I asked Julia yesterday if she wanted to be a doctor when she grows up. We had just watched a news story about doctors and she seemed to be pretty interested. She thought about it for a second or two but then responded that she didn't want to be a doctor.
Instead, she informed me, she wants to be a soccer player when she grows up. I can't argue with that. Although we've never mentioned anything about playing soccer professionally (she came up with this entirely on her own), she probably has observed me enough to assume that answer would be well received.
She made it clear that she doesn't want to start playing until she's much older though - specifically, five years old. She is convinced that when she turns five years old this year she'll be ready to play. Glad to see she's already planned out the next year of her life and has specific milestones established.
31 January 2012
30 January 2012
All In The Family
My cousin Andy emailed the family today. He was looking for an electronic copy of the memorable picture of our grandpa on the Colorado A&M (now Colorado State) track team. My parents had it, so my mom scanned the picture and sent it to everyone. As you can tell from the photo's caption, the year was 1938 and Dave Sudduth had some wheels. Obviously, this is where both my dad and I got our speed (good genes).On a hunch I Googled my grandpa and Colorado A&M and stumbled across the university's photo repository. They had saved, digitized, and uploaded thousands of photos from decades ago. Searching through the archives I was able to find a few more photos of my grandpa. Some of the pictures that I found and shared with the rest of the family had never been seen before, so I felt pretty good about my discovery.
To put this period of time into perspective, 1938 was also a fascinating time in world history. At the same time these pictures were taken of my grandpa (spring 1938), Hitler had just begun to "acquire" territory in Europe. In March, Austria was annexed and became part of Nazi Germany. The following year war broke out in Europe and the rest, as they say, is history. My grandpa, the college track star, went on to serve in the Navy aboard a ship in the Pacific. Interesting, interesting times, both in our family and in world history.
29 January 2012
Jonathan Update
We've finished the round of tests that were scheduled from our second opinion appointment. Although I posted earlier that the gastric emptying test came back normal (based on what I read), the doctor felt that it still wasn't fast enough to not put Jonathan on medication. Our second study showed that Jonathan is still having some reflux issues as well.
Other then those two things, everything else came back normal. We've tested for pretty much everything from Celiac to Crohn's to malabsorption. Everything also looks good structurally speaking and there wasn't a blockage, so we're quickly coming to the end of things we can address with his GI system. Obviously, we've done all the standard blood and lab work over the past few months that would show something else was going on. The only study we haven't done yet is a colonoscopy (with biopsy), which we may look at doing in the coming months if he still isn't gaining enough weight.
For now we are going to give him medication that should help with reflux and a medication that will hopefully decrease the time his stomach takes to empty (Bethanechol). Also, we're starting the feeding clinic tomorrow. There is a slight chance that Jonathan is one of those people where liquid actually takes longer to empty then solid food. If we can get him to start eating on his own while on the medication we may see some good gains in weight.
I can see a situation where there is nothing wrong with him other then reflux and a slow stomach. The combination of being full and associating eating with unpleasantness could explain why a genetic predisposed small person is even smaller. He's basically the same height as Julia was at this age but he's a lot lighter. We're trying to avoid a permanent surgery on his stomach and hope that we can just teach him how to eat on his own.
The point is we're getting close to where we think we've done enough testing to figure out what is and isn't going on. Getting him to eat on his own and managing his caloric intake might be all we do over the next few months.
Other then those two things, everything else came back normal. We've tested for pretty much everything from Celiac to Crohn's to malabsorption. Everything also looks good structurally speaking and there wasn't a blockage, so we're quickly coming to the end of things we can address with his GI system. Obviously, we've done all the standard blood and lab work over the past few months that would show something else was going on. The only study we haven't done yet is a colonoscopy (with biopsy), which we may look at doing in the coming months if he still isn't gaining enough weight.
For now we are going to give him medication that should help with reflux and a medication that will hopefully decrease the time his stomach takes to empty (Bethanechol). Also, we're starting the feeding clinic tomorrow. There is a slight chance that Jonathan is one of those people where liquid actually takes longer to empty then solid food. If we can get him to start eating on his own while on the medication we may see some good gains in weight.
I can see a situation where there is nothing wrong with him other then reflux and a slow stomach. The combination of being full and associating eating with unpleasantness could explain why a genetic predisposed small person is even smaller. He's basically the same height as Julia was at this age but he's a lot lighter. We're trying to avoid a permanent surgery on his stomach and hope that we can just teach him how to eat on his own.
The point is we're getting close to where we think we've done enough testing to figure out what is and isn't going on. Getting him to eat on his own and managing his caloric intake might be all we do over the next few months.
24 January 2012
Julia Maguire
D'you know that the human head weighs 8 pounds? D'you know that bees and dogs can smell fear? D'you know that my next door neighbor has three rabbits?
21 January 2012
20 January 2012
Gastric Emptying Study
Today we spent a few hours repeating the gastric emptying study that was done while we were in the hospital. We had our doubts about the accuracy of the test since it was done after Jonathan had been sick and possibly while on medication that would affect the results.
Overall things went pretty well. Jonathan had to stay in his car seat for about an hour after the radiology tech had spiked a few ounces of his formula with "Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator" particles. As you can see in the middle picture below, towards the end of the study you could see two main groupings: the amount still in his stomach and the amount that had worked its way down into his small intestine. They had a television to distract him, but he mainly played with me, my watch and my keys over that hour. He liked putting my watch on his legs and the carabiner that holds my keys on his toes.
The results came back slightly better then the first test. In the hospital he had emptied 48% after an hour, but today preliminary results were falling anywhere between 53 - 58%. No matter the exact number, it's an improvement, a good 10 - 20% better then before, and considered normal. The first test in the hospital was right after he was sick, which can slow things down. I also noticed that on the first test we used a milk-based formula instead of the hypoallergenic kind we are using now. Maybe that could have affected things too if his diet had been irritating him, although the sickness was probably more of a factor.
Next week we're going to do a similar study but follow it through the small intestine. Maybe that will give us some new information and highlight what's going on, if anything.
Overall things went pretty well. Jonathan had to stay in his car seat for about an hour after the radiology tech had spiked a few ounces of his formula with "Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator" particles. As you can see in the middle picture below, towards the end of the study you could see two main groupings: the amount still in his stomach and the amount that had worked its way down into his small intestine. They had a television to distract him, but he mainly played with me, my watch and my keys over that hour. He liked putting my watch on his legs and the carabiner that holds my keys on his toes.
The results came back slightly better then the first test. In the hospital he had emptied 48% after an hour, but today preliminary results were falling anywhere between 53 - 58%. No matter the exact number, it's an improvement, a good 10 - 20% better then before, and considered normal. The first test in the hospital was right after he was sick, which can slow things down. I also noticed that on the first test we used a milk-based formula instead of the hypoallergenic kind we are using now. Maybe that could have affected things too if his diet had been irritating him, although the sickness was probably more of a factor.
Next week we're going to do a similar study but follow it through the small intestine. Maybe that will give us some new information and highlight what's going on, if anything.
19 January 2012
Test Results
Today we received a few of the results from some of the tests run on Jonathan last week. The good news is that Cystic Fibrosis and Malabsorption both came back negative. On to the next set of tests. Tomorrow we repeat the gastric emptying study that was done in the hospital about 9 months ago.
In a weird way I was hoping that the test for Malabsorption would yield a positive result. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad in the long run that it isn't, but that would have explained why he isn't gaining weight. Additionally, depending on the case, it's fairly easy to treat. Another way to look at it is that a positive result for Malabsorption would have been the quick and easy answer...
In a weird way I was hoping that the test for Malabsorption would yield a positive result. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad in the long run that it isn't, but that would have explained why he isn't gaining weight. Additionally, depending on the case, it's fairly easy to treat. Another way to look at it is that a positive result for Malabsorption would have been the quick and easy answer...
18 January 2012
Fantasy Football
I've been officially voted in as the new commissioner of our fantasy football league at work. Actually, it's only because the previous commissioner left and I happened to be the only other person who had been a commissioner in the past. So, this means I've just completed my third year in a row as commissioner.
This new league is already running more smoothly. One of the items on my agenda was to create an inexpensive trophy or award that we could pass around each year. I came up with the plaque below. Not only did it cost me a mere $5.37 to make, I also got pizza out of the deal. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough space to list the runner up. Otherwise, my name would have been on this bad boy for 2011.
This new league is already running more smoothly. One of the items on my agenda was to create an inexpensive trophy or award that we could pass around each year. I came up with the plaque below. Not only did it cost me a mere $5.37 to make, I also got pizza out of the deal. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough space to list the runner up. Otherwise, my name would have been on this bad boy for 2011.
17 January 2012
Too School For Cool
I'm glad that we started Julia in preschool. She already knows how to write her name, the entire alphabet, and most of her numbers to twenty. Since she also is learning Spanish, she knows how to say a few colors in Spanish too. While we were playing yesterday she decided to count out loud to ten in Spanish. I had no idea she knew that.
Although she's shy at school, she still learns things quickly. I don't think she'll ever have a problem in school since she's so quick and also very inquisitive. I can already tell that she likes to learn, and combined with her patience and long attention span, I think school is going to be easy for her. The problem we'll probably face with her is having enough things to do so that she stays busy.
Although she's shy at school, she still learns things quickly. I don't think she'll ever have a problem in school since she's so quick and also very inquisitive. I can already tell that she likes to learn, and combined with her patience and long attention span, I think school is going to be easy for her. The problem we'll probably face with her is having enough things to do so that she stays busy.
15 January 2012
Master Bedroom
Since I had Monday of this week off from work (MLK), I was able to finish painting the crown molding in the master bedroom and master closet. I worked on it for nine hours straight. I probably could have finished sooner, but I'm consciously taking my time so that it turns out right. When I woke up Sunday morning I really didn't feel like painting. However, I psyched myself up and once again put in a full day's work.
In case you're wondering, I'm keeping a record of my progress on house projects on this blog so that I can look back with fond memories and say things like, "I remember when...", and, "can you believe that's what our house looked like back in the day?", and so forth.
In case you're wondering, I'm keeping a record of my progress on house projects on this blog so that I can look back with fond memories and say things like, "I remember when...", and, "can you believe that's what our house looked like back in the day?", and so forth.
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