Slias' first appointment at UC DAVIS

June 7th was the big day in Sacramento at the UC DAVIS Center for Cystic Fibrosis in the pediatric pulmonary department. One of the first things we found out upon our arrival was that Silas was almost up to 9 pounds! Our little guy is looking chunky... for a Wangsgard! After being weighed and taking vitals, we met Silas' nurse, who explained we'd be meeting a whole team of people, all professionals trained to meet Silas' needs and help us, too: the main doctor, a social worker, a respiratory specialist, a dietitian, and the nurse. All these meetings took three hours, and helped us learn a lot about managing Silas' health in the present as well as looking into the future.

We are praising the Lord for the wonderful doctor, Dr. Jhawar, to which we were assigned. Dr. Jhawar made it very clear that Silas wasn't just another CF patient to add to the charts, but an individual who needed to be treated as such. He explained that the genotypes (previously I have referred to these as mutations) that Jonathan and I passed to Silas manifest in both mild and severe cases, and he wants to make sure both nutrition and medicine meet Silas' specific needs. We won't necessarily know how severe or mild Silas' CF is until he gets older. Dr. Jhawar isn't in any hurry to perform the sweat chloride test, either, since he knows his genotypes.

We were advised to begin breathing treatments in the form of chest percussion for Silas. We have a little tool that looks like a mini plunger that we are to use twice a day for about 30 minutes on his back, sides, and chest. We rhythmically tap it to loosen any extra mucus in him lungs. Mucus is thicker in people with CF and is breeding ground for bacteria, and therefore needs to be loosened and spit out. Dr. Jhawar said that currently Silas' lungs sounds crisp and clear.

Another daily routine will be giving Silas salt with each feeding. So far, he doesn't like this too much (would you, if you were only used to sweet milk?). He also will be taking water-soluble vitamins each day, which are especially formulated for CF taking patients to absorb.

Dr. Jhawar talked to us about Silas' environment. He explained how his lungs are affected by illness and by the extra mucus. He encouraged us to be moderate and use common sense about his environment, neither extreme of being too careful or not careful enough. For example, it's probably smart not to take Silas to a very crowded place in the winter where lots of germs could be floating around. And, it's good to minimize thick carpets and drapes in our house so that allergy-causing dirt and dust don't build up.

Jonathan and I left the appointment feeling very encouraged, and trying to process all we were told. We are grateful to have Silas' nurse to call when we have questions. Silas will have appointments down in Sacramento once a month for his first six months, and then every two months until age two. So, we are really going to know the doctors and other staff well in a short time period. It's so neat to have this additional "family" to support us in all the newness of this. It's great to have some concrete preventative measures we can do to help Silas.

Again, thank you for all your prayers. God is so good, all the time. May we glorify Him as we go forward with Silas' care.