Jonathan

It appears as if we've finally found something wrong with Jonathan. It would explain a lot of what we've been experiencing. A few posts ago I posted an email from Stacey about how we were gearing up for another round of tests and visits to the doctor. The very first test that we ran last week was to check his dirty diaper for signs of inflammation in his intestinal tract. This week we got the test results back. The normal range for this test for his age is around 15 - 50. He came back over 810. This signals signs of significant inflation, suggesting something like ulcerative colitis or Crohn's Disease. Considering two of Stacey's brothers are dealing with Crohn's, we would not at all be surprised if he has the disease.

The results prompted the doctor to move the date of his procedures to Friday. She'll do an upper endoscopy (send a small camera down his throat into his stomach and small intestine) as well as a colonoscopy. We won't know anything certain until after we do this procedure. It's possible that nothing will come back, but unlikely. Unfortunately, this requires an all-day stay in the hospital to include anesthesia and recovery.

In an odd way we're slightly relieved to find out there really is something wrong. It's an answer. Obviously, we don't want anything to be wrong, but we've figured for a long time that there was still some underlying issue going on.This may mean the beginning of the end of the feeding tube and not keeping up with the growth curves, but it would also mean the beginning of something else he'll have to deal with the rest of his life. We will know more at the end of next week.