Monday, February 2, 2009
Quick trip
Matthew has not been taking his medications well at all; especially in the last 4 or 5 days. He used to get them in his bottle, but at 6 months, I think he got a good taste of them in his bottle and has refused a bottle ever since. He was doing fairly well with solids- taking 2 or so tablespoons of food, so we decided to add his meds to his food. Well now, he won't let us put ANYTHING in his mouth (except for breastfeeding, that is. He has figured out we can't alter that) and when we do give him his meds, he throws them up; sometimes twice. So last night, I was at my wits end! I was SOOOO frustrated. I promised myself I would call his pediatrician in the morning. When I talked to the nurse, she immediately got us in. After weighing him, we found out he hasn't gained any weight in 2 months and has acutally lost almost a pound. We talked about our options and decided on a long term NG tube to see if we could keep meds out of his mouth and then try to work really hard on his oral aversion and to try to give him some extra calories. We don't know if he hasn't grown because he has low growth hormone or what. He's breastfeeding beautifully; just not eating baby food. So, she actually wanted to admit us overnight to make sure he would tolerate the NG and to start giving him feeds through the NG. I know we'll leave it in for awhile to see if we can get him to eat baby food again and mainly just use the tube for meds. He may get some extra calories at night to see if that helps his weight. We also see Dr. Lutz (metabolic physician) next week, so see if he thinks if something else is causing his non weight gain (I think so, since he nurses so well.) Anyway, it'll be a quick stay- I put his NG down myself so that the nurse could see I could do it myself at home. I put NG tubes down every day at work, so it's not a problem. It was easier for me to put an NG down than force him to take his meds. The nurse was suprised I didn't have a problem; and said that she thought I couldv'e gone home tonight. Oh well, we'll be outta here tomorrow morning!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
You are so blessed to be a nurse! What a comfort it must be to know how to do all these things :) It sounds like the ng tube will be a good choice for Matthew until he decides to start eating again.
I find that there are so many similarities between our two children. We have been struggling with Elisabeth's eating lately too. And she hasn't gained weight in months and months and months. She only takes a few bites of solids at a time before she refuses more (or throws up). And for the past few weeks she has been getting a week suck. We had a feeding specialist evaluate her and she explained how Elisabeth's muscles around the mouth are fatiguing quickly after the feeding begins. Then she tries to suck with just her tounge and doesn't use her lips...and then it gets messy...and then she doesn't swallow well....and then she starts choking...EVERY time. She will only take 3 ounces at a feeding these days. So I am beginning to think that we will need to do something more to ensure that Elisabeth is getting proper nutrition.
*hugs* Matthew is so lucky to have a nurse for a Mom!
I was thinking about how intimidated I would be putting a tube in Cayman. I agree with the others that you are blessed to be a nurse, even though at times I can imagine your nursing knowledge caused you more worry. When doctors start to spout off in another language and you being fluentant in that language, it makes it harder for you to escape into a positive, peaceful world.
I haven't forgotten to get together a list of all the stuff the Naturopath has Cayman on, that you asked for. I'll do that today and email it to you. I thought of the Arginine when I read possibly Matthew's growth hormones are low. I believe the Arginine helps that.
Post a Comment