Conference moira::parenting

    
    
    		Hi Susan,
    
    
    			My first son Matthew was diagnosed with pyloric
    		at 1 month.  You're right in that it's hereditary, much
    		more prevelant in boys and also higher for the first born
    		male.  We knew something was wrong after he was 2 weeks.
    		After almost every feeding he would spit-up, except his 
    		spit-up was more than a dribble.  It was more like a
    		stream.  We mentioned this to the pedi and got the same old
    		well he's just has gas, are you burping him, its just
    		spit-up.  This went on for 2 more weeks.  At the 1 
    		month check-up Matt only gained a pound from birth.  This
    		must have raised a flag.  The pedi immediately sent us 
    		to the hospital for a barium swollow to watch the digestive 
    		tract at work.  No big deal, we put a little in his bottle
    		and watched the x-ray monitor.  Sure enough you could see 
    		the liquid hit his stomach and then just a tiny stream 
    		going through into the intestines.  Poor kid was always so
    		hungry but because he was throwing most of it back up
    		he hardly gained any wieght.  Those 2 weeks before he was
    		diagnosed were a real joy,  I forget how many clothes and
    		cloth diapers we went through.  We tried every combination 
    		of formula, nipple, bottle, burping, etc...  They
    		scheduled his surgery that afternoon.  Did the usual blood
    		tests to check electrolytes and such being that he was
    		vomiting for 2 weeks to make sure he wasn't dehydrating.
    		Believe it or not he was normal which amazed the
    		technicians.  Chalk one up to mom and dad hanging tough 
    		to get that formula to stay down.  The surgery is minor,
    		a small incision is made above the belly button and the
    		stomach muscle is cut against the grain of the muscle 
    		tissue and then simply resewn.  This in effect weakens the
    		muscle so that food passes more easily.  I think he spent
    		24 hours in the hospital.  Next day he was eating normal
    		and gained like 4 lbs a month for the next 4 months.
    		I guess it was harrowing at the time as it was our first,
    		but looking back I'm glad everything turned out fine.
    		Matt has a small 1 inch scar on his tummy.  What you want
    		to watch for is a projectile vomit.  Not a spit-up.  
    		Like I said we knew something was wrong after a couple of
    		weeks.  All children spit-up some of thier milk/formula
    		but when it comes out in a big stream and what looks like 
    		the entire 4 ounces you just fed them, it should raise 
    		some concern.  Sorry if I rambled but the first leaves
    		a lasting impression and Matthew wasted no time at all.
    		Good luck, feel free to email me if you can think of anything
    		else.   
    
    
                                		Mark

Hmmm, you learn something new every day!  

I had Pyloric Stenosis when I was six weeks old... but I didn't know it was 
hereditary.  No one else on either sides of my family had it.  And our first 
born, Matthew, did not have it.  

No doctor's mentioned the fact that it was hereditary to us...

Anyway, the only side effects I have of it now is an 8 inch scar on my
stomach.  (Doctor's do not know why the scar grew with me.  They all say
that scar tissue is dead and does not grow.  Oh well.)

Dan

    Our first son was diagnosed with this at 3 weeks. 
    .1 said it all, and also hit a nerve with "first two weeks were a joy"
    and then...it's quite a lot to deal with and your so tired and
    depressed and scared...
    
    Did not run in our family that we knew of...
    
    He's a terror at 3 now!

re: hereditary.

My wife recently read that this is only hereditary in 15% of the cases.

Dan

Has anyone else ever had a child that developed Pyloric Stenosis?

Our son Jeremy developed Pyloric Stenosis at @ 2.5 weeks old.  
From what our Pediatrician told us, it's a condition that starts 
gradually between 2-6 weeks of age and what happens is that there 
is a muscle (the pyloric muscle), that leads from the small 
intestine to the stomach and sometimes this muscle swells to a 
point that it closes down the opening from the intestine to the 
stomach and nothing passes through into the stomach.  Therefore, 
this causes the child to start vomiting.

Usually the symptoms are described by projectile vomiting and it 
can occur if the child is breastfeed or on formula.  The 
pediatrician's told us that for some reason, this condition is 
very common in first born males.

In our case, Jeremy started with the projectile vomiting when he 
was 2 weeks old.  It only happened once the first day and then it 
didn't happen again for a couple of days, by the fourth day, it 
got to be severe projectile vomiting, not just "spitting up" a 
little, and it was after every feeding.

He was examined on a Monday evening by our Pediatrician who 
diagnosed what he thought was the problem and we were 
immediately sent to Children's Floating Hospital in Boston.

Jeremy was examined by the Pediatric surgeon's the next morning 
and they confirmed that he did have Pyloric Stenosis by doing an 
ultrasound.

Jeremy was taken into surgery that afternoon and the 
Pediatrician explained to us that they make a "slit" in the 
muscle so that it can't continue to close.  They don't remove 
anything.  The surgery took about 45 minutes.

Of course this is major surgery and he does have about a two inch 
scar on his stomach but he is doing much better and after such a 
slow start he is finally gaining weight.  We were at the 
hospital two days.

My question is has anyone else had this problem with one of their 
children, and if so, when they started on solid foods, did their 
child have any problems?


Thank you,
Mary

    Mary,
    
    A good friend of mine has a son who also had Pyloric Stenosis.  He is a
    first born male. He also had the surgery in Boston and the scar seems
    to be his only sign of ever having had a problem.  My daughter was in
    daycare with him from the age of 4 months until 13 months.  He had no
    problems starting solids at around 4 or 5 months I believe, and has been 
    very healthy since his surgery.
    
    It is difficult to have your newborn go through surgery and it was a
    very scary time for my friend and her husband, as I'm sure it was for
    you.  But it was necessary and he recovered wonderfully.  
    
    Kristen
    
    
    

    My brother (first born male) had it, and my dad (who was not the
    first born male, he was the 2nd male, and the 5th child) had it too.
    I heard it is also very hereditary.  I made sure to let my doctor
    know when I was pregnant the first time about my family history of
    Pyloric Stenosis, but fortunately my son did not develop it as a 
    newborn.
    
    My dad did not have surgery, but fortunately his was not too severe
    and I guess it corrected itself.  My brother had to have surgery
    when he was about 2 wks old. Still has the scar from that surgery.
    My mom thought he was going to die because he lost so much weight
    and couldn't keep any food down.  
    
    So glad to hear the doctor recognized it early, and that your
    son it on the upswing now!
    
    I don't think it would effect the age to introduce solids, since that
    can vary so much anyway.
    
    
    
    

    my first son had it, but strangely it didnt become obvious until
    about 3 months, they said thats unusual. He had the surgery, did fine.
    Just forget he ever had it, feed him as you'd like, I think solid
    food may even hold him better. Dont be surprised if you still see
    occasional spitting up, maybe even more than spitup, but it shouldnt
    be as regular, and that will pass over time.
    	No big deal, just feed him :)   
    
    Steve

I had it as a kid.  Lasted until I was a teenager - maybe
16 years old.  The secret was to chew food slowly and very
thoroughly.  I figured out by the time I was 10 what was
causing me trouble and I just worked around it....

Pat