Hunter's saga

Our little man has had quite a week! It all started at his two week check-up, when I expressed concern about Hunter possibly having reflux. After explaining all the symptoms, the doctor had us come back in a week for a weight check (which was this past Monday). He wasn't present for the weight check, so I made an appt for the next day to further discuss my concerns. We went back on Tuesday, and the doc again checked his weight. He said that he was gaining weight, so he wasn't concerned. I pressed and said that I wasn't concerned about his weight gain, either, I was concerned about what appeared to be acid reflux. So, he then started pressing around on his belly & said that he felt a hard mass at the bottom of his stomach. He referred us that afternoon to get an upper GI series. The radiologist said that he didn't see anything, but would give it a closer look. About a half hour after we got home, the doc called us and said that Hunter has pyloric stenosis & he would need surgery. He wanted to see him the next day to check his weight again.



We took Hunter back on Wednesday, and he was the same weight as on Tuesday, but the doc said the mass felt bigger to him. There is no one in Ridgecrest who does the surgery, so we were going to have to go to Loma Linda Hospital (2 1/2 hrs away). We asked the doc for an ultrasound for further confirmation before sending him into surgery, but he refused & said it wouldn't show anything that the GI series didn't show. Besides, he was 100% certain of his diagnosis. We started to tell him that we were hesitant to take our child into surgery w/out further proof. At that, he cut Bill off and told us that we could hesitate all we wanted, but he had other patients to see to. With that, he turned and walked out the door & closed it behind him! Needless to say, we will be seeing a new pediatrician!



We ended up taking Hunter to the ER on Thursday. Fortunately, this was a top-notch hospital, with their own pediatric ER wing. They performed an ultrasound (both the tech & radiologist) just to be sure of the diagnosis. The three doctors who looked at him & the GI series pictures all were in agreement that it was NOT pyloric stenosis & he did not need surgery. Furthermore, none of them mentioned feeling a mass at the bottom of his stomach. The chief of the peds ER told us that he has episodes of acid reflux, and gave us some advice on how to limit his discomfort. The icing on the cake was when the ER doc called our pediatrician to report their findings. Our pediatrician told him that when we bring Hunter in next week w/full-blown stenosis, then he'll just send us back down there. He then proceeded to hang up on the ER doc!



So, all is well!!! We have a healthy little boy who suffers from some reflux.....very doable! Fortunately, Bill's parents had already decided to stay an extra week, so we had someone here to care for Maddie & Charlie. Sadly, they are leaving tomorrow, though :( Bill is also leaving for a week for work on Monday....so next week will be very trying!!! Thank you to everyone who prayed for Hunter this week!