Down

We had a great weekend. On Saturday we went to Mike Hartmann's 30th birthday bash while my mom watched Joshua, and it was a great time of seeing some old friends. We left fairly early but that was okay - it's part of having a Bean. On Sunday afternoon, Shawn was in charge of an appreciation luncheon for the A/V team which was held at Fiorentino's after church. We love the guys on the team, so it was also a fun time of us getting out and Joshua having fun at Grandma's again (thanks, Mom, for your willingness to spend time with Joshua!). It's so nice that Grandma & Nonie live so close and enjoy seeing Joshua! Grandma & Grandpa Ginder also stopped in this afternoon to see the Bean.

Today overall, though, was not fun. This morning we had our follow-up with Dr. Devenyi first thing, so I woke up earlier than normal to get Joshua & me ready to go there. In the waiting room, we read One-Fish, Two-Fish by Dr. Zeuss which was a nice treat. Then, we FINALLY got to go back and see the doctor. Joshua now weighs 21.4 lbs, still less than he weighed at his one-year check-up on 9/28. According to Dr. Devenyi, there were "17" eosinophils in the biopsy report. A reading of 20 or higher would indicate that this is an allergic reaction. So, at this time we're treating it as straight reflux. He said, though, that 20 is sort of an arbitrary number - 21 would indicate allergies and 19 wouldn't but they're really close. So, there are some there to be concerned. To read more about eosinophils, click here. So, for now we're not treating this as an allergy, but he said that we still have to monitor what happens and be concious that they're not completely ruling out the possibility. We double Joshua's medicine and change the way we give it to him for three months and then go back, when he might possibly have to do another procedure to look again. ANOTHER PROCEDURE!!! Ugh!

Then, Dr. Devenyi sent us for more bloodwork. He said that they saw something "borderline" with his small intestine that could relate to Celiac Disease, which is an intolerance for gluten that is found in wheat, rye and barley. To read more on Celiac Disease, click here. He said that it's probably nothing to worry about, but they can't ignore any possibility. So, from there we went to get the bloodwork done. Again, Joshua had multiple needles since they can never find his veins. Ugh! I don't have a follow-up scheduled with Dr. Devenyi until January, so I'll find the results out on 10/31 at the pediatrician unless the news is bad and someone catches it earlier and calls us (who knows?). I'm praying that this is not the case. I know people with this, and they...well, let's just say it's not good.

If it's straight reflux, which is how we're proceeding at this point based on all the "borderline" or "unclear" findings, it's something Joshua could very well outgrow, which is what I'm hoping and praying for. Dr. Devenyi also noted that asthma is related to reflux and allergies, so it's important what goes on with his breathing in the next three months, too. With only having 1.5 lungs to begin with, if he continues to be wheezy, it could be a symptom of further complications. It's hard to tell... They gave us some information (very basic, very not-necessarily-helpful) on Reflux and sent us on our way with a new prescription for medicine. Please continue to pray for Joshua and his complete healing!

I'll end this post with a Joshua story from moments ago, according to Shawn... It's not nearly as funny as sitting here in person, though, because you can't get the true sense of Shawn's annoyed voice. First, Shawn never gets really upset over anything...he's almost too easy-going. But, I heard him yell, "DOWN!" to Joshua. And then I heard him talking in a more annoyed voice about obedience. He came into the room I was in, and with an exasperated voice he told me that when he said "Down!" Joshua bellowed back to him, "YOU down!" I only laughed because Joshua was out of earshot. Disobedience is not funny, but sometimes he's so darn cute!