Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Our Puzzle Continues


I guess the title of this post explains it all.

Abby is still running a low grade fever, but now has a cold on top of it. Her poor little nose is red and sore. At least she is at home and not in the hospital!

Today we took her to see the gastroenterologist. We wanted to share with him our concerns about recent symptoms that have made us suspicious about her reflux. He listened as we recapped the past 5 months of illnesses, hospitalizations, vomiting, irritability and of course the fever. In the end he concluded that the vomiting indicated she is definitely still refluxing despite the meds and J feedings, and he is concerned about the fever. He agreed that the fever could be a sign that she is aspirating stomach fluid into her lungs on occasion. Today he will be reviewing and discussing Abby's previous x-rays with the pediatric radiologist and will also be speaking with our pediatrician to decide what the next step will be.

He said that he would like to have Abby repeat the barium swallow test to check for any obvious aspirations. A CT of her abdomen and chest might also be helpful to get a closer look into her lungs, and check for any other possible source of infection. Tomorrow we expect to hear back from him.

Abby will also have blood drawn tomorrow morning first thing to check for signs of infection there. Not looking forward to putting her through that again, but praying we get a considerate, experienced soul who will only have to stick her once!

So at least we are moving forward in some sort of direction, expecting to find something that might answer our questions.

PS: Afternoon update- Our gastroenterologist consulted with the radiologist and our pediatrician today and they have decided to go ahead with the chest and abdominal CT. It is scheduled for this Friday at 9 am.

On a lighter note, Happy Easter... a little late. Here are some pictures of our fun in TN over the weekend.