Hi, Marcia here with the Tuesday update.
The Olson’s saw Dr. Tseng today. They decided that Gary would stay on TPN feeding and work towards the goal of him getting all of his nutrition from food he actually eats. This means he will skip returning to tube feeding which neither Gary nor Anne are sad about.
They’ll start by reducing the calories in the TPN so Gary will be more “motivated” to eat on his own. They’ll continue to reduce the number of calories with the hope of having him completely off the TPN in a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, he has really been enjoying his ice cream and is feeling much more energetic than he has been – possibly because he’s off the antibiotics now or possibly because he gets to eat ice cream.
Oh, the terminology! I keep having to google TPN feeding to remember what it is you’re dealing with! I’m sure you’re enjoying that ice cream, and hopefully other things (soup leaps to mind) will be added soon for variety. Good to know that real food gives you more energy! We look forward to more good news over the next couple of weeks. 🙂
Chicken noodle soups seems to work, tomato soup doesn’t. We think the acid in the tomatoes is too much. The ice cream is wonderful, though all that fat might be more than my poor little stomach can assimilate. It should only be getting better from here on out.