Bryce had his quarterly clinic today and I'm happy to report it was a good day! He was so excited to go to clinic, which made me very happy. He kept saying, "I go see my doctors!". On the way to the hospital he literally pointed at every big truck, every sports car, ever tree and every big building all while saying, "MOMMYYYY...LOOK AT THAT!! OVER THERE. LOOK!"
When we got to clinic he put on the charm. Saying hello to everyone and calling anyone that walked in our room "Hey. You doctor". He is such a funny little guy.
At Bryce's last clinic everyone seemed really focused on the fact that he had lost some weight and did not grow in height. As a result of this weight loss his GI doc had prescribed him Periactin because this particular medication can aide in weight gain. After going over the clinic visit in my head I felt like I had been slacking on Bryce's eating over the holidays. I feel like me slacking is why he lost weight so I opted NOT to fill the prescription for Periactin. I just felt like I could do a better job at getting more calories into Bryce rather than turning to another medication. My mommy instincts were telling me he didn't need it so I went with my gut.
Well...
My mommy instincts were right! Since February Bryan and I have really worked with Bryce on finishing his food and drinking all of his milk. We have used positive encouragement and praise while he is eating. We might have used a few bribes here and there (don't judge) that I am sure sound funny to the average person, but they work.
Example: "If you eat all of your hot-dog, you can have some fruit!".
Calories come first people!!
Anyway - all this extra effort put into his meals paid off. Our boy gained 1.74 pounds and grew almost an inch since February clinic. This puts him at his highest BMI (Body Mass Index) yet!
~ 63% ~
Woohoo!
His entire CF team were so pleased and want us to keep up what we are doing. I was relieved that our GI doc was not upset with me for not using the Pericatin. She said she was okay with my decision and was pleased he had gained so much weight. Bryce does have some congestion in his nose that I was unaware of because he does not sound congested at all. His pulmonary doc described it as "very stringy and sticky mucus" up in his nasal passages. She was pleasantly pleased to hear that he likes to do nasal rinses so she said to do the rinses for a week paired with his Flonase to see if we can clear his congestion up. Nothing major, but they want to clear it out to avoid potential problems.
Bryce also started to learn a "huff cough". He does a pretty good cough on demand so they said to start practicing with him on "huffing" before the cough. At our next clinic in August they will focus more on this. Bryce also had labs today so he had blood drawn. They numbed both of his arms and by the time the lab techs came in to draw the blood his arms were nice and numb. He didn't even flinch as the needle went in. He whimpered one time and said, "Ouch. Dat hurts!", but that didn't last long once he saw Mickey Mouse Clubhouse coming on the television. He handled the draws like a champ and loved the fact he got a dinosaur band-aid afterward.
Doesn't take much!
So...Bryce lived up to what was written across the back of his shirt...
I'm so proud of him. Please pray that his throat culture comes back clear. We should know results by next week sometime.
When we got to clinic he put on the charm. Saying hello to everyone and calling anyone that walked in our room "Hey. You doctor". He is such a funny little guy.
At Bryce's last clinic everyone seemed really focused on the fact that he had lost some weight and did not grow in height. As a result of this weight loss his GI doc had prescribed him Periactin because this particular medication can aide in weight gain. After going over the clinic visit in my head I felt like I had been slacking on Bryce's eating over the holidays. I feel like me slacking is why he lost weight so I opted NOT to fill the prescription for Periactin. I just felt like I could do a better job at getting more calories into Bryce rather than turning to another medication. My mommy instincts were telling me he didn't need it so I went with my gut.
Well...
My mommy instincts were right! Since February Bryan and I have really worked with Bryce on finishing his food and drinking all of his milk. We have used positive encouragement and praise while he is eating. We might have used a few bribes here and there (don't judge) that I am sure sound funny to the average person, but they work.
Example: "If you eat all of your hot-dog, you can have some fruit!".
Calories come first people!!
Anyway - all this extra effort put into his meals paid off. Our boy gained 1.74 pounds and grew almost an inch since February clinic. This puts him at his highest BMI (Body Mass Index) yet!
~ 63% ~
Woohoo!
His entire CF team were so pleased and want us to keep up what we are doing. I was relieved that our GI doc was not upset with me for not using the Pericatin. She said she was okay with my decision and was pleased he had gained so much weight. Bryce does have some congestion in his nose that I was unaware of because he does not sound congested at all. His pulmonary doc described it as "very stringy and sticky mucus" up in his nasal passages. She was pleasantly pleased to hear that he likes to do nasal rinses so she said to do the rinses for a week paired with his Flonase to see if we can clear his congestion up. Nothing major, but they want to clear it out to avoid potential problems.
Bryce also started to learn a "huff cough". He does a pretty good cough on demand so they said to start practicing with him on "huffing" before the cough. At our next clinic in August they will focus more on this. Bryce also had labs today so he had blood drawn. They numbed both of his arms and by the time the lab techs came in to draw the blood his arms were nice and numb. He didn't even flinch as the needle went in. He whimpered one time and said, "Ouch. Dat hurts!", but that didn't last long once he saw Mickey Mouse Clubhouse coming on the television. He handled the draws like a champ and loved the fact he got a dinosaur band-aid afterward.
Doesn't take much!
So...Bryce lived up to what was written across the back of his shirt...
I'm so proud of him. Please pray that his throat culture comes back clear. We should know results by next week sometime.
3 comments:
Holy Cow! Bryce is a SUPER All Star! Almost 2 lbs in 3 months...that is incredible!!! Congrats on such a great visit. Love all your pics- they are amazing- especially the last one. That is a great way to spend your drive home from clinic. Peaceful!
So happy for you all. Fingers crossed for a great culture result!!!
Love all the beautiful pictures! I can't wait until Ben is old enough to know what clinic is and hopefully enjoy it.
Congrats on the weight gain, that's always the best news! And don't worry about bribery, we do it too :)
Awesome news!!! Way to go bryce!
Wow he's growing up so quickly and what a star. Great news about the weight and I'm hoping and willing a clear culture.
As always LOVE your pictures xxx
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