Archie's Diagnosis Phase One

Archie had a real-live medical procedure this last week. He went in for an endoscopy and colonoscopy to see what is going on with his little tummy! Let me back up a bit...last week the blood tests came back with increased levels of a particular white blood cell called eosinophil. That would explain the constant stomach sickies and his "failure to thrive" (yes, they finally came out and said it). A few days later we got the allergy results which showed that he was allergic to milk, eggs, wheat, soy and nuts. Dogs too, but not cockroaches...it was a very thorough test. We then got referred to a pediatric gastroenterologist.  The referral went through on Monday morning, we got him in to the office on Monday afternoon, just moments after getting the allergy results, and had him in for his procedure the next day. This wasn't all rushed because it was an emergency, it was just how it all worked out. It's amazing how it all just "works out" sometimes huh? Wink Wink. We have seen Heaven's hands in our lives so much this last week. Heavenly Father sure wants Archie healthy as much as we do I think.

So, here we are, waiting at the hospital with a baby who hasn't eaten and is very tired. He was such a good boy.

Mike and I got labeled and officially marked as Archie's parents.

There was a lot of waiting, and crying and cute hospital gowns, and great nurses. 

The hardest part was watching them put him under. Just seeing him medically sleeping was not fun at all. He woke up great, the preliminary impression was great, now we just had to wait for the biopsy results.

 

Two days later, the results are back. He has a condition called eosinophilic esophagitis (EE). It is treatable with topical steroids and removing the allergens from his diet or environment. The problem now is finding out what allergens are causing it because he seems to be allergic to so much. Thus another referral to an allergist. That's why this is just "Phase One". We still have a lot to find out from the allergist. Hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later so we can get him healthy again.

(ps, post-op, he was LOVING the jello)