Sweat Test

Many new mom's who have a had a fussy eater have been told not to worry because "kids won't starve themselves. Apparently, not true!

While the results of Paigey's sweat test seem negative for cystic fibrosis (we'll know for sure after the rest of the sweaty gauze that was collected is analyzed) her doctors are still unhappy with her weight gain/loss. She actually gained less weight in the last month than she did the month before. This is especially concerning because we've been supplementing her diet with a very high calorie pediatric drink. Since we can't add more volume of what she eats during the day (we could offer her 15 chicken nuggets....) AND we are already giving her as many high calorie foods as we can (go ahead, dip those nuggets into a mountain of mayonnaise...) we need to start tube feeding her. Sigh. Sigh......sigh....

I'll know more about the logistics of how this is going to work after we meet with the folks that are going to show us how to insert and remove the NG tube. The basic idea is that Paige will have a tube inserted through her nose and into her tummy. We'll keep the tube taped on her face and body during the day, and at night hook her up to a pump. The pump will give her 80% to 100% of the nutrition that she needs in a 24 hour period...that means the food she eats during her waking hours will be bonus calories.

We hope to get the tube in as soon as possible for a few reasons. First, she really needs it. She is gaining weight....but it is a very small amount for a baby her age/size AND there is a big discrepancy between what she eats and what she gains...we NEED her to gain weight and we Need to get to the bottom of why she isn't.

The second reason to beef this kid up in a hurry is to avoid an intestinal biopsy. Her Doctor wants to schedule her for an appointment to "officially" rule out celiac disease and any other malabsorption issues that are originating in the digestive system. I'm totally for that....but the procedure will require her to be put under anesthesia....tissue samples taken from her esophagus, stomach, and small intestine...pretty scary...My hope would be that she packs on the pounds with the NG tube and the biopsy would become unnecessary....okay ....her doctors didn't indicate that's how that works, BUT it is still my hope....again, we'll know more later.

In the mean time, enjoy some photos from today's visit.

Waiting to see Ionne, the "sweat test" nurse.




Checking out the voltage meter. The sweating was stimulated by running a little bit of electricity through Paige's arms and through a chemical reaction on her leg. Don't worry, it was only 1.5 volts and the chemical is found in eye drops.




It was a struggle to get her to leave the electrodes alone....I can't WAIT to make her keep a tube up her nose and down her throat!



Wrapping her sweaty arm in gauze. The test took about 45 minutes from start to finish. It went just fine until we had to remove all of the tape that had been holding the equipment in place. We went with the PULL-IT-OFF-QUICK-THEN-HUG-AND-KISS method.




Fun in the waiting room.




MORE waiting after getting weighed and measured. Paige read books with daddy......




.....Climbed Mommy....



...and pretended to go nigh-night on the exam table....


.....then had a meltdown and really did go nigh-night in daddy's arms.