We welcome you to the family page of Ken and Amy Weiss. We want to share with you photos and happenings of our families. Feel free to send us an email if you want to add any news or photos! We hope you enjoy your visit with us!
Family News and Events:
  • Fall Fun  We had a great fall. We picked apples and pumpkins. Jacob was a pirate and Mitchell was a cool train engineer for Halloween. We also had a really We also took a weekend to build a grilling patio.
  • A Day with Thomas the Tank  We took the boys out to meet Thomas the Tank. Both Jacob and Mitchell were very excited to ride the train.



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    Mitchell's Health News:
  • Current Weight: 25.5 lbs
  • Next Biopsy: March 13th
  • Last Biopsy: December 12th
  • Current Food Item We're Testing: eggs
  • Approved Food Items: Wheat
  • Confirmed Allergic Food Items: none yet
    The Story:
    Mitchell wasn't gaining weight or growing very much, so after much pushing we met with the GI department at Children's Hospital in Hartford in October '07. They monitored his weight and growth. In June '08, they agreed there was a problem and he had a biopsy of his esophogus and duodenum. He was diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) and a possibility of GERD . Bascially due to a food allergy his white blood cells were attacking his body from the inside. He had so much damage that it was difficult for the food's nutrients to be absorbed.

    Unlike a skin allergy, the method for determining which food item or items are causing the problem is done by trial and error. (There is a blood test method, but our doctor feels that can result in false positives.)  We began what is known as the Six-Food-Elminiation-Diet (SFED). There are six foods that are commonly found to cause allergies: wheat, eggs, soy, dairy, nuts, and fish.

    Our first step was to eliminate all foods containing any of those ingredients. After 3 months, Mitchell had another biopsy to determine if his system had healed. In September '08 he was well enough to add one item back. The process will be to add an item, for 10-12 weeks and then have a biopsy to determine if he had an allergic reaction to that food item. If all goes well, then another food item is added right away. Otherwise, we wait until he heals before a new item is added.

    There are really no outward signs for whether or not a food item is going well or not. To look at Mitchell, you would never know anything is wrong. (Well, aside from the fact that he is a peanut!) He is a very active and a very crazy little monkey. Probably the only change that we have noticed from this whole process was after he had his tonsils and adenoids removed (he had very bad sleep apnea on top of all this).  He seemed more active and more happy. We figure that a good night's sleep had defintely been lacking before.

    So, we continue to hang back and wait for this long process to end. We are hoping that by the end of 2009 we should have all our answers.
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    Jacob and Mitchell's News:
    Jacob just finished up his soccer program. He had a good time doing this. It was an instructional league, so it was mostly drills each week. The parents were the "coaches", so he chose to have Ken and me take turns each week.

    He is doing well in nursery school. He really likes going there and has made a lot of new friends. Right now his BFF is Robert, but they only get to hang out before and after school since Robert is in kindergarten. He's very excited because Robert invinted him to his birthday party in January!

    Jacob is still totally into super heroes. He just loves wearing his new Spiderman hat and gloves. He thinks people won't recognize him because he believes he really looks like Spiderman. He is also getting very good at building things He comes up with fun ideas when he plays with his Legos and K'nex toys. It's so great that he doesn't feel like he has to copy the pictures on those packages anymore.

    Mitchell is in the middle of potty training. He's doing really well, so I'm very much looking forward to the end of pull-ups. He moved up to the next class in day care. It's not much different from where he was, but I think the crafts are a little more involved. I also think there is a little more independence for the kids.

    He is Jacob's little shadow. He loves to draw and color and especially loves Play-Doh. At night we must read 100 books. As soon as one is over, he gets up and gets another. I think he is moving forward a little bit with his colors. The answer doesn't always seem to be orange or brown anymore, but he's still not usually correct. I caught him smiling about it the other day. Part of me thinks he is playing with us because at daycare he supposedly knows them all.

    He thinks he is the most funniest person on Earth, but he is really a little "freshy". We're working on it, but that smile of his makes it so hard...