Cincy - Day 4 GI RESULTS

Today was 1 of 2 results days. Lucas and I slept in until 8:30am (Woohoo...sad that 8:30am is considered sleeping in)! We headed to the hospital for the anticipated results from the scope and the probe. While waiting for Dr. Fransiosi (Dr. F) to arrive we met with a social worker. She was friendly and just asked how we were doing and if we had any questions.

About an hour passed and Dr. F finally came in. Before I get into the results, let me give a little background to what they look for and consider for EE. First off, eosinophils (the white blood cells causing all (most) of the problems are NOT typically in the esophagus. They are common in the stomach and colon but NOT the esophagus. Acid reflux can cause eosinophils to be in the esophagus just as EE can. For a true EE diagnosis, a patient MUST have 15+ eosinophils present and have FAILED using an acid blocking medicine (i.e. Prevacid or Nexium...most common). The impedance probe checks for acid levels to determine if acid reflux is present.

So RESULTS:

Lucas had 70+ eosinophils present from the biopsy's taken during the scope. The probe showed that acid reflux is present. So our course of action is as followed:

-discontinue the Flovent after 1 week of weaning

-return to the clinic for a follow- up in 8 weeks

-over the next 4 weeks, Lucas will be taking Nexium twice a day (before initial diagnosis he was on Prevacid and because he was still showing symptoms while on it, Dr. F considers it a FAIL)

-after 4 weeks, I am to call Dr. F's nurse and let her know how Lucas is doing (i.e. better, same, worse)

-if better, he will stay on the Nexium and be re-scoped 8 weeks later

-if same or worse, he will begin either (or both) a TOP 6 elimination diet (eliminate all EGGS, WHEAT, MILK, SOY, NUTS, AND FISH) and/or go on a different steroid Pulmicort slurry (mix medicine with splenda) and then a re-scope 12 weeks later

WOW!!! Overwhelming? Yes!!! Good news is that from here on out, anything done will be outpatient and only require spending a couple of hours in Cincy.

After getting that onslaught of news, Lucas and I headed back to the hotel where is was time to remove the patches. YAY!!!..NOT! Removing the patches is like ripping off 3 huge bandaids. He cried but only for a short time. Now we wait until tomorrow for that reading/results.

My mom drove up and spent the day with us. We went to the outlet mall. Then we met up with 4 local families at Dave and Busters. It was great meeting them, knowing them from facebook but finally putting names and faces together. The kids had a blast playing games and hanging out. It was such a nice change to talk to the moms and NOT have to explain the background of EE. They get it.

Another day is done and tomorrow awaits. I'm glad it's our last day here. I'm ready to go home. However, I'm so glad we came! Lots of great information and Cincy Children's Hospital is AWESOME! The staff has been nothing but wonderful to us. Everyone involved has made us feel like we are the only ones they are attending to. I can say with great certainty that we will be transferring Lucas' GI care up here.