Stanton has been healthy for the last six weeks! We have made a couple of changes with his medications including adding Claritin , dropping Miralax to every other day and removing Prevacid. The Claritin seems to be working against the runny nose and mucus build up while the Miralax is keeping his system from backing up. Stanton has been on Prevacid since he was 10 weeks old. The buffer compound that we use to mix it is no longer available, so our pediatrician agreed that now would be a good time to stop and see. The longer we go between illnesses, the more courageous he becomes with food. I’ve seen a real increase in appetite without Prevacid. I’ve been astonished as I watch Stanton eat and enjoy macaroni and cheese, carrot soufflé, hotdog, peanut butter, yoo-hoos, cinnamon rolls, pound cake, banana and granola. In therapy he’s actually licked a variety of foods and textures without much complaint. We are still holding our breath, waiting on the crash….but so far, we’re really enjoying a healthy Stanton!
The film crew for Abbott nutrition came over on Sunday to meet us and get to know Stanton. He seemed really comfortable with everybody and spent the afternoon building legos, reading books, crashing blocks and playing space with the crew. They were all super sweet and really great with him. Luckily, the day of filming was a nice day and the crew got some great footage of Stanton playing outside being a wild boy. They spent the afternoon filming us playing, reading, eating mac n’ cheese, being a big brother….it sort of felt like we were on a reality TV show as a camera man just followed us around. Then it was time for make-up! The make-up artist airbrushed make-up on and really pampered me. I don’t usually wear lots of make up, so it was strange….but I must admit – fun. The crew explained that they wanted us to focus on how Elecare has made a difference in Stanton’s life. John and I took a trip down memory lane and looked through old pictures remembering that before Elecare, Stanton threw up at least twice an hour. He spent his days lying around with no energy. He was super emotional all the time and never felt good. John and I took turns sleeping in his room as Stanton would wake up several times during the night to throw up. Once we discovered Elecare, Stanton was already 20 months old. Within the first few days of introducing this amino acid formula to Stanton, his vomiting decreased SIGNIFICANTLY from an average of 32 times a day down to 3 or 4 times a day. We realize that Elecare changed our lives by giving us a better quality of life. During our filmed interview, John and I basically focused on this part of our journey. We realize that Stanton has other issues, and we still don’t have a diagnosis, but we didn’t get into those issues as the point of the filming was about how his nutrition, health and feeding have improved due to this medical formula.
Abbott will use the footage to create a patient testimonial for medical conferences. They will also put a short 90 second segment together for their website, however, this segment must be approved by the FDA – so who knows when that will be ready for release and what it will look like. As soon as we have a link – of course I’ll share it with you!
This is Stanton "on set" as we tested the sound
In the midst of dealing with the film crew, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital called. They have scheduled Stanton for the week of February 20th. In addition to meeting with several specialists, he will also have a swallow study, a CT scan, a feeding evaluation, x-rays, an exploratory surgery/scope and internal biopsies with the otolaryngologist, gastroenterologist, and pulmonologist, a ph probe inserted to measure acid levels and follow up appointments with all the specialists. It will be an extremely stressful, but hopeful week. I ask you to all send us positive energy and prayers as we begin to make our travel arrangements and prepare for all the testing. It is always an emotional time for our family…the anticipation of what’s to come, the hope for answers, the reality of process, our history of no answers, the financial burden. It’s all part of our fight for Stanton’s continued health. We do this to ensure that he will grow into who is to become and make a difference in this world.
