Thursday, November 08, 2007

Feeding Clinic Visit: Drug-induced Munchies (legal, of course)

Philippe and I took Charlotte to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin on Thursday for a meeting with the Feeding Team and for Charlotte's PIE (patient in-patient evaluation) in preparation for our January or February in-patient stay.

Weight: 13.6k (30.6 lbs).
Height: 3 feet 2 inches tall!

A year and a half ago Charlotte was barely on the growth chart. Now she registers 95th percentile for height (97th if we were to adjust for gestational age).

The nutritionist, psychologist, and SLT were happy with Charlotte's progress. According to the food journal that I did last week, she is taking 90% of her calories by mouth. They still thought that an in-patient stay would benefit Charlotte and help us get her off of the g-tube completely. We asked a lot of questions, the most important of which (for me) was "Do we really want to put a healthy heart patient in the hospital during the height of cold & flu season?" I didn't really get a response to that and we moved on to other things.

Next we saw the GI doc. She started our visit by looking at Charlotte's chart and saying, "She's 90% there and we're talking about a January admit. Are you sure you want to put a healthy heart kid in the hospital when the sickest kids in Southern Wisconsin will be here?"

Finally, I thought, someone who hears and understands my concerns!

Dr. B. went on to say that she would like to try switching Charlotte's antihistamine (currently Zyrtec) to something that will give her the munchies (I can't pronounce or remember it). She thinks that this new medication will help Charlotte wean herself off of the g-tube. Dr. B. is going to consult with our pediatrician (since she prescribed the Zyrtec) to get the Rx changed.

So, we're waiting for the munchie-inducing prescription and NOT checking into the hospital in January.

Despite my clinical report, I'm jumping for joy!

3 comments:

abby said...

Periactin is the drug you are thinking about. A lot of the micropreemies we know are on it and it seems to work for at least some kids. Defnitely worth a try, and a whole lot better of an idea than, say, admitting a healthy heart kid to the hospital in January when all of the Wisconsin sick kids'll be there.

Charlotte's Mom said...

Nope that's not it! It started with a C and ends with a -mine. When I know what it is, I'll let you know! I *was* taking notes. No idea why I didn't write it down (and I asked her the name 4 times).

Charlotte's Mom said...

I was wrong, Abby. It is the drug you mentioned, but I had the generic name in mind.