Re: Re: a feeding tube delima-

October 13, 2005

,

The reasoning behind stopping GH, at least for a while, would be to allow

your daughter's weight to catch up to her height.

Does your Dr increase your daughter's periactin as she gains weight??

Sometimes increasing the dosage will spur a gain in appetite, and thus a

gain in weight.

Dr H likes most of our kids to reside somewhere close to the 15% line on the

weight-for-height chart. Is you daughter anywhere close to that?? At 15% the

kids still look thin, but don't appear to be emaciated.

Oral feeds don't have to stop with the insertion of a g-tube. Several of the

parents on here, use the g-tube for overnight feeds only. This might

decrease what your daughter will eat first thing in the morning, but then

her oral eating should pick up as the day progresses.

A G-tube allows feeds to enter the stomach. A J-tube has feeds directed into

the jejunum (sp) part of the intestines. It bypasses the stomach and helps

reduce reflux.

How long has your daughter been on Zantac?? It has been our experience that

Zantac loses it's ability to work if used over a long period of time, and

sometimes a drug " holiday " is in order. Have you ever tried a PPI (proton

pump inhibitor) such as Prilosec or Prevacid??? This might help her eat

more....

As far as I know, Dr H is willing to confer with other Drs at any time. You

might want to see if your Dr would be willing to contact her for

information??? But I would warn your Dr that although Dr H is an Endo by

trade, she takes a " whole child " approach. Our GI seems very offended that

an Endo is sticking her nose into 's GI issues.

Pat (g-ma to , RSS, 3 yrs 9 months old, 24.5#, 34 " , G-tube, GHT)

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