We've visited them only twice, at two different locations, but both experiences have been awesome and the staff is unbeatable. This morning Grayson and I met with Dr. Siaw from the pediatric gastrointestinal department and he displayed a great balance of seriousness and urgency with an obvious affinity for kids (something surprisingly lacking in the world of pediatric medical care).
Grayson has had bum woes for the last three weeks (for those with strong stomaches this means he's had very mucusy stool and diarrhea 10+ times a day). On the 5th we saw the pediatrician who suggested we get allergy testing done via blood draw. To our surprise, it came back negative for all major food allergens so they referred us to a G.I. specialist and slapped Grayson with a "Chronic diarrhea" diagnosis on his record due to the nature of his bowel movements since birth.
This morning, bright and early, he and I drove to PCH Avondale location and met with Dr. Siaw. After hearing about Grayson's current and past issues (including the acid reflux, Dysphasia, bloody stool, poor weight gain and trouble swallowing solid food) he ordered an Upper and Lower Endoscopy be done. This is similar to the Colonoscopy that many of us may have had the pleasure to undergo, wherein the patient is put under anesthesia (Lord, help me) and a scope is guided down the throat, into the stomach and small intestine, and separately up into the large intestine. The camera will allow Dr. Siaw to get a visual understanding of how Grayson is responding to his food but he'll also be taking multiple biopsies to test for allergies and intolerances (turns out the blood draw is not very accurate for intestinal allergies) as well as things like Celiac Disease, Cystic Fibrosis and Crohn's Disease.
In the meantime, we are to continue his diet as-is, which for me has been a challenge. We switched from soy milk back to soy formula (incase this was the culprit) and he has been on a modified B.R.A.T. diet with no significant change in his bowels. It has helped to slow things down and bulk things up slightly but barely. It is also very challenging with this boy who's food options are limited to begin with.
I must say it is a horrible feeling, continuing to make decisions as to what will be going into my baby's body, not knowing if I'm literally spoon-feeding him something that is making him sick. We have already cut out dairy but not lactose completely. Is it wheat? Gluten? Egg? Sugar? Something random like Red dye #40 that will plague us until he is 18? Or worse, will they not find anything conclusive?
I am so thankful for a happy boy. He is such a joy and he is so sweet despite surely feeling pretty icky a lot of the time. I am also so aware that though my heart aches for him, it could always be worse and I have so much to be grateful for within his tiny little body. There is so much working right and God knows what things aren't. I pray that we can fix our eyes on Him and get this kid fattened up in no-time.
Next week we will visit PCH-Avondale again for a follow-up Modified Barium Swallow to determine if Grayson is still aspirating his liquids and if we can stop thickening his bottles. I pray so, that would be a great way to start off this next month or so--checking one diagnosis off our list before potentially adding another.
