Head Spinning

The boys had their 3 month checkup with Dr. Hofley today. She is there GI doc, and has done weight and height checks on them for quite some time now. She has been an incredible source of information and support.

So, today, we received some awesome news...and some not so awesome news.

Joshua is officially thriving!! He gained a little over two pounds, and grew just about an inch!! He actually looks a little chubby! :) She said in the past three months he has flown up to the 5th% for weight, and overall is doing exceptionally well. It's safe to say that, from a GI point of view, Joshua is finally okay!! She still wants to check his weight every 3 months to make sure that this is a curve that he will still on...but yipppeee! He is also scheduled to have a bone density test done to make sure that during the time of any malabsorption he may have had, it hasn't effected his bone density. From our lecture on Friday night, we learned that it should be done 6-12 months after a gluten free diet has begun and health has returned.

The head spinning part, unfortunately, is with Ethan. He is officially "failure to thrive"...again! He hasn't gained even an ounce in the last 3 months, nor has he really grown in height. She is concerned because with Joshua responding so well to the diet changes, Ethan should have had even slight improvement over the last few months. Some recent studies have talked about the possibility of refractory Celiac Disease, as well as something we learned on Friday night which has to do with a bacterial overgrowth in the intestines. Something else she has seen in children just like Ethan, is eczema up and down the lining of the esophagus, and digestive tract. Needless to say, all of this means Ethan needs another endoscopy. They want to see where the health of his intestines stands, as well as check out what kind of enzymes he has in his gut. In the meantime we are to put him on a probiotic, and use Duocal on everything he eats and drinks. He had some blood work today to check on the levels of the fat soluble vitamins, A, D, and E. What a trooper...he was excited to see the blood fill up the tubes...even if it meant a little pinch first! My brave little guy!