GI & Neuro Update

We were without internet connection a few days this week, so I'm a bit behind.  On Tuesday, we had a marathon day of follow up appointments.  First, Matthew saw his GI.  He was happy with Matthew's growth (up to 21 pounds, but still not yet on the growth curve), and feels like we can take Matthew off his gastroperisis meds.  If Matthew begins eating less, or throwing up again, we may have to put him back on them, but for now Matthew is medication free.  Yippee!

After the GI appointment, we went over to have blood drawn to recheck Mattie's C02 levels for renal, but after waiting for an hour and 10 minutes, we had to leave before the blood draw so we could make it to our next appointment.  I was not happy with the process at the blood bank!

At the neurology appointment, we got the results of the EEG and the sleep study.  The results were mixed.  Matthew doesn't have sleep apnea (good), but his brain waves indicate that he becomes too conscious too many times during sleep (not so good). The average number of 'awakenings' is 5 per hour, and Matthew had 20+ per hour.  This may be why he seems to need so much sleep.  The doctor recommended we get Matthew out in the sunlight more to increase his levels of melatonin.  

The EEG showed some irregular brain wave patterns in Matthew's front right temporal lobe.  Because of this, the doctor recommended staying on the look out for indications of seizures, which thankfully we haven't noticed yet.  It is not certain Matthew will develop seizures, but because of this finding, there is a higher likelihood that he might.  And the surprise finding, Matthew's EEG was on target for his age.  The neurologist was delighted with this finding, as he expected Matthew to show delayed results due to his global developmental delays.  His recommendation to me was to be a 'tiger mom'.  Just as we've always known, our neurologist totally agrees, we don't know what to expect from Matthew. He's writing his own story.  We'll just keep pushing, and helping, and praying for the best!