Allie's Hydrogen Breath Test

Allie survived her Hydrogen Breath Test this morning.  The test took 3.25 hours.  Basically Allie had to blow in a balloon type device every half hour and it measured the hydrogen in her breath.  When we first got there, Allie needed to blow in this device.  It took a long time to convince her to do it but she eventually did.  After that, she was suppose to drink a sugary liquid - 5.5 oz of it.  I laughed because of course Allie would never drink it.  I'm happy I took her feeding supplies.  I warned the nurses that I couldn't give Allie more than 4 oz of the liquid because I was pretty sure she would vomit.  They had to check with the doctor at this point because they didn't know if the test could still be performed if she didn't take all the liquid. 

I started tube feeding her the liquid and at 3 oz, she started gagging.  I managed to get 3.5 oz into her but that was the limit.  If she vomited, the test had to be postponed.  Poor Allie gagged and gagged but never threw up.  With Allie being on a blenderized diet, we haven't given her just pure liquid since January.  I'm not surprised that she was getting sick with 3.5 oz - yet she can handle 5.25 oz of the blenderized food just fine.  This is just one more example of proof that Allie's tolerance for pure liquids is very low.

After she kept the liquid down, the test proceeded.  Allie was a pro and cooperated very well with blowing into the device.  She continually said she was thirsty and was requesting chocolate milk.  Of course I didn't have any chocolate milk but even if I did, she wasn't aloud to eat or drink anything until after the test.  We finished the test at 12:00 and Allie was very happy to be done.

She was a trooper through the whole thing and behaved very well.  According to the GI nurses, Allie is the youngest person they know that has performed this test and they were very impressed with how well she handled it.  I'm so proud of my little girl!

We should get test results within a week or so.  We meet with Dr. Brown next Tuesday so he might just give us the results at that time.  It's a huge relief to have this test done with.  It was non-invasive, however a 3.25 hour test is a long time to keep a little one cooped up with limited toys.

After we got home, it was time for Allie's feeding.  I gave her 5.25 oz of her BD and she handled it great.  She is plum tuckered out tonight and is actually sleeping on the couch right now.  I think it's going to be a long night :)

We continue to see no reactions to the corn yet.  We are watching her closely for any signs at all.  I'll keep you updated!

Here is Allie licking frosting from her cake this afternoon. We made this cake for her because she was nice to the nurses today for her procedure.  Not sure why I reward her with food because she doesn't eat it anyway!!!

Allie licking the frosting from her cake

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