Yesterday was Bub's appointment with Dr. T at DCH and it was decided to keep him here at the hospital for a couple days. Bub is continuing to lose weight, he lost another 7 oz since his last weight check a week ago, which now puts him in the 3rd percentile.
As you probably know by now, Bub has some serious food aversions to the point where he's barely eating anything at all. So it wasn't a big surprise that Dr. T wanted to admit him for a couple days, run some tests, and most likely give him a feeding tube.
OHSU is a teaching hospital (think G.rey's A.natomy!) so in the 24 hours since we've been here, Bub has been visited or checked by four doctors, two senior residents, three feeding specialists, two dieticians, five nurses, and two nursing assistants. He's also had the feeding tube inserted three times (not that I blame him, but he's pulled it out twice already). He has what's called an NG tube, which is inserted up his nose (while he's awake mind you), through his esophagus, and down into his tummy. Not a pleasant thing to watch done. And even worse is both dh and I will be learning how to do it ourselves, in case he pulls it out once we're at home (which they say he inevitably will).
Oh, and that doesn't count the surgeon, two anesthesiologists, and five scrub nurses that worked on him this morning when he had an endoscopy performed to look at his esophagus, stomach, and small intestine. When the surgeon came out (almost two hours later) he said everything looked clear and normal. What a relief! They're still going to do some biopsies, just to make sure, and we'll get those results early next week.
Other than being underweight, Bub is otherwise in perfect health. And, according to the nurses, one of the cutest kids EVER! The charge nurse (who ended up knowing dh through a mutual friend) actually came in just to see "this sweet boy" that everyone was talking about in the break room.
One of my worst fears was getting to this point. The point where Bub had lost enough weight, was getting lethargic, not acting like himself, and needing the type of medical attention only a hospital can provide. Dh and I, we just couldn't keep Bub at home any longer without feeling like we were endangering his health. They have a name for what Bub is going through right now -- it's called "failure to thrive". Perhaps three of the ugliest words put together I've ever heard. Especially when it's been said about our baby boy. Our sweet, handsome, precious, cuddly baby boy.
Now that Bub is getting the care he needs, the goal is to get him back on track for gaining weight, perhaps find some reason (allergy, food intolerance?) for why he doesn't like to eat, and get that nasty FTT label removed (more like erased forever) from his file.
Current Weight: 20 lbs, 3 oz
Thanks for all the prayers, and please keep them coming.
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