[tri-med] Keren Reflux and Zantac: Prescribe it?

Thanks so much for your warm welcome and great advice!  It's definitely 
good to hear from the voices of experience!

We went into her doctor today (actually one of the other peds in the 
practice--'course our doctor isn't in this week :( ) to try to get some 
answers until we can get more specific info from an ENT.  Anyway, this 
doctor felt pretty strongly that Keren has developed reflux esophogea 
(sp?)--which makes a lot of sense to us based on her response to food 
lately (fighting, crying, spitting up, etc.).  So, he said, we'll 
prescribe Zantac.

Red flag for us.... Friends of ours who also had a T18 baby gave her 
Zantac for reflux, and soon after she developed a malignant liver tumor 
which led to her death after a two year battle.  Their discovery was 
that one of the side-effects of Zantac is "benign liver tumors"--but 
seems that combined with a T18, it became malignant.  The peds feeling 
today, when we shared this, was that millions of children have been on 
it without effect, and since the results of Zantac are almost 
immediate, and the other alternative for Keren at the moment is not 
eating, go with the Zantac.  We kind of feel that way too (we're not 
ready to go with a stomach g-tube until we know more as to why Keren's 
having an eating problem, and a temporary ng-tube or oral doesn't work 
right now), but we're really leery about the cancer possibility.  Plus, 
Keren's not just "one of millions of children...."!

Any experience on your parts?

Thanks for your input!

Loren, wife to Kraig, mom to Keren (T18, 3 mo.)

                  Building ___ooOOoo__ Rainbows
                       www.trisomyonline.org
                  Families Helping Families On-line

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