Today we had our second visit to the Vanderbilt Cystic Fibrosis pediatric clinic.
One of the things with CF patients is that 95% of them have insufficient pancreatic function. Olivia is one of these. So her pancreas is clogged and the enzymes needed for her to correctly digest her food are not released to the small intestine. So last week she was started on a small dose of digestive enzymes to help her digest and gain weight. They would like her weight to be in the 50th percentile as this will help her lung function in the future. Currently she is close to the 11th percentile which is up from around the 6th percentile from which she started. We are to increase her dosage to a full enzyme pill with every feeding. Since she is unable to swallow a pill at this age, we have to open the pills to get the small beads out and get them far enough in her mouth that she will swallow them.
We will also be adding some vitamins to her feedings soon. Certain vitamins are not well absorbed by CF'ers. Along with a tiny bit of specialty formula in with her expressed breast milk. This will increase her calorie intake and hopefully she will have a quicker weight gain.
Today we are also adding 'breathing' treatments. At least two times a day we have to help her jar loose the thick mucus secretions that are in her lungs.
As she gets older, we may have to add many more types of treatments. Hopefully by being pro-active and preventive, we can lessen what all she has to have done.
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