Several days ago we had taken him in to see the surgeon that had originally placed his button for an infection around the tube area. While there, the doctor recommended that we replace his button because he had grown out of the other one. The plug was starting to come apart and we had already gone longer than recommended anyway. We were a little nervous about the removal since sometimes the only way to get it out is to pull it back out through the stomach. We were relieved when the nurse had no problem cutting it in half and pushing the inside part into his stomach to late nature take care of it.
The procedure was quick and easy, and as you can tell in the first two pictures, painless. The first two pictures crack me up because before the appointment we had to give him a pretty strong pain reliever. You can tell that Jonathan is in his happy place. This button can be taken out and put back in by us, as needed.
Friday was the long awaited test with the Endocrinologist to see if Jonathan has a growth hormone deficiency. At the recommendation of the doctor we've been putting this off for awhile. Since this was the last topic we hadn't yet addressed, we decided to have it done so we could rule it out. I took the day off from work to help out since the appointment was in Denver and it was scheduled for four hours in an exam room. They had movies and toys and we brought things to keep him entertained, so the appointment wasn't really that bad. We basically had him sit in our lap and watch Monsters, Inc. or play in the room most of the time. We'll find out in 10 days or so the result of the tests.
There was a doctor in the office but the nurse administered the test. Because of Jonathan's size she decided to take a reading on his blood sugar levels just to be safe. He wasn't exhibiting any signs but his blood sugar levels came back dangerously low. We had to give him some fruit juice to get his levels back to normal. We weren't allowed to feed him after midnight the night prior, and since he has little to no reserves, he crashed pretty hard. The nurse thought that he may just be used to having low blood sugar levels and that's why he was acting normal.
The nurse said that she would be "shocked" if his growth hormone levels came back normal. His eating issues, size, low blood sugar levels, and his lack of good veins for the IV were all signs he might be low in certain growth hormones or cortisol. We did tests on both of those. Essentially the test involved giving Jonathan certain drugs that stimulate the glands responsible for producing them and then drawing blood every 30 minutes or so afterwards. The blood work will show whether or not his body responded appropriately and produced enough.
We have to wait for the results to come back, but if he does need to go on hormones it's usually a six day a week injection under the skin that will go on for years...and we will have to give him. We'll find out more information about the side effects, specifics, etc., if and when it comes to that. Since he's already genetically predisposed to be a little guy, there will also be social and self-esteem side effects to consider as well. One thing's for sure, he's a massive handful one minute and then adorable the next minute. We're very thankful that he's so tolerant and easy going about all of the medical things we've put him through.
