Eating

Since Lochlan's last surgery, he has been vomiting more than ever. He has only gained half of a pound in 8 weeks, and we are feeling extremely overwhelmed. The only feedback from his GI doctor that we have been given was to increase his dose of Prilosec. I am not a doctor, but from the research that I have gathered, GERD is diagnosed in babies that "spit up" after meals. Lochlan gags, wretches, and projectile vomits all day long especially when he puts toys or his fingers into his mouth. The vomiting continues all night long requiring lots of clothing and linen changes. He gets the most tolerable amount of fortified breast milk on a continuous feed and he is constantly connected to his pump. To make matters worse, he has a cold this week, and also vomits when he coughs.

His GI doctor will be back on Monday, and the plan is to add another medication that increases appetite and gastric motility. Unfortunately the drug is similar to Benadryl and may make him drowsy. I am so torn on giving him yet another drug. I wonder how it will affect his brain and body. Once we start the new drug, I'm going to request that we wean Lochlan off of Prilosec considering it has never helped him. In fact, I feel like it is the nastiest overprescribed medication out there. We are forced to give it to him first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. The second I inject it into his feeding tube, I hear his stomach churn and then he dry-heaves for a few minutes. Twenty minutes later, I offer a bottle which winds up on my clothing, his clothing and the floor shortly after.

Lochlan will be 8 months old in less than 2 weeks, but has yet to keep any solid food down. Everything that Lochlan has tasted, has caused him to vomit within seconds. It makes me so sad that it may be years before he could possibly enjoy food. Yet not one doctor has been able to direct me to a feeding clinic or at least a speech and/or an occupational therapist. I'm hoping that if I reach out to Lochlan's developmental nurse practitioner, she will be able to point us in the right direction.

My guess is that we will get strung along with tests, exposing him to more radiation, but without gaining any useful knowledge. We have another trip planned to go to Boston later in January to see a GI doctor, but I'm not sure if they could help us either. Adam and I are problem-solvers and we discuss solutions constantly. Today we discussed taking Lochlan completely off of the tube feed, and letting him eat when he is hungry just to reset a natural feeding cycle. We agree that he is so far from what is natural, that that is the root of his issues. Unfortunately, we could risk dehydration and another episode of acute renal failure. I've lost my faith in medicine right now, so all I have left is prayer. I pray that our sweet boy gets some relief soon. Please, if you are reading this, pray that Lochlan stops vomiting and starts eating solid food.