on the lower side but perfectly fine. I've lost my appetite quite a bit so I have to remind myself to eat, but if too much time goes by without a small meal or snack, I begin to get a bad headache and feel very weak. So, I may not be hungry but the "Little Baby" sure is! We have our ultrasound scheduled on June 14 (less than two weeks from now) to check up on the little buggar and see if we're having a boy or a girl. I still have my bets (and hopes) on a boy but who knows. Yesterday, I was 17 weeks and the bump has significantly become a "pregnant belly" though still small enough to make people wonder if I've had a few too many beers. We are so thankful that everything has been perfectly healthy to this point with my pregnancy and the baby.
When we find out more test results, I will post those. In the meantime, we are going to be swimming in the pool to get out of this extremely hot Texas weather!
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