Thursday, December 23, 2010

The lab results are back

I spoke to the pediatrician today about the lab results from Brayden's stool sample.

The majority of the results are back. It is clear that Brayden is not absorbing food because his pancreas is not working properly. Pancreatic enzymes should be above 200 and below 100 is severe insufficiency. Brayden's came back at 102.

It seems as though Brayden's pancreas works in some ways but not others. His blood sugar is always within the normal range (we check it at home regularly because of the ketogenic diet). But the enzymes used to break down and absorb food are not.

What does this mean?

The simple answer is to give Brayden pancreatic enzymes. I am guessing that this is something we can give like medication or add to his food. The GI doctor is back in the office next week and we will talk to him about the next steps.

Brayden's pancreas will continue to be watched carefully. The stool sample provided a baseline and we can start comparing. We hope that the pancreas is not progressively getting worse and that the enzymes will help Brayden absorb food properly (or at least better) so that he can start gaining weight.

Brayden's next appointment with the ketogenic clinic is in early February...we have until then to figure it out, get him gaining weight...otherwise they will start taking him off the ketogenic diet (which we do not want because it has been amazing for his seizure control).

3 comments:

Shannon said...

Merry Christmas, Carrie!

I am glad the sample was not lost and that you have a baseline. Hopefully, through enzymes, you will be able to see that number improve so he can stay on the keto diet. Praying.

dotalot said...

good for you for getting to the bottom of this carrie. brayden is indeed a little puzzle just like harvey was, with harvey it was calcium and vitamin d. he had some very complex body chemistry going on. i really hope that brayden's can be sorted out simply, but i also know that nothing is really all that simple when it comes to such unique little beings. hope you all enjoy the holidays xxx anne

Wherever HE Leads We'll Go said...

So glad that you were able to get some answers (and that the second sample was not lost). Hope that you are able to come up with a game plan with the GI doc that will help the weight gain problem and will NOT involve removing the keto diet.