EleCare

Wednesday night Dr. Williams (psychologist) emailed me back and said that we should go ahead and eliminate dairy from Ian's diet now. He said we should switch to an elemental formula and feed Ian only baby cereal, fruits, and veggies until the allergy testing results are complete. This morning Karen (OT) called back and said basically the same thing although she said if Ian doesn't like the EleCare that we could fade it in (i.e. start out with milk plus EleCare and gradually reduce the amount of milk until it's just EleCare). She said she really didn't think an NG tube would be necessary. She said we can doctor the formula if needed (flavor it in some way). One family she worked with squirted some chocolate syrup in each bottle. She said too much chocolate is better than an NG tube. So today I bought a case (6 cans) of Vanilla EleCare on eBay. Ian seems to like vanilla pudding and yogurt so I hope he'll like vanilla formula. EleCare is much cheaper on Amazon than at the pharmacy if you buy it by the case. However, it's even cheaper on eBay. Even on eBay I paid about twice as much as I've ever paid for a can of formula before. I am not sure how long 6 cans will last. He's not drinking as much milk as he used to, but the directions say 4 scoops for 5 ounces if they're over 12 months old and with formula it was 3 scoops for 6 ounces. I can't believe I'm back to buying formula and my son is 17 months old! This formula is excellent for toddlers like Ian who have EE and GERD and possibly a milk allergy. I tried VERY hard to find a can of EleCare that I could buy here in MD to tie us over until the case arrives at home on Monday. My mom and I called many drug stores (CVS, RiteAid, etc.) plus ones at hospitals - even in Baltimore such as John Hopkins. I also called pediatric GI doctor's offices down here to see if they knew where I could buy some. Paul's mom was also calling pharmacies in PA and doing some research online. She found a website that said there were supposedly two grocery store pharmacies within 5 miles of my parent's house that carried EleCare. They were out of stock. We gave it our best effort that is for sure. A CVS back in PA said they'd order it for us and keep it in stock for us, but it will be much cheaper for me to buy online if I need to keep buying it for Ian. Some insurance companies (all in certain states which have mandated it by law) cover EleCare, but since we don't have any prescription drug coverage I'm not even going to explore that option. I'll stick with eBay if we have to keep buying it for him.

It was really hard to feed Ian today now that I know how painful every bite is for him to swallow. I can't wait until his little esophagus has healed!  I am grateful though that we have finally found the problem although we haven't 100% identified it until the allergy testing is complete. On a happier note, would you believe that Ian slept until 7:55am today! Unbelievable!! It was so hard to get this boy to sleep 10 hours. He seemed programmed to sleep only 9 hours at night, but last night he slept for 12 hours!!! It was so nice to be able to take my shower at 6:30 while both kids were still in bed. I'd be thrilled to have them in bed until 7am as then I'd get up at 6:30 every morning to shower and such before they get up. I usally get Nadia after Ian wakes up, but I went and got her at 7:35 as I figured she had to be awake (I miss the video monitor when we're away from home!). It was probably the first time ever that Nadia was up before Ian. It was certainly the first time ever that Ian slept until almost 8am. What a miracle! I'm praying that he'll keep sleeping in until 7am after we get home. That would be truly wonderful!