Saw a GI Specialist Friday For Gideon....

So, went went over to Columbus Children's Hospital on Friday to look more deeply into Gideon's possible allergy issues. Let me say up front, I left the office more concerned than I was when I went in.

We have been monitoring Gee (our new nickname for Gideon, started by Madeline and made an everyday word by Leah and Logan) pretty much since he's been home. He seems to have an issue with dairy. He broke out with hives and his poo got really frequent and awful when we had him on dairy. But, he does have foods with dairy in them sometimes. I don't know, I just don't know much about food allergies/intolerances. That is the main thing I was hoping to gather from this appontment was information. Also, we have come to the realization the last couple weeks that Gee has only gained 3 to 4 oz since he has been home. To compare, Annie has gained 6 lbs since she has been home. Now, she has been home 3 months longer, but you get the idea.

So, the doctor comes in and I pretty tell him Gideon's story up to this point and share our concerns (little to no wieght gain, frequent stools and dairy issues). The doctor is super nice (he is the director of that pediatric department) and once I explain things he prys a little deeper. He asked about fevers. Well, Gee has had 3 to 4 high grade fevers since he's home (103 plus) and I always thought that was odd, but you just never know. I just thought, like many other things, maybe it's just the way he is. The Dr. also asked if Gee seemed irritable, well, my immediate response to that is "yes." He does seem irritable and whiney to me much of the time. But, maybe he's just a whiney kid and still adjusting to his new life. I just don't know.

So, the Dr. feels that their might be more to Gee's problems than just an intolerance. He said the intolerance/allergy could very well be just a syptom of a larger problem. So, there are tons of tests he wants to run on Gee, the problem could be no big deal, or it could be something bigger, we just don't know at this point. The Dr. is thinking maybe something genetic? We are starting with the least invasive tests and will go from there. He gave blood on Friday and we go back on Feb. 7th to do a sweat test and give urine and stool samples. Some of the things Gee is being tested for is Cystic Fibrosis and Chrones disease. I don't think Gee has CF, but just knowing it is a possibility is very scary for us.

The Dr. said something toward the end of our time together that for some reason is haunting me a bit. He said that he had only been with Gee for like 10 minutes, but he doesn't act like a normal kid his age should act. This Dr. sees kids Gee's age all the time and he said that Gee just seemed sickly to him. I hated to hear that. I obviously appreciate his opinion a lot, but no one wants to hear thier child "seems sickly."

Could you all just pray for Gideon? I am not convinced at this point that he has something major wrong with him, but I am certianly concerned.

Julie