Brayden update

Last Friday, I took Brayden to the ENT doctor. He checked out his ears and said there's still fluid in them but they aren't so red. The antibiotics killed the bacteria but there's nothing really that can get rid of the fluid except putting tubes in his ears. If the fluid doesn't come out, it can effect his hearing. So... we decided to wait another month to see if the fluid goes away on it's own first. He also said we could do some hearing tests to make sure it hasn't affected his hearing but he said he really doesn't think it has since it's only been little over of a month. We go back March 22nd to see where we go from here.

Today [Wednesday], I took him to see his pediatrician for a weight check. He now weighs 17lb 12.5oz, he gained only 3oz in the last two weeks. I wasn't really happy with the weight gain because it's really not much at all but as the doctor said he doesn't have much of a reserve so it's going to take time to gain his weight back, he's already been slow at gaining weight anyways. Then we talked about his appointment with the ENT doctor. She also looked at his ears and said they do look better but she can still see the fluid. She said she's pretty sure he's going to need tubes [and she thinks it might help him all the way around- gaining weight, his reflux, etc.]. She still feels like his weight issue is related to the 3 different strong antibiotics he's been on for the last month, that has tore up his tummy and made him not want to eat. He is really starting to eat better again, I'd say within the last week or two [a lot more table foods]. Then we talked about his GI appointment that is 3 months away. I told her that since his weight is so low that's why I'm so concerned. She decided to let us try a different reflux medication, even though she's seen research that it doesn't really work much better than Zantac [what he's on now] but I'm glad she's willing to give it a try. She said to try it for a week and see how it's going, if he's not doing better then to call her and she will call the GI doctor/office herself and try to get him in sooner, which I'm really happy about. I told her I somewhat stopped giving him formula/milk because it made him spit-up a lot more so she told me I need to give him a multi-vitamin. I still do give him a bottle of soy formula a couple times a day, only when he is fussy or at night before bed.

He also got a vaccine [polio] and a hemoglobin test [prick in his toe] and that came back good. So we'll see how he's doing on this new medicine and we go back to see his doctor on March 16th for a vaccine and to check his weight again.