We spent the last weekend in Rochester (our first weekend away from home!) and Gavin got to meet his Great Grandpa and Grandma Brown. It's always exciting to see four generations together!
Great Grandpa & Grandma Brown
Here are some other family members that Gavin has met so far...
Oma Vanderpool (Jen's Mom)
Great-Gramma Heise
Great-Aunt Natalie
Great-Aunt Joly
(Jen's) Cousin Lacey
I have copied and pasted the update from our other blog about Gavin's CF below. If you want to look more into this disease check out www.CFF.org
We have had two appointments at the University of MN since we last wrote and we met our wonderful doctors and heard great news. Kids born with CF today are expected to live a normal lifespan as long as they keep up with their medications and treatments! It was such a relief to hear that! So far we have met his pulminologist (Dr. Terri Laguna), his gene counselor, two of his nurses, his respiratory therapist and his nutritionist. We are still working on keeping them all straight! What we have learned is that his CF prevents his pancreas from absorbing the fat and his body does not reabsorb salt which is the cause of the mucus buildups and potential lung issues. Since 2006, they have routinely checked babies for this disease so instead of treating a child who is diagnosed later in life and has severe issues, they are trying to prevent these issues from ever occurring. We will not know the severity of Gavin's CF until he gets older but his outlook at this point looks wonderful!
Right now for his treatments we give him enzymes (which are a broken up capsule mixed with applesauce) each time he eats. This allows his body to absorb the fat and calories he needs to allow him to gain weight. We also do chest taps (which help to break up mucus and prevent bacteria from growing and causing an infection) in the morning and in the evening. Once Gavin turns one he will wear a vest (which was invented at the U! Go Gophs!) that will fill up with air and perform his chest taps so we don't have to do them manually. Right now Gavin loves his chest taps! He tends to fall asleep when we do them, it's pretty funny. Luckily this does not affect his immune system so while we need to be cautious about colds/flus/bronchitis etc that could potentially impact his lungs, he will be able to fight off these viruses just like any other kid.
Gavin will be raised just like any other kid, he will just need to do a few extra things everyday to allow him to stay healthy. He will be able to play sports, run, play and get dirty just like every other little boy. We are VERY lucky to be living in Minnesota, the U is one of the best, if not the best, place to treat CF. They have one of the largest CF centers, meaning that all of his doctors work with CF and CF only. We are blessed to have the most beautiful boy in the world and we love him to pieces!
What a cutie, Jen! Love those lips! :) Glad to hear he is doing well. Giving enzymes with each feeding sounds about as fun as the 6 meds we have to give her 4 times a day. Ha! Hope we can get the little peanuts together soon! :)
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