- Head lag (that's always been there)
- Problems eating
- Problems gaining weight
- Random "fevers" (99-100 degrees)
- Elevated AST and ALP (liver enzymes)
- Clutching his neck while eating or drinking
- Posterior urethral valves (that have been taken care of, thank God)
Our perplexed ENT did note there was head lag, and observed him pull at his throat while drinking.
Nolan pulling at his neck while drinking
I told her I didn't know what to make of all of this. That he wasn't eating, and if it was behavioral then we needed some help. Because he's getting worse, and not better with the current course of action. Then she asked what made me think it was behavioral. I told her that the scintiscan was negative. Her response was:
"Well, actually...."
Nothing good starts out with that qualifier. It turns out the scintiscan was negative for reflux. Yippee! It was also positive for delayed gastric emptying (DGE for short, or gastroparesis). It is borderline, because there are currently two standards used for DGE. One standard says that if only 25% of the stomach contents are emptied after one hour, then it is DGE. The other says that if only 30% of the stomach contents are emptied after one hour, then it is DGE. Nolan was at 27%, smack in the middle of those categories. By one, he has gastroparesis. By the other, he is borderline. She did diagnose him with gastroparesis, as he has symptoms consistent with the disorder and the test results indicate an issue with gastric emptying.
The next decision was whether we should be sent to neurology or to gastroenterology first. Since the head lag has always been there, we were lobbying for the gastro consult. The not-eating thing has our stress levels sky high.
She checked his weight (22 pounds, 12 ounces at 22 months of age) and agreed that we should see the GI doc. She also ordered a repeat of the liver function tests to see if those had normalized and an upper GI to be completed before we see the GI specialist. We had the liver panel redrawn today, so hopefully those numbers will come out as normal. It would be nice to wipe those off the "worry list."
Off we go to the GI specialist to find out what is going on with the little guy, and to get him eating again.

