Return to GI

We went back to the pediatric GI doctor today for James.  The surgery team wanted us to see him again to make sure we weren't missing anything that might be stopping James from gaining weight more quickly. (James unfortunately had not maintained his good pace of last week -- he was back down at 22 lbs, 3 oz.)

The short story is that the doc is going to do a little more bloodwork to hopefully rule out things like celiac disease, but he said that all the blood tests they'd already done look fine, and the fact that James's vitamin levels, etc., are all good means that he does not appear to have an absorption problem.  Basically, after looking at James's growth charts and the previous tests, this doctor thought James was doing fine and there was nothing to worry about.  ("What's wrong with being a little skinny?  Leave him alone.") 

Have I mentioned how much I like this doctor? Among other things, he's very straightforward, seems to absolutely know what he's doing, and didn't seem rushed when he was talking with us.

He did not recommend restarting tube feedings, because his guess is that James would just compensate by eating less during the day.  (I suspect he's right.) He also mentioned that giving growth hormone might be a possibility (which would involve a referral to peds endocrinology), but he was just informing us, not recommending it. I don't think we're going to pursue that at this point, unless something indicates an actual deficiency.  

So, we will just keep trying to convince James to eat as much as possible. However, he refused both doughnuts and a bite of Mommy's birthday cake yesterday, despite the good example set by his brother Matthew.  :)

P.S.  Happy birthday, Cousin Cooper!!