Patterns

Four days after completing our last round of steriods and antiobiotics.....we're back on! Thank goodness both come grape flavored and I can semi-hide them in his formula. I just hope we all get some sleep and Stanton's nasty chest cough is cleared up before Tuesday. We fly to Cincinnati on Tuesday for a few days of testing at the Children's Hospital. Stanton has only been sick about 4 times since we were last in Cincinnati (November):


1. Thanksgiving - ate 3/4 of a scrambled egg then became congested and went downhill quickly that day. This episode required breathing treatments and steroid shots.
2. January 6 – ate for the behavior psychologist. Vomiting began about 4 hours later
3. January 21 – ate at Piccadilly. Had about 2 spoonfuls of corn, half my portion of carrot soufflé and 4 bites of jello. Became very congested that night and vomiting began the following day. This turned into aspiration pneumonia.
4. February 8 – ate well at speech therapy. Vomiting began three hours later. Wheezing began the following day. Back on steroids.
Does anyone else see a pattern here? Each serious illness begins with EATING. Stanton has the desire to try and taste and eat…then he severely pays for this choice. I’m looking forward to sharing this information with the team in Cincinnati. Maybe a light bulb will turn on in one of their minds…

We will meet with an allergist who works on the aero-digestive disorders team and Stanton will undergo full allergy testing. We'll meet with a geneticist who also works on the team and she will review all the testing we've done thus far. I'm hoping she gives us some good insight about our most recent metabolic results. Stanton is then scheduled to undergo a nuclear medicine test for delayed gastric emptying. We'll wrap everything up by meeting with the gastroenterologist and feeding team again.

I'm looking forward to the trip, although it will be tough on Stanton. I just hope it brings us one step closer (okay, maybe like five steps closer) to an answer!

Happy Valentine's Day!