lauren's hospital adventure :: part 2

 
The second part of our hospital stay was much more pleasant than the first. Lauren was able to finally get a good night's sleep Saturday and woke up much happier Sunday morning. I really liked the doctors and nurses that were assigned to us Sunday too. They answered my questions clearly, and on the whole made me feel better about everything.

Lauren was diagnosed with failure to thrive and sick euthyroid. As best I understand it, this is a condition where while a person's T3 and T4 (hormones that are secreted by the thyroid) levels are low, the pituitary gland (which controls the thyroid) appears to be normal. This can be seen in people that have poor nutrition among many other reasons. Because Lauren is failure to thrive, there is a good chance that her low levels were due to malnutrition. They improved over the course of her hospital stay, but not significantly. Hopefully I explained this without an egregious errors, but I did not go to medical school for a reason.

Because Lauren gained weight for 3 consecutive days, we were able to go home Monday evening. The doctor's still weren't satisfied with her hormone levels, so she is taking a daily medication, and  will have them checked again in a few weeks. She is also scheduled to have an MRI so the doctors can see if her pituitary gland is functioning properly.

In the meantime, we are feeding her higher-calorie meals, including meat. Her dairy allergy makes it a bit more difficult because a lot of the go-to high-calorie foods the nutritionist normally recommends include dairy. It's been interesting experimenting with different foods. Friends have been so helpful and generous sharing tips, recipes, and experiences they've had with meal planning around food allergies. Because I am nursing Lauren, I am off dairy for the time being. At some point in the future we will visit an allergist and try to find out more specifically about her food allergies, but for now she is to avoid dairy, eggs, wheat, and peanuts. We are crossing our fingers she'll outgrow them.

Thank you to everyone who prepared us meals, offered to prepare us meals, watched Will, offered to watch Will, visited us, and supported us through our hospital adventure. Thank you for all the advice, tips, and support! Anthony and I kept telling each other how we felt overwhelmed with love from friends and family.

Packed up and ready to head home:

Thank you, CMH for providing us with what we are now referring to as our "Staycation 2012."