PDA Repair

Allergy Kid had his surgery to repair his PDA this last week. The hole was closed via cardiac catheterization in which a catheter was inserted in a vein near his groin, threaded up through his heart, and a small plug is inserted into the hole. There are a number of different plugs. Allergy Kid's is the Amplatzer Duct Occluder II (ADO II) which is relatively new. It uses a much smaller catheter and was developed for use on premature infants that can't use the larger catheters currently in use. Right now, if a child is born with a severe PDA that must be plugged right away, they will have open-heart surgery which has a great deal of other risks. Also, because of its shapes, the ADO II is much less likely to slip out of the hole before it is completely healed.

Only three hospitals in the US are participating in the study of this piece right now (it is pending FDA approval for use in the US following the completion of the current trials. It is already approved for use in Europe): Primary Children's in Salt Lake, a children's hospital in Ohio, and Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Florida. Allergy Kid is the first child to have this plug at this hospital.

The doctor planned to have us stay overnight for observation, but Allergy Kid did so well they sent us home that evening. One thing you may have noticed about Allergy Kid are the dark circles under his eyes. Those are gone. He is still very pale, but they tell us that within a few weeks we'll start seeing some color in his face. Also...the kid has so much energy now....... It's amazing.

UPDATE: Wow. Allergy Kid has started gaining weight. He is still pretty thin, but he is the chubbiest he has been since he stopped breastfeeding at 12 months! He is doing awesome!

Bright Beginnings

It has been a while...sorry. Just wanted to tell you about a new product we are using.

Bright Beginnings is a soy based pediatric drink similar to pediasure. It acts as a fabulous supplement for allergy kids (those who tolerate soy, of course). Allergy Kid drinks about four cans a day in addition to his solid food. Since he started using it, he has finally started to gain weight at levels comparable to when he was still nursing.

Bright Beginnings is not available in stores (at least not around here), and is somewhat pricey. However, it is WIC eligible, though you may need a prescription to get it through WIC.

Also--this should NOT be used as a formula replacement unless approved by your pediatrician first.

Cracker Barrel

Well, here's one that wasn't as great as it could have been. We went to the local Cracker Barrel for dinner the other night. We asked our server is there was an allergy-friendly menu and she told us there was not. Usually we would ask the manager, but we had packed plenty of food for Allergy Kid, so we weren't too worried.

:(

-Allergy Dad

Mimi's Cafe

Well, some friends of ours asked us to go out to dinner with them tonight. We were a little wary as we have not had a lot of success with restaurants of late (Allergy Kid has puked 3 of the last four times we have eaten out). Mimi's Cafe was suggested so my wife called to find out if they had an allergy-friendly menu. The hostess said that she didn't think they had anything but offered to get the manager. The manager told us that, yes, in fact, they did have allergy-friendly menus and to ask for him when we arrived.

When we arrived, we asked the hostess to let the manager know that we were there. She returned a few minutes later with a copy of the menu that listed each item and what potential allergens were in it. This was a very simple table layout...we simply looked up an item and could see that it contained, for example: wheat, milk, eggs, and soy. By far the easiest menu we have seen.

When we were seated, we explained our situation to our server and gave him a copy of Allergy Kid's chef card. He went back and spoke with the cook and returned to assure us that Allergy Kid's grill chicken breast and steamed broccoli were being prepared with the utmost caution. Our server made sure to place items on the table far enough away from Allergy Kid that he couldn't reach them and he brought out Allergy Kid's plate separately from the others.

We were extremely impressed with the way that Mimi's treated us and since Allergy Kid did not vomit or show any other signs of exposure, we must assume they did an excellent job keeping his food isolated. They get a very strong recommendation from us!

The only other place that has offered us service even close to this level (that is, to bring out a separate menu) was a Chili's location we visited some time ago. I'll write about that in a separate post.

-Allergy Dad