GI-New School

It has been a while since the GI appt but here is the update. Nathan weighed 22 pounds which the GI doctor didn't think was too bad. All his tests came back normal so the next step would be an endoscopy which requires anesthesia. Dr. Boyle is now one our favorite of Nathan's dr's. He listens to what we have to say, explains things in a way we can understand and is just generally a really nice person. He said that the endoscopy will most likely show no abnormalities either so we are going to hold off for another three months. He gave us two sample products-the first was a high calorie drink in a juice box container. It contains 1 1/2 times the calories of pediasure. Unfortunately Nathan did not like it. The other thing he gave us which we did order through Walgreens is a liquid called Benecalorie. It is a high calorie liquid supplement that can be added to Nathan's pediasure and is low in volume. It is 250 calories I believe and Nathan does not notice it in his cup. Of course Mark and I were shaking our heads afterwards wondering why no one gave us this 2 years ago, but oh well.

Nathan is starting his new school next week. This morning I am taking him to meet his teacher and see his classroom. I doesn't want to go. They seem a little disorganized so we shall see. I hope we both feel comfortable and get lots of questions answered about how things will run. It's a difficult change for everyone, especially for me knowing that he really liked his teacher Miss Miranda at Hey Diddle Diddle. I hate thinking that he will be with strangers all day for two days next week, but I guess he will adjust.

Thats all for now. I will keep you all posted when this Benecalorie starts paying off and Nathan starts putting on the pounds and growing out of all his clothes!

cast off

Well-Friday Nathan got his cast removed. He also got x-rays after some insistence from me. With all the disorders that have been thrown around and with 2 fractures so far, I just wanted to know if his bones heal properly. The x-ray showed "nice calcification" which means it is healing on schedule!! I definitely would have had a lot of anxiety if they had not done the x-ray. Especially since Nathan is favoring the hand still, just because of stiffness and because he forgets that he can use it now. He has a velcro wrist splint to wear when he is out playing. He prefers wearing it over not wearing it, presumably because he is used to having something on his arm.

Our GI appointment was cancelled. The doctor had a death in the family and rescheduled all his appointments for this coming Thursday, which is also Nathan's last day of school at Hey Diddle Diddle. He can't start at his new school until July 1 so for the next two weeks I will be home with both kids. I'm sure I could have gotten a grandma to care for him during the interim, but Libby wouldn't understand why she had to go to school while Nathan got to stay home.

frustration!!

I'm just frustated. I weighed Nathan and with cast and clothes he weighed 21.6 pounds. He goes through periods where he eats really well (with a lot of prompting) and then days where he just won't eat anything! Meals are a nightmare with us bartering with Nathan to take one or two more bites. Then there is his physical development. He fell twice today and pretty hard too. Once he loses his balance, he just loses it and goes rolling. He is not able to catch himself and winds up banging various body parts along the way. Physical therapy through CHOP discharged him after six weeks because he was doing so well, but he still needs so much work. We need to be better about working with him at home too.

Last week he had an evaluation for occupational therapy through Early Intervention, even though he turns 3 in three months. The therapist said that he really does not qualify, but she will try to push it through so that he can get some help through the summer. On Friday he has a GI appt in the morning and his cast removal in the afternoon. I can't wait to get it taken off because it stinks really really bad.

thanks for letting me vent about Nathan's weight. I feel like he is moving forward in every other way except weight.