A Journey Continues

I've been touched by the number of people - and many of my own patients - who continually ask about Colin and his progress, and make sure to remind me to update his blog more frequently! I must not forget that many of you have joined us along this journey, many of you only having access through the blog. Your prayers and the grace of God have allowed Colin to continually find successes and overcome the odds, and it is your faith that will help him overcome his current difficulties and one day become "normal" and truly healthy. Thanks to you all from the deepest depths of my heart. I am blessed to have so many people pulling for that little offspring of mine! Now to the update...
No change in Colin's daily, multiple times per day vomiting. He wretches mostly, coughing up a lot of mucous. I don't know this from a diagnostic standpoint, but through observing him everyday I would say that maybe his gastroparesis is lessening? I say this because Colin seems to empty better than he used to. He can vomit shortly (20 min) after eating, for instance, and vomit up relatively little formula. Other times this isn't the case and he vomits plenty, but he seems to be throwing up less formula and it's more "just" the mucous now. It's still plenty messy (though we don't mind or care about that). This would not just be a small victory, rather a big one if he indeed outgrows his gastroparesis. We continue to pray for this.
Colin has been through several evaluations since the last entry, including a procedure called a pH impedence test (sleuth pH). This was fun (sarcasm). They placed a prode down his nose to just above his stomach and monitored any regurgitations over a 24-hour period. I stayed with him the entire time, even sleeping with him in his hospital crib for a bit of time. What a sight, I'm sure! He was a true "gamer" though, and did better than his Dad would have. The result of the test showed MILD acid reflux! We were a little amazed by this since we have gone under the premise all along that reflux played a major role in his vomiting. We now think this isn't the case (so much).
The doctors have also evaluated his stool samples. These have been high in fats indicating that he's not breaking down fat enough. When you consider this, along with the fact that his head circumference hasn't grown in about 3 months and his mucous production, the doctors are thinking there's a possibility of cystic fibrosis. He's always had clear lung function though, so we'll see. I'm not into "jinxes", so I'm comfortable saying I just don't think this is the case. I'd be shocked, really. We're going in for a sweat test of the skin which is diagnostic of CF (in a few weeks). One more thing to pray about though.
We've since seen two new GI doctors, one in Charlotte, one at Wake Forest. We were impressed by both. They happen to be close personal friends with one another, and they've been coordinating to help Colin. The next round of tests involve another endoscopy, an esophageal manometry (measuring how well his esophageal muscles work) as well as a pancreatic stim test. They'll stimulate the pancrease w/ secretin and evaluate the pancreatic function over a couple hours to check if the proper amount of enzymes are being produced to digest fat.
So, still a lot going on. Colin hasn't walked yet, but it'll literally be any day. He stands well on his own now, and cruises with the best of them. His latest thing is so funny: he walks around on all fores! Meaning he walks on his hands and feet with his little butt up in the air. I hope to get it on videotape, it is so adorable!
Other than that, things are status quo. He still makes us the happiest parents around, and we can't wait until our work days are done to run home and give him some lovin's :-)