Growing Like a Cyler...

Cyler had a follow up appointment with GI today.  He has gained two pounds and grown one inch since his last appointment in February.  Dr. M is completely ok that we decided not to pursue the endoscopy at this time.  He explained that Cyler requires a different path of treatment and will likely remain on the smaller side throughout his life.  However, I am happy to report that he is on the chart for both height and weight.  4h percentile and 2nd percentile respectively. 

The plan is to continue as we are at this time as far as intake goes. Dr. M has Cyler scheduled for a breath test and another 24-Hour esophageal PH test so that we can make sure there isn't anything standing in the way of him eating enough.  We also received a referral for allergy testing (again) to see where we are with that and speech therapy (again) to work on oral motor strength and coordination.  Dr. M advised us that right now it is more important to build the strength and endurance to be able to chew before we worry about him actually chewing.  So we have to give the Y chewy tubes a work out for a while. 

Dr. M explained that since Cyler had the omphalocele his system works differently and if we push more food than his body can handle it will get stuck and/or his body won't absorb the required nutrients. So Cyler's "special path" needs to be carefully laid out. The goal is for Cyler to put on enough weight and eat enough to handle the growth demands that will be placed on his body from 11-13.  As he approaches 11, if extra support is needed, we will have to consider a feeding tube again for a year or two to pull him through.  We will cross that bridge when we get to it.