Katie's 4th Birthday

Good afternoon.

Today is Katie's 4th Birthday and she is having a wonderful day...Dad stayed home and she got to go to McDonald's for lunch.  Tonight we are celebrating with an ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery.

Unfortunately her morning was spent at the Pulmonologist for Nathan.  It was a good appointment but a bit overwhelming.  For those of you who do not know, Nathan has had a persistent cough since October.  She diagnosed him with chronic bronchitis today, that may change at our next appointment.  

There are several things that they are working on correcting.  First he has lost weight since his last visit to the pediatrician about 2 1/2 weeks ago.  We are changing his formula because they think he may have a food allergy.  He is so little that nothing conclusive came back a couple of weeks ago when the allergist tested him.  

Second he appears to be aspirating when he drinks his bottle.  Thankfully, most children outgrow this by the time they are 2-3 years old.

Lastly, he more than likely will have asthma.  They cannot diagnose it until he is 2 but since he has had RSV, his lungs are cloudy and there is a family history, they said more than likely he will be asthmatic.  However, it is very manageable as long as the treatment is followed.

We will go back in 6 weeks for a re-check.  They are expecting him to be a completely different baby when we go back.   While most of this was not new news, it feels good to have a treatment plan in place.

If he does not improve, the doctor will send us to Children's Hospital in Little Rock for a sweat test.  It would determine if he has cystic fibrosis.  We are praying that we do not have to go down that path but know that the Lord will help us through it if we do.