From: Randy.Morey%bbs@actcnews.res.utc.com (Randy Morey)
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 92 13:47:03 EDT
Organization: United Technologies Research Center
Subject: RE: Gastro Reflux
Distribution: world
X-Posting-Software: UnixBBS 1.02a S/N 190921

Gastroesophagal Reflux (another name for heartburn) actually caused our baby
to stop breathing when she was 4 months old. Apparently acid in the esopha-
gus can trigger the trachea to constrict in some infants and cause them to
stop breathing.

My wife fed her, changed her, and was about to put her to bed when the baby
started gasping for air and trying to cry. She called 911, and the baby
stopped breathing by the time the ambulance got there (5 minutes). The EMTs
gave her oxygen and got her breathing, as it turns out, in time for there to
be no brain damage, although we were never really sure.

While she was in the hospital, the baby had ECGs, nervous system tests, and 
an upper GI. She also had a pH probe down her nose for 24 hours. My wife 
never left her side. (Meanwhile I stayed home and got the 6-, 4-, and 2-
year olds ready to drive to the busstop by 8:00 am, and played with the 
preschoolers all day.) Anyway, the pH probe test and breathing monitor 
(apnea monitor) showed a correlation between reflux and apnea.

The doctor put her on Reglan 4 times a day and Zantac 3 times a day. We were
trained in infant CPR and sent home with an apnea monitor. The monitor would
sound an alarm if her breathing rate dropped, or her heart rate dropped.
The alarm would go off in the night, but never because of another "attack".
The medication worked well. We tried weaning her gradually from the medica-
tion, but she would choke or her monitor would go off more frequently. So
we kept her on it for a few more months. She came off the monitor after about
6 months, and she was just weaned from the medicine after 1 year. She is now
a happy little girl, 16 months, and is just learning how to walk. She's a
little late, but we had to hold her a lot, and we couldn't just put her down
on the floor. She had to be inclined in a baby carrier, which helped her keep
food down, besides keeping her from learning how to crawl. Other than her
motor skills, she's bright, alert, and is also learning how to talk. So we
feel that she probably had no brain damage when she stopped breathing.

Other forms of treatment, when all else fails and food does not stay down and
there is a danger of starvation, include surgery
sphyncter that holds food in the stomach, and putting in a feeding tube that 
goes through the abdomen wall. After that, all feeding is done through the 
tube instead of the mouth. When the doctor determines that mouth feeding
can begin, maybe a year later, an occupational therapist may have to teach
the baby to eat by mouth. This was the case with a friend of ours. The child
is now in kindergarten, and was taken off the feeding tube at about 3 years
of age. In fact, this woman started a GR support group for the Hartford area
and is in contact with other regional groups.
 
I don't have her address offhand, but she can be reached through her doctor:
Dr. William R. Treem
85 Jefferson Ave.
Hartford, CT
(203) 524-2571
The woman who runs the support group is Carol Ann Buttafucco, Ellington, CT.

Our 7-year-old daughter has complained of stomach aches for quite a while. 
After our infant got sick, we realized that our oldest daughter has some of 
the same symptoms. So we took her to the doctor, and she is on Zantac for 
reflux now.

Randy Morey                          ! "Those who play the sax play twice."
United Technologies Research Center  !
East Hartford, CT                    !
203-727-7560                         !
--
Randy Morey, user of the UnixBBS System @ actcnews.res.utc.com
E-Mail: Randy.Morey%bbs@actcnews.res.utc.com
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