Endoscopy follow up

WG had her follow up with the GI doc today. In a nutshell, nothing new. All the allergy tests came back negative, she tested WG again for the celiac gene: also negative (again), nutritionaly she is also doing okay. The biopsies just confirmed what she saw: irritated, angry, enflamed GI tract.

SO, the game plan for now is to finish the carafate, stay on prevacid and add miralax for the next month for constipation. WG is horribly constipated. Who knows if this is due to her tummy woes or if it's due to the prevacid / carafate. Constipation is a side effect of both drugs.

The doc asked if WG was having any stomach pain. I told her that it was hard to say because WG has a very high pain tollerence and would do just about anything (including lie) to avoid having to go to the doctor. Also, as our friend pointed out to me, WG has had so many chronic tummy issues that she probably doesn't know if she is in pain.

WG will see the GI again on August 21. She has her four year (!) well check on the 19th, so an appointment filled week for her. I was dissappointed that we were put on a short leash (three weeks between appts). I was hoping that she would get a three month window before needing to be seen again. Her doc is concerned about the constipation (WG is bleeding with BM's) and also thinks that an emptying study may still be in her future, so three weeks it is.

Endoscopy update

WG's endoscopy went well. Here are the results in a nutshell:

* The pancreatic rest is not causing a blockage (YIPPEE!!!!!!)
* She has damage to her esophagus from GERD
* The lining of her stomach is inflamed
* The tissue of the upper part of her small intestine is inflamed and friable (which I understand to mean brittle)

The results of the abdominal ultrasound and barium swallow were normal, which we figured. They didn't show anything last go-around either. We won't know the results of the biopsies or the allergy testing until her follow-up appointment which is July 22nd. In the meanwhile her GI doc has added carafate to the prevacid. She also mentioned that she thought that WG's stomach might not be emptying as it should. Tim and I would concur with this since there are times that WG vomits in the morning and her dinner from 12+ hours before is completely undigested. There is a good possibility that an emptying study is in WG's future.

WG did pretty well with the whole thing. She freaked out when they did her vital signs at check in and then again when they were ready to take the tape off her hand to take the IV out after the procedure. She recovered swiftly from the anethesia and was very anxious to get her "huey-huey." She's back to running around and being herself this afternoon. Tim and I, on the other hand, are beat. Neither of us slept well because we were anxious and then we had to be at the hospital at 6:45am. Tim is currently napping and WG and I are about to join him.

The other shoe...

WG is having some health issues again. When she was somewhere around 6 months old she started vomiting for no apparent reason. At it's worst she would vomit 15 to 20 times a day. When the gastroenterologist did an upper endoscopy he found the cause. WG has a pancreatic rest, which is basically a volcano-shaped mass of pancreatic tissue that has grown on the inside of her stomach. Many people have pancreatic rests and never know because they never cause problems. The unique thing about WG's rest is it's size (it is huge) and it's placement. At the time it was causing a blockage and her food couldn't always pass through. We took a "wait and see" approach hoping that as she grew the blockage would lessen and the vomiting would stop which is what happened.


About two months ago, WG started vomiting again. For various reasons (in the interest of not making YOU puke I won't be graphic) it is obvious that something is not right in tummyland. She saw a different gastroenterologist (her usual GI doc is on vacation) who decided that it would be a good idea to see what is going on with the rest. WG had an ultrasound and barium swallow and will undergo another upper endoscopy scope tomorrow morning. While she is under for the scope they are also going to take blood for extensive food allergy testing.


Tim and I are going okay. We've sailed these seas before.... We are being proactive with trying to figure out what is going on this time instead of waiting until she is throwing up nearly every meal. She is also not a frail little baby anymore. WG (finally) has some heft to her. Right now she is at the 95th% for height and the 75% for weight. When we went through this the first time she was around the 98th% for height and the 30th% for weight. There is more wiggle room before panicking about weight loss this time. WG has been a real trouper through it. She did very well with the first round of tests. I don't think she knows what's going on tomorrow, just that she is headed to the hospital and that when she is done (and is up to it) she will get to go pick out a "huey-huey" aka a hula hoop. WG has wanted a huey-huey all summer.

I will post an update when we know more about what is going on. We have always conferenced with her GI directly after the upper endoscopy so I expect that will be the case tomorrow.

My first smocked dress!

It's much cuter with WG *in* it but those pictures didn't turn out well so I asked Tim to take some pictures of it on the dummy. I'm pleased with how it turned out. It is smocked on the back in the same colors and pattern as the front. For me the smocking was the easy part. I had some problems with construction. I had to adjust quite a bit. I don't know if I cut out the wrong size facing to line the bodice or what, but it's still not completely right. The facing is too tight / small at the sides. Eventually I am going to put a zipper in on the side under the arm. I learned a lot, though, constructing it and the next one will be better and easier. I have fallen in love with smocking. I finished this dress yesterday morning and pleated up my next project last night. I started smocking it today.

Here is a close up of the smocking: