Gerd & Acid reflux

[bail804]

Hello, my son is 10 and half weeks old. He was born at 31 weeks gestation and has been diagnosed with Gerd and Acid reflux.
He also has Hiatal Hernias, 2 of them in his pelvic area and is having them operated on in a few days. He has not seen a Pulmonologist yet.
He also has excessive clear mucus coming out of his mouth all the time. He chokes on it when he sleeps and sometimes he does not want to eat.
He is gaining weight and just hit six pounds.
We also fly a lot. We live in Northern Arizona and most of the Doctors that see him are in Phoenix.
Before we brought him home from the NICU the Doctors did an Altitude test on him and he passed with flying colors. His PulseOx stayed above 90 for 6 hours.

I have 2 questions; 1) Should I have him seen by a Pulmonologist before the hernia surgery? I am worried about the effects of the anesthesia on the possibility of pulmonary disease.
2) Does anyone know the effects of cabin pressure on Gerd?

[ChitChatNine]

What great ?'s .. in all the years I've been dealing with reflux I have never happened upon your question about the cabin pressure ... so I don't know but if you are able to repost your ? to the Dr. Expert Forum a physcian who handles the Gerd (Acid Reflux) ?'s may very well, inded be able to help you.

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/200

In regard to your other ? I am only a mom and not qualified to really tell you what is best but it a) cannot hurt to go given he is a preemie with reflux .... does he have any signs of micro aspriation/asthma or other breathing issues?    If you have a Pulmo under your wing he will MAKE SURE that they know about his breathing issues .... they will be certain you don't give any liquids for aboslutely certain so as not to have any issues with reflux while being put out.

My son at age 12 weeks had to have a bowel resection and did fine for his surgery .. I, like you, was VERY concerned about the reflux and being put out .. moreso than the surgery to remove a large duplication intestinal cyst he was born with.  Today he is a thriving 9 yr old boy!

Oftentimes when our refluxers are gaining wt. they don't get the proper attn of the Peds .... because they are not failure to thrive .. this is a tough one to battle so trust your instincts.

One last ? .. did they say he will probably outgrow this as it is weak muscles due to being born early?  My son's was immature GI tract and after 2.5 yrs he became alomst relfux free!

Hope this helps!  WELCOME to this great community!

Cheryl

[bail804]

Thank you. That makes me fell a little better to know that I am not over reacting with the questions I have.
I did try to post to the Doctors but the mail box was full and I wanted to get this out there. I will try to post this again.
I do appreciate your comments.

Thank you,
bail804