Wisdom Heart

I wanted to take a minute to update the blog. Sorry I have not been posting with any frequency. I will try to post more often.
First, Sophia and I both had the flu. The vomiting and diarrhea were obviously caused by illness rather than the food change. However, we had to put the change on hold until she recovered. The short of it is, Sophia lost some weight and had some lingering upper respiratory issues. But, she seems to be over it now. And has been getting a small proportion of the Kindercal in her tube feeds. I believe, we will increase that proportion this week. I will post when we get her switched over completely.
Secondly, Sophia still has her cast. But, she should be getting it off today. She has had it for three weeks. When she had the flu, the combination of weight loss and reduced swelling in her leg caused her first cast to loosen and she eventually wiggled out of it. Apparently, this is not uncommon. In fact, we were told, many infants and toddlers need several casts. Anyway, when they put the second cast on they put a little more angle at the knee and it has remained intact. Sorry I haven't posted any cast pictures before now. The picture on the previous post was just the splint the ER put on.
The big news is related to Sophia's oral feeding. After Sophia recovered from the flu, she showed a renewed vigor for eating purees orally. In a short time, she transitioned from 30 tiny bites a day to 3 jars a day. And she can handle normal size bites. We have also transitioned to some foods with more chunks (i.e. pastas, cereals, etc.). She seems to really enjoy mealtime now. The next oral challenge will, of course, be liquids. We will not likely do a swallow study until the spring of 2006. But, her ability to move food to her throat and swallow has improved greatly.
The only major issue we are dealing with right now is with moving her bowels. I don't know if it is the diet change or something else. But, Sophia has been having some trouble with constipation. We have been giving her extra water through her feeding tube. And we are going to start messing with her laxative dose to help her with what seem to be very painful and difficult bowel movements.
Overall, Sophia is doing really good. We haven't had any cardiac issues at all. And her scar gets better everyday. I will try to post again soon.
-Michael