Endocrinologist Follow-Up

We met with Dr. Chaudry today, she is Allie's Endocrinologist at the Marshfield Clinic.  This was a follow up appointment for her height and weight.  We were there about 4 months ago and Allie's weight and height were of quite a concern because they hadn't increased much.  It's basically the same story AGAIN! 

Allie weighed 28 pounds today and I cannot remember her height right now but it hadn't increased much since our last appointment.  Allie's weight is 1% on the chart and her height is at 4%.  Her weight is falling farther down the chart and her height is staying about on the same curve.

Dr. Chaudry confirmed today that Allie has very low muscle tone and very very weak refluxes.  The low muscle tone might help solve the reason that Allie always seems to fall. 

If Allie stays on her current height curve, her preliminary projected height (as the best case scenario) is 5 feet tall.  Dr. Chaudry said that Allie is a candidate right now for growth hormones but she said she would prefer to watch her for another year and then make the decision whether the hormones are right for Allie or not.  We agreed with this because in all honestly, we don't want to put Allie on growth hormones unless it's ABSOLUTELY necessary.

Allie had blood work done today to check for numerous things including, zinc, iron and vitamin C.  She also had another bone density X-ray of her hand.  Dr. Chaudry is thinking her bone age has fallen farther behind than before - but this will just confirm if she's correct or not.  We should get results to the tests within a week.

Right now we really need to focus on getting more calories into Allie.  With her ability to only handle small amounts of liquid every couple hours, it's such a challenge to get food into her.  We are thinking of putting her back on the pump at night - but that's just such a set back for her stomach and her brain communicating when her stomach is full, etc.  However, I have a feeling a set back might be what is needed in order to move forward with her weight issue.  We already add Duo-cal to her formula and she's on a 1.5 cal formula - so she's getting a high dense calorie intake.  If anyone has any suggestions as to how to add additional calories, please share them with me.

We are all getting ready for Christmas and the girls cannot wait for Santa to come.  We finally got some snow today and the girls played outside almost all day.  Well, I should say Chloe played outside - Allie isn't too wild about the cold.  She goes out for a little while but then comes in and warms up. 

We hope everyone has a very blessed Christmas and New Years - take care.

Surgery was successful

Allie had her dental surgery yesterday.  Not sure why but I thought this procedure was going to be a breeze for her.  I guess I didn't anticipate how scared she would be and how much pain she could have aftwerwards.

Surgery itself went great - it was the before and after that was so hard.  Allie freaked out when the nurse tried to take her back to surgery - it was awful.  Matt and I were both in tears.  Allie had received the verset medicine but apparently it didn't work this time.  She screamed all the way back to the operating room - yes, we could hear her! 

Surgery took about an hour.  I guess it takes a while to get the caps fitted and put in place over her teeth.  Allie's gums were growing around the back side of her teeth so they also had to grind down the gums all around her mouth - this would insure a good fit for the caps. 

Of course she woke up from anethsia kicking and screaming but this was like nothing Matt and I ever seen before.  Allie was completely inconsolable.  She was crying out, "mom, help me".  It was awful.  But, we managed and she's fine.  We left the hospital about 15 minutes after surgery.  Record time for getting out of there no doubt - I personally think the nurses (and staff) just wanted us gone because Allie was being so loud with her kicking and screaming.  If she was much bigger, I don't think I would have been able to even hang onto her.

Once we left the hospital, she calmed down and she was clonked out.  We didn't even put her in her car seat, I just held her in the backseat on the way home.  I slept with her for about 2 hours in her bed and when she woke up, she was happy.

Her mouth is a little sore but we are continuing with tylenol and motrin.  Out of everything, she says her throat hurts the most.  It's probably from being incubated - not sure. But she is handling the pain very well - she is even eating a little bit.

Glad this procedure is over and like I said, I totally under estimated this.  I guess I was thinking a dental procedure wouldn't be too difficult, however I was wrong.  This was awful for Allie.  Her mouth was bleeding like crazy, she swalled a lot of blood during surgery (we vented her stomach with her tube after surgery and she vented out a ton of blood).  Her recovery seems to be quick though - it's 24 hours since surgery and she's almost back to her normal self.

Thank you to everyone for keeping her in your prayers.  We truly appreciate it. 

In addition to Allie's surgery, our dog Cosmo was sick yesterday too.  She was scheduled to be spayed but woke up not being able to walk on her front leg.  I took her to the vet and she was diagnosed with lymes and anaplomosis.  It can be very serious but it seems we caught it early and she's doing good now.  She's on pain medication and antibiotics to keep her comfortable.

The Berndt household should be back to tip top shape in no time :)

Here are a couple pictures and video of Allie's surgery from yesterday.

Allie still happy before surgery

Allie not happy because they want to take her away

Both sick patients yesterday