The worst trip EVER to the GI Clinic

Earlier this month, Landon had an appointment with Dr. Zapata, his GI doctor.  We hadn't seen him in a very long time, because Landon was in the hospital when we had to cancel his last appointment last December.  It's one of those offices that has so many kids scheduled that when you cancel you have to wait six months for another appointment.  My mommy brain kicked in when I thought we had another appointment scheduled with him in June, and we didn't.  I'm not sure why I thought that, but after I realized I made a mistake I called immediately to get seen.  They didn't have anything open until this month so I didn't have a choice.  Stupid mommy brain!

Anyways, I took the kids on my own because Braydon couldn't get off of work.  I had to get Landon out of school because (of course) they didn't have any appointments open after school hours.  It was a 10:30 appointment, so I calculated out in my head that Landon would be back in school by lunchtime.  I should've known....

This office has been notorious for being incredibly slow, so I armed myself with snacks and toys for the kids.  I was crossing my fingers that I was going to be wrong this time.  We got there a little early after I picked Landon up from school.  We waited in the waiting room, which is actually really big and nice.  There are things to look at and places to walk around and even games to play.  The kids were both happy meandering around.  After about 10 minutes or so (around our appointment time), we were called back into the exam room.  Landon was weighed and measured, then after a potty break (where the kids started misbehaving) we were put into the little room to wait.

The dietician came in to talk to me about Landon's feeding schedule and to ask me a few questions.  The kids started immediately acting up and I gave them some of the things I brought for them to keep them occupied while I spoke with her.  As she was leaving, she whispered an "I'm sorry" as she closed the door.

Half an hour later, I was going a little nuts with my crazy kids, when Dr. Zapata came in.  Dr. Zapata is from Columbia and has a very heavy accent mixed with what I think is a lisp.  I have to really concentrate on what he's saying when he talks to me.  Most of the time I have a nurse or someone with me, so we compare notes of what we "think" we got out of the visit at the end.  I didn't have that, so I was trying my hardest to concentrate while he was explaining to me that Landon was starting to slack off on the height and body mass index (BMI) part of growing.  He was telling me that we should increase Landon's caloric intake in his formula to get him back on track with the growth chart.  As all of this is going on, the kids are fighting with each other over the toys I brought, Sydney is starting to get hungry, tired, and isn't listening to me as I told her that standing in the stroller is a bad idea.   I was losing control and was getting close to my wits end.  Trust me, I did a couple of time-outs and they weren't working.  The kids were over being in that small space.

After all of that talking with Dr. Zapata, we had to wait for the dietitian to come in and give us the game plan.  Another half an hour went by, lunchtime had passed, and the kids were pretty much screaming.  I was so annoyed by the fact that I had been left in the room so long, that I was letting them scream so that maybe they would get annoyed by it too and get me out faster!  The dietitian came in and gave us a run down of what was going to happen as we switched formulas.  I asked her if it would change how much he ate orally, and she told me it could. :(  I expressed to her that that worried me since one of my goals for him is to be eating more orally than through his G-button.  I guess she was frustrated with me.  She said to me, "Well, we can't make him eat." and left the room while I was dealing with my fighting children.  UGH!!

After all of that, we had to wait for a nurse to come in and reiterate to me everything that the doctor and dietitian told me.  I was so over my boiling point, I was on the verge of tears.  It was taking everything I had not to break down.  We had spent an hour and a half in that little exam room!!  Both kids were extremely hungry and tired and my blood sugar had dropped which was making me even more irritable (if that was possible)!

As we left, I had to make another appointment to come back in three months, where the receptionist sat on the phone while I stood there.  On a personal call. UGH!!  I wasn't very chatty with her when she got off the phone and she could tell I wasn't in a friendly mood.  I made my appointment and made a beeline for the door.  The worst appointment I have EVER been to!  And I've been to A LOT!

I got in the car and broke down in tears not because I was sad, but because I was so frustrated with how they handled us and how my children acted.  I felt like such a bad mom for not being able to control my children.  I'm sure it won't be the last time I feel like that, but I had had enough for the day.

So, after all that, Landon is now transitioning from his old formula to a new one with more calories in it per ounce.  We're slowly weaning him onto it now to make sure he tolerates it well and to see how much will work for him.  The deitician told me that they will increase the amount of calories slowly just to get him caught up on the growth curve.  So far I haven't noticed any changes in his eating habits orally, and if I have, they have been for the better.  He ate a slice and a half of pizza last week!!!  I was so happy with that!

Keep us in your thoughts as we move forward with getting Landon on a more normal eating pattern.  Kim is backing me up with feeding therapy still when we go to speech therapy.  She agrees with me that we should be pushing more solids with him.  THANK GOODNESS someone sees my side and will help me stand up for my child!