Re: (Copy) A weighty question?
Gary & Tammy Bangs (gbangs@earthlink.net)
Fri, 15 Mar 1996 12:20:14 -0800
Tom,
I know it's hard but you must try not to fixate on Matthews weight. So much
can affect it. One thing to think about is his efforts to breath. As the
vent settings go down, he will be putting out much more effort to breath, and
he'll be burning more calories. You haven't mentioned how the feeds are
going. THey should be uping his intake periodocly as he tolerates it. If
it's been a few days since the feed has increased, and the vent has gone
down, that helps to explain the weight. Anything that he goes through will
affect his weight, has he had a blood transfusion lately? Try to look at the
overall picture instead of one piece of it, this is why keeping a journal is
so helpful. You can look at logical reasong for the weight prob.
Taylor's weight was, and still is, a big hurdle. He used so many calories
just breathing. His cal intake has always been a prob.
As Matthew gets stronger and as he does better tolerating feeds, they'll be
able to add things to make the calories higher without adding to the volume.
THings like MCT oil (a fat), and Polycose (a sugar). To this day I add
vegatable oil and sugar to Taylor's food. He just doesn't have the reserve
energy to keep his weight up without the extra stuff.
Hang in there, concentrate on the WHOLE picture.
Tammy, mom to Taylor and angel Alex, and to Travis, and wife to "home for
now" Gary.