Our pediatrician referred us to a pediatric gastroenterologist at Walter Reid Army Medical Center which is on the north end of DC. We were very happy with the facility and the staff. We got to know them quite well. The pediatric department is sizable and great with the little ones. They even have a pediatric lab, which came in handy for all the blood work and tests she had to endure. The only drawback is the commute. We live in Northern Virginia on the south side of DC. The drive was taking me anywhere from 45 minutes to nearly 2 hours one day. DC traffic is just the worst! We are thankful for all of our friends who helped with Ben and Sophie over the last three weeks. We couldn't have done it without them! I think we made the commute 6 times, and it would have been really hard to take all three kids!
Anyhow, back to Addie. The doctor tested her for everything under the sun. She had blood work to test for any abnormalities and/or nutritional deficiencies . That came back normal! She was tested for a bladder infection which can cause stunted growth. That came back normal. There was the lovely stool test which tested for lots of things which I didn't really understand. That came back normal. We went in for a cystic fibrosis test one morning. that was a very interesting procedure and thankfully that came back normal as well!
We met with a dietitian and provided food logs for her. Addie was consuming nearly enough calories and had a good balanced diet. We've switched to Pediasure for 2/3 of her milk calories. She also now gets to eat canola butter on her vegetables and gets canola oil mixed into some of her food. The highlight is that she is permitted/advised to have a small scoop of full fat ice cream for a treat! Trust me, she is loving that part. I'm not loving the greasy/buttery food. It means she needs a bath more frequently. But anything for my sweet, little girl!
The final test was an EGD-Esophagogastroduodenoscopy! The procedure itself is not that complicated, but they did have to put her under for it. The purpose was to look for any abnormalities in her esophagus, stomach and small intestine that may be preventing her from growing properly. They were also going to look to see if there was a mass of hair in her stomach that was preventing her from properly absorbing nutrients. And finally, they would take small biopsies from the three sites to test for Celiac disease (Gluten intolerance).
We were all nervous wrecks as the day of her procedure approached-last Tuesday. We had a 5 am arrival time. A wife of one of Nick's friends came and stayed with Ben and Sophie, so Nick and I could leave at 4am. Ouch!, but we discovered that there isn't much traffic at that time. There was a lot of waiting, but eventually she was prepped for surgery. She was the oldest of the three babies in the pediatric wing that morning. The pediatric anaesthesiologist was a bit concerned that she would have some separation anxiety once they took her back since she was too little to understand what was going on. He decided that she should have some oral drops that would make her sleepy before they carried her back. The result wasn't so much sleepy as it seemed she acted a little tipsy. After the drops and for the next 2o minutes, everything was hilarious to her. She laughed and laughed at Nick and I. She would wriggle free from our arms on her bed and then dramatically fall down, roll over and laugh. She lightened a very tense mood and allowed us all to laugh.
When it was her turn to go back, she gladly went into the anaesthesiologists arms. We each gave her a kiss and she waved goodbye to us like she was going on a grand adventure! The procedure took less than a hour. The hardest part was watching her wake from the anaesthesia. It took her a really long time to come to, but once she did, she was her old self again. She found the oxygen mask enormously entertaining, and tried to put it on both Nick and I and the nurse. She cuddled with me and her favorite blanket and new stuffed kitty. We were trying to have a sense of humor about this somehow (hairball). After awhile she was allowed to have to juice. It was her first time! She loved it and guzzled it down and wanted more. Soon we were moved to the floor where she was allowed to have more juice, eat and we were discharged.
The doctors said that everything looked good in her stomach and small intestine. There is no obstruction or hair ball that is preventing her from growing. We are still waiting for the results on the biopsies for Celiac disease. Frankly, that is something we can live with. It would be a lifestyle change for us all, but is very manageable. I promise to let you know when we get the results! We are so blessed so far that nothing has come back positive. It's likely she's just little and will grow more in due time.
