Endoscopy Results and Snow!

So Isabel's endoscopy results came back all normal.  The nodule in her stomach looked to be a "healing mucousal injury", but all other biopsy results were just fine.  So no esinophilic esophagitis!  Yay!  She is scheduled for an upper GI and a modified barium swallow on January 13th, 2010 at UNC so that they might get a better look at her esophagus and if something is in fact pushing against it to cause the "narrowing" that the doctor saw during the endoscopy.

Right now we are in Hendersonville for Christmas and Isabel is having a delightful time playing in the 9+ inches of snow we received!  We built a small snow "cave" which she decorated with berries!  She has loved pulling the sled around the yard and taking her stuffed Rudolph for a ride.

 

We are looking forward to Christmas Eve Mass tonight and celebrating Jesus' birth tomorrow!  Isabel is excited about leaving out "reindeer food" for Santa's reindeer and milk and cookies for Santa tonight!  Merry Christmas!

Oh December you are here at last!

We have been looking forward to December and Christmas in this household for a very long time!   Christmas is by far my favorite season- I love decorating for it and the hustle and bustle of this time of year.

So far, we have had breakfast with Santa:  pancakes and sausage, with crafts, cookies and a photo session with Santa provided by her preschool and the "big school" at church.  She asked Santa for a baby swing, and Littlest Pet Shop frog, ladybug, sheep, and gecko. 

Also Isabel has been VERY into all things Rudolph.  We had to construct our own reindeer antlers, a jingle bell collar and a red nose, of course.  I was a little shocked to find out (after I had already hand-made her these!) that Target's dollar section has reindeer antlers! But it was fun and she has really enjoyed dressing up as Rudolph and watching the classic movie about him.

 

 

We've also been busy making glittery Christmas crafts and baking a red cake with green icing to get into the spirit!

We got our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving from the same Christmas tree stand that we go to every year.  Each year they have a merry-go-round set up for the kids to ride on, and when we were driving there I asked Isabel if she remembered it and she said, "yes, it's blue"...sure enough, she was right!  We always go to pick out our tree at night, because the cold air, dark night and twinkling strung light bulbs just make it so magical!  She raced through all the trees and a couple times I panicked a little because she was so fast I thought I'd lost her!  They blow up a giant 2 or 3 story inflatable snow man every day and the tree stand is right beside our church and her preschool, so every school day she says, "Oh look! There's where we got our Christmas tree!" as if it impresses her each time she sees it.

What else?  She got to hang all the ornaments on the lower third of the tree, but has taken her favorites, the birds....off the tree and includes them in her play toys.  I thought about stopping her, but they are kid friendly ornaments and Christmas is only once a year, right? ;)  She also talked me into buying "noodles" a.k.a. those shiny, somewhat tacky "icicles" that you hang on the tree.  So our tree is covered in those and the cat and dog both enjoy taking them off the tree.

Guess that is it for now! I'll try to keep you all better updated!

Endoscopy Update

So Isabel had an upper endoscopy on 12/10/09, last Thursday.  It was performed at UNC Children's Hospital in Chapel Hill.  They put her under general anesthesia and she had no complications.  The doctors allowed me to go back with her initially while they put her under a "twilight" anesthesia with the gas.  It was difficult to watch, but they warned me that children her age (3 1/2) would fight the anesthesia and kick, flail their bodies and thrash their head.  She did all of those before it took effect and she was under.  Then a nurse took my hand and led me back to Rob and they gave her an IV and intubated her while she was put under general anesthesia.  It took about 40 minutes I think before the doctor came out and called us into a consultation room. 

They found a "nodule in her stomach" which the doctor biopsied and said he was not concerned about.  And they found that her esophagus was "narrowed at the top".  The second finding will need further tests to determine why her esophagus is narrowed...is there something pushing against it?, etc.

I was too busy worrying about how she was doing in recovery to think about asking any other questions.  They will let us know the results of the biopsies and bloodwork by Thursday, 12/17/09. 

I got to go to the recovery room where Isabel was pretty grumpy and very "out of it"....tired, a little disoriented, upset that there was an IV in her arm and it was all taped and bandaged up.  She drank some juice and dozed off and on for about 30 minutes and then I got her dressed and we were ready to go.  Once we got into the car she seemed to become more herself and no longer seemed as tired or upset.

I gave her a wrapped present to open (Littlest Pet Shop birds) since her procedure was kind of a big deal for a 3 year old, and she was delighted.  Once we got home it was so late that I didn't feel like I could put her down for a nap, so she watched a movie on the couch and ate different foods without any discomfort to her throat.

Trying to leave it all in God's hands.  Hoping the biopsy results will help lead us in the right direction in regards to knowing how to get her to pack on some pounds and grow more.

Lots to do in the month of October!

There's been alot going on in our household in the last couple of weeks. First, Isabel has had swine flu...a very mild case, but that included a fever of 103.6, lethargy, runny nose, stuffiness, and cough.  The cough and runny nose have lingered even though she has been fever-free for over 4 days now.

Second, her GI doc has scheduled her endoscopy for Thursday, November 5th at UNC Hospital.  Although I do not want to have to do this procedure on her (what parent does?), I feel very strongly that it must be done to see if we are missing some piece of the puzzle as to why she is not growing adequately.

And third...I've got lots of pictures to update.

Much to my surprise (and maybe having a little to do with starting preschool), Isabel has been interested in playing dress up...especially princess and ballerina dress up.

And for the first time since she could walk and talk.... we caught a lizard!

Of course Fall is about taking care of the yard....

And time to have "tea" parties indoors with soggy brownies and apple juice.

Already Isabel is looking forward to Christmas!  Asking if she can have this or that for Christmas... so far the list includes:  a Fur-Real Friends Baby Parrot, the new Tinkerbell movie, a ballerina movie, & Swim-With-Me Puppy ("Can I take it into the hot tub?" she asked when she saw the commercial). 

We are working on having her spell her name.  This was a really neat and super simple project/activity that the kids made at preschool...and I just love this because it is so many things in one!  Fine motor-skills work, letter recognition, letter order!...I was just tickled pink when she came home with this and it is an easy skill-builder for her to try!

I'll try to update again sooner than later :)

No weight gain in 6 months.

So I took Isabel to UNC Children's Hospital's Raleigh clinic to meet with our gastroenterologist's nurse practioner and I was shocked and just so crushed that she was only 25.4lbs and 92.6cm...where as in April she was 25lbs 7.2oz and 91cm.  So I think that means she's actually lost a tiny bit of weight....which was really disappointing.

The nurse practitioner consulted with her real doctor who recommended we definitely do an upper endoscopy.  It's been over a year that we've been working with UNC Hospital and they said that an endoscopy was kind of like a last resort...we've already run all the tests, genetic and otherwise and have come up with no clear answers as to her lack of growth.  I definitely got the feeling that the nurse practioner and doctor felt like we were there at the last resort option.

When they do the endoscopy, they will be biopsying to see if she has "Eosinophilic esophagitis" or "Eosinophilic gastritis", or just reflux.  You can read up on Eosinophilic Esophagitis here.  From what I understand, it is kind of like your esophagus has an allergic reaction to certain foods.  I don't know if it's worth writing up everything I've read about it since we don't even know if she has this, but that is what they are suspecting and will be ruling out with an upper endoscopy.

Another link

And One Last Eosinophilic Esophagitis Link

I'll definitely keep you posted once this procedure is scheduled so that you can PRAY for us.  It is  a procedure where she is put completely under (intubated), and lasts for under an hour.  She was a complete angel at the appointment though and used her manners impeccably!  All the nurses were very impressed with her.