Another appointment...

Boy, my lens has certainly changed since becoming primarily a parent of a patient, rather than the health care provider, as of late. Generally, I still think we kiddie docs provide very good care and we have been blessed to have great doctors, some of whom are also friends. But, I just never realized how much energy gets sucked into the doctor visit vortex when you have a child with chronic problems. First, there are just the logistics of getting everyone to the visit, working around work schedules and naptimes and mealtimes and day care. Then there is the anticipation of (in our case) "Did he gain weight?" and the comparing of different opinions. When you have a visit every few months with a healthy infant, the doctor visits are mostly something to look forward to. With Aaron, it hasn't been that way. There is the anxiety around whether he's grown, how an outside person perceives his development, whether there will be some new concern lurking around the corner. Then the reports back to the grandparents. My anxiety seems to have mellowed out to just a feeling of general fatigue and numbness lately. I think I have finally achieved some of that "even keel" thing that Matt has going, not too much despair about not-so-great news, not too much anticipation or excitement about better news. No, I didn't start Prozac...Anyway, a newfound increased respect for the special needs parents of the world. What we are dealing with is not nearly as complex as some of the kids I have seen, and I am so impressed by the strength of those parents.

That said, today's visit was with our dear allergist. He is great---and has been so honest and helpful from day one. Aaron still has many blood tests for allergens pending, so we will know more in the upcoming week. We skin tested only to milk, soy, sesame. The doctor thought it was too soon to see any significant improvements in egg, etc, so we didn't put him through that. He had reactions to milk and sesame (which explains the hummus rxn, it was the tahini) but not to soy. So, good news, we get to try adding soy formula in slowly starting this weekend. If he tolerates it, we will no longer have to spend so much money on special formula and we can try a whole host of new foods. Unfortunately, Aaron was down 2 ounces from his visit with our PCP 2 weeks or so ago. He has of course been sick with a cold and ear infection since that visit. He prob lost some weight and is gaining back---we'll see. Our allergist thought now he should definitely have the endoscopy in March, and he had pushed it prior to this, so I guess we should start preparing ourselves that it has to be done. Here is a link to info about EE-
http://www.neocate.com/aaa_neocate/0,478,156,150,89,0.ashx

On other fronts, Aaron was seen by the speech therapist this week. She thought he fell within the normal range. She thought he had made great progress, as do we. She even gave him credit for quite a few "words". He seems to be saying "Doh" for dog, and "waddat" for what's that. He also seems to be saying Mama, sometimes, when he feels like it :) It is great.

New foods to try this week- Rice Crispies with formula mixed (have to find a new breakfast food, Aaron seems TIRED of coconut yogurt) and pure coconut milk (as recommended by the doctor) Unfortunately, due to his seed allergy, sunflower butter will be out for Aaron. Too bad as it is Sam's favorite!