September 24, 2007

Monday:

We had a nice trip to the new GI doctor today. Michael was all smiles and giggles all the day long ... until the doctor made him wait until 45 minutes after his afternoon meal time. Oops.

Well, the verdict is that we will try taking Michael off Zantac and onto Prevacid to try to get his reflux back under control. Zantac is known to be subject to increasing tolerance by folks who take it, and it looks like Michael may have developed one. It worked beautifully when he first tried it, but he has steadily been getting worse reflux-wise, which is typical of a tolerance. Increasing his dose helped, but not enough. It makes sense, so we'll see if Prevacid works. If not, the doctor has a few other things to try before moving to more drastic steps like pumped in feedings over longer periods of time (a big step backwards). Mom and Dad have a few new ideas we will try before we let him take that step (or old ideas, if you consider that they were Cousin Juliet-tested first, but for different reasons). We'll let you know what happens, but cross your fingers that this works, at least for a little while.

For those of you keeping track, this doctor clocks Michael in at 10 pounds, 8 ounces and 22 inches long. This is good news, as it means he has begun gaining weight again after his infection. The pediatrician should get a really good weight on him at our next appointment on Saturday morning.

On a completely unrelated medical note, we will soon have to take our cat D back in to the vet for more cancer screenings. She keeps testing positive for high calcium in bloodwork, which is an indicator of kitty-cancer. We have had some X-rays done, and bloodwork, but no explanation for the calcium level. I guess no news is good news, but it is time for another checkup. It may sound silly, but if D comes down sick, too, I think it would break our hearts. She has been Adam's special kitty for several years now, and she is very much a part of the family.