I took Sarah to her appointment on Monday the 29th of December. We started with the usual weigh in and measurements. They pretty much check out every detail down to the "fat" test that makes sure she is coming along in her growth spurts. When the nurse realized that Sarah has been struggling with a cold for about two weeks, she added a new duty to our daily regiment. She said that I should get used to checking her breathing daily and charting it in a notebook. A normally healthy baby has 40-60 breaths in a minute. That number should start decreasing as they get older. Sarah is at 60 breaths per minute due to her enlarged belly. So if she has a number greater than 75 or so, I should take her to the pediatrician.
Dr. Murray is our study doctor who has kept tabs on her from the get go and she noticed Sarah's tummy right away. She asked me how it looked and I told her I thought it had gotten bigger but was not too sure. She agreed that it looked bigger and put her back on her twice a day dose of diueretic instead of once a day. They did labs on Sarah and most of it looked better than the last time. Her Alkoline numbers were up but the doctor said that due to her ongoing growth with bones that the number will be up some. Also, that just having liver disease puts the numbers above normal. Her GGT(a liver enzyme I believe) is high but better than last time. As long as there is progress, we are good. Her cholesterol was high but if her liver is not up to full speed yet, therefore not able to clean the fats and stuff out like normal. All in all the doctor was very pleased with her labs. She did say she would like to see Sarah again at the appointment with Dr. Healey on the eighth of January.
So for now we are still praying for God to be glorified in every turn of Sarah's life. She certainly is loved by her siblings and she definitely loves them back. Just today Sarah had one on one time with each of her siblings and she sang and "talked" to each of them as if they were her favorite people in the whole world. She is truly a blessing to each of us in the whole Kraft clan. :o) Patty
Nothing like learning a whole new vocabulary at the hospital and doctor's office. You are slinging words like GGT, diuretics and alkaline numbers around like an old pro. You are wonderful parents and are doing a great job. We were at the hospital today for a hearing test for little Mr. Brent and found out that Dr. Healey has the whole week off. John made the observation that it was good to hear he has some time off. That is one hard-working surgeon. What a wonderful doctor he is, we thank God for him and that Sarah is in such capable hands. We hope to see you soon. Great blog. We can now follow Sarah's progress easily and know just what to pray for.
ReplyDelete-Susan and John