Endoscopy #2 result

Little M doesn't have juvenile polyp and for that we are very thankful. The bad part is, which I wasn't clear about before, Little M not only has eosinophil white cells in his esophagus, they are also present in his stomach. He has both eosinophilic esophagitis and eosinophilic gastritis. 

As far as the eos count with the 2nd scope, there are zero in his esophagus (150 before) and 16 in his stomach (50 before). This improvement is due the steroid treatment, which is a not a log term solution. The GI and I have decided to go with the top allergy avoidance diet plan. Little Ms diet will exclude dairy, eggs, peanut, tree nut, soy, shellfish. We decided not to include wheat in the diet elimination because the doctor said it would be a hard diet and we don't want Little M to lose weight.

We are now 4 weeks into the diet and not doing too well. The vomiting is back and we don't know why. Obviously it means that we have not taken out the bad foods. We have been keeping a food diary and out best guess is green beans and chicken. So we are adding these to the list of bad foods. We are praying that this takes care of the symptoms.

I am keeping positive but everyday there is vomiting is etching away at my positivity. This disease sucks. 

Endoscopy #2 and Colonoscopy

Little had his 2nd endoscopy a couple of days ago and colonoscopy. After a failed attempt a week and a half ago, it finally happened successfully. We did not do the magnesium citrate route this time around, and opted for Miralax and a slower approached (one extra day). It worked out so much better. He didn't even notice what he was drinking. As always, it was tough to deny him food though.

There was a marked difference in my attitude toward these procedures. I was not worried on the drive over; I was much more relaxed. We came a little early so we had to keep each other company. This time, the attending anesthesiologist was a pediatric one and she remembered Little M from his first endoscopy. She said, "I remember you! You were the very good little boy!" As was the case before, everyone was impressed how good he takes his needles. The one nurse I left him with the first time in order to eat quickly was there, and she too remembered Little M. He remembers her as the nurse who played cars with him and that always lost. 

I accompanied Little M to the OR and only left when he was given Propofol to fall asleep. The endoscopy alone lasted about 15-20 the first time so I was expecting at least that amount of time. Our GI told me that the time for the colonoscopy would depend on if and how many polyps he finds because he would have to remove them. 

I was keeping an eye on my watch closely, and at 25 minutes later I saw my brave little guy being wheeled out. Imagine my surprise and I knew exactly what it meant. It meant that there wasn't much found! The anesthesiologist told me that everything looked good on her end, but she was going to have to let the GI talk to me, but that it looked good.

Little M was brought to the PACU (because he was young) in order to recover. It took him longer to wake up this time around. The GI told me that his esophagus looked good and that we are at baseline for his eosinophilic esophagitis and that his colon was clean - no polyps. He apologized that we needed to do the colonoscopy based on his consult with the expert when the other doctor told him that the polyp found in small intestine was juvenile polyp, but at least now we know he doesn't have it. Thank you, GOD!  We have to continue dealing with the EOE but at least we have no 2nd problem to worry about.

We won't know his eosinophilic white blood cell counts from the biopsies until our follow up visit and at that time the GI said we have a lot to talk about. Having researched Eosinophilic Esophagitis, Daddy and I already know what we want to do. We are going ahead with food trials based on food avoidance of the top 6-8 food allergies. We have come this far to leave Little M with a "patch" solution. He can eat whatever wants with the current medication but it is not a long term answer. We need to do our best to identify what his body is rejecting in order to avoid whatever it is/they are. Based on others who are going through this terrible disease, we will find many hiccups but we have to remain positive. 

endoscopy and colonoscopy that didn't happen

The day started early with a nebulizer treatment of budesonide and albuterol. An hour later the fight began to get him to drink 2 oz of magnesium citrate. And yes, it was a fight. After of half an our of struggling and going nowhere, I prayed it was ok to just skip it and headed 2-hours south to the hospital.

The road was long, Little M was busy with his movie and I was left to stew on my own fear and worries. Tears, panic, ugly thoughts, horrible thoughts came and went.

Little M was prepped, I was asked a million questions. He was brave with the IV, but it was just not meant to be. The anesthesiologist didn't feel that proceeding with the colonoscopy and endoscopy was the right thing to do because of his cold and asthma. I covered my bases and said I mentioned this 2 days ago to the doctor's nurse and we were told it was ok. But ultimately, the person was a nurse and not an anesthesiologist. Everyone was apologetic and disappointed especially upon hearing that we drove from Albany.

I was ok. I'm tired, starved, but not as starved as Little M who hadn't eaten anything but juices since yesterday morning. I am thankful because I think this happened for a good reason. Everything happens for a reason and I will leave it at that. God has a reason. Until next time.

First Endoscopy, the beginning of our journey to Eosinophilic Esophagitis

I need to document this to get my dates straight. On August 29, Little M had his first endoscopy in order to find out why he has been vomiting constantly for the last year and a half. His GI has put him on Prevacid 2x a day for the last year and yet every attempt to wean him to 1x a day has failed. It controlled his vomiting very well, with flare ups every now and then.

The day started out with a 2-hr drive to the hospital in order to make his 1pm endoscopy. But with my error in preparing, his procedure was pushed back to 5pm. With a teary conversation with the GI, he managed to push back the procedure instead of sending us back home. This little guy was hungry and thirsty.

Numbing cream were put in 2 spots of his arms before the IV was placed. When the nurses came back, I was told to lay down with him and hug him so I could hold his arms and wrap my legs around his legs. They were prepared for a thrashing screaming 3-year old.

But true to his personality, he was very easy going. He winced but he did not move. He was very brave and he knew it. The nurses phrased him for being better than most adults.

The endoscopy itself only lasted 10 minutes. Once he was wheeled in to the OR, my wait was a total of 20 minutes. Though short, it was the longest 20 minutes of my life. Several times I thought I was going to faint but everything went well. The doctor was glad we did this endoscopy because he found a polyp in his small intestine. Several biopsies were taken.

A couple of weeks later, results came in. His eosinophil count in the mid esophagus was 100, and the close to the stomach is 25. Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Juvenile Polyp were the diagnoses.