Colonoscopy & Endoscopy

Natalie had her colonoscopy and endoscopy today. The procedures went well, we viewed the pictures, and that was about it. The doctor said her colitis is mild and we could possibly expect to start weaning her off the medicine at her followup appointment. They took a biopsy which will tell the true story of what is currently happening. Her pictures looked good, but I can't help but thinking that is with her on the meds. I'll have some questions to ask at her followup on November 16th.

Natalie had previously been seeing another GI doctor, but something just struck me as not being right with him. Here's what we observed:

#1 - The old GI doctor didn't do his own colonoscopies, so he didn't speak firsthand as having viewed her with his own eyes.
#2 - The doctor who performed her first colonoscopy normally only does colonoscopies on adults.
#3 - Her colonoscopy and blood draws were in June, but we didn't find out the official ulcerative colitis diagnosis until September. Warning bells!!!
#4 - According to my neighbor, who is a RN for adult GI, the medicine she's taking, Sulfasalazine, is usually not a type of medication that's perscribed as a first line of defense.

So after discussing it with Mark, he checked to see if the other pediatric GI doctor in town was now taking his insurance, and as luck would have it they were! We made an appointment with the new place ASAP and were lucky to get in the following week due to a cancellation. He has a completely different viewpoint on what needs to be done to treat ulcerative colitis. He doesn't perscribe Sulfasalazine and does not believe that the probiotics really do what they say they're supposed to. In fact, there's no data to back up their claims. There's a hefty bill associated with it too at $18 for 20 packets that last ten days, so we're glad to not have that expense anymore.

This latest colonoscopy and endoscopy was ordered because the new doctor wanted to see how her condition had changed, for better or worse, in the past four months. This new doctor is so personable and it's nice to hear his viewpoint in the first person.

At Natalie's previous appointment with the new GI doctor he said that ulcerative colitis usually falls into three categories:
1. kids that have mild cases and get better
2. kids that have cases that are controlled on medicine
3. kids that never get better no matter what medication they're on

We hope she's in one of the first two groups, preferably the first one! We'll know more after her followup appointment and will keep everyone posted.