A Day of Doctors

We spent most of the day in the doctor's office- well, actually the majority of our time was spent in the waiting rooms. ( I am sure you can relate) Talmage had his appointment with the Pediatric Endocrinologist at Tech to discuss his galactosemia.

I have had a couple of e-mails asking me about his condition so I wanted to do a quick post to explain it a little better while it is still fresh in my mind. Many people wander if he is just lactose intolerant. The answer is no. Basically he was born with a very rare metabolic disorder (1 in 50,000) in which he has a very difficult time metabolizing certain sugars. Specifically this condition affects the way galactose is broken down. This can lead to a buildup of galactose in the body which can cause health problems if not controlled by diet. Luckily, he isn't lacking the enzyme that breaks this sugar down completely- his is just working at about 25% of normal. That is the good, well GREAT news. Our hope is that if we keep him on an all soy diet for his entire first year of life , as he grows he will be able to metabolize these sugars and have a completely "normal kid diet!" You know, pizza, cake,... all of that good "bribing" food.

The doctor even took one good look at him and said, "He isn't sick enough to be in my office!" That made me feel good! Dr. Wilson went on to suggest that a lot of people are walking around with galactosemia and don't even know it. This test is fairly new and some cases, like Tal's, would have never even been caught without newborn screening bloodwork. I was also interested to find out that Texas is one of the few states that actually tests for it!

Look how perfect he is!!

After our meeting with the endocrinologist/metabolic specialist we came home to pick up sister for ANOTHER APPOINTMENT. Ava Ryan had her 2 yr well check up and Tal has been a little stuffy lately, so he got to go, too. Luckily, Matt was able to come home to help me get them in the office. We didn't have much trouble until Ava got weighed. Then the screams began! She absolutely hates going to the doctor. THEN MATT LEFT ME ALL ALONE WITH TWO SCREAMING KIDS!!

First Dr. Young examined Tal. Ava was chatty and as happy as could be- I guess she thought she dodged a major bullet! Then it came her turn. She kept yelling, "No, take baby! No, take baby!" After a shot (and a sucker), she got a clean bill of health.

Her current stats are as follows: 26 lbs (50th %) and 34 in. (75th%). I have always heard that you can double their 2 year old height and get a pretty accurate result as to how tall they are going to be. Let's just say if this is true, she will be much taller than Momma!

After we got home, Ava tried to help me get Talmage to sleep.

Please, Mommy, no more shots!