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:
  • Mitchell Turns 3  We had a great fall. We picked apples and pumpkins. Mitchell had a blast at his "Thomas" birthday party
  • 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 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.



    • Upcoming Events (click for full calendar)
    Sunday, February 14, 2010
    Happy Valentine's Day
    Thursday, February 18, 2010
    Mitchell's Birthday (4)
    Thursday, February 18, 2010
    Paul H's Birthday (54)
    Saturday, February 20, 2010
    Ken's Birthday (44)
    Sunday, February 21, 2010
    Fran's Birthday (54)
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  • Amy's Adoption Journal
  • Journey for Mitchell
  • Journey for Jacob
  • Jacob's "Gotcha" Day
  • Mitchell's "Gotcha" Day
  • Journey for Madison
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    Mitchell's Health News:
  • Current Weight: 26.0 lbs
  • Next Biopsy: March 11th
  • Last Biopsy: December 12th
  • Current Food Item We're Testing: eggs
  • Food Items Added Back: 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 swim lessons and is all registered for TBall. According to him, he doesn't need to do TBall because he already knows how to play. He is also very excited about his birthday party that is coming up. It's a "Pirate Theme", so he and Mitchell are doing a lot of "ARRRGGGGH Matey"

    Mitchell just had his "Thomas" party. He really enjoyed having all the train stuff around. He is already planning his next party: Nemo. He also seems to be officially potty trained! Woo-hoo! He has been without pull-ups (except for when he sleeps) for quite a few days now. He tells us that he is "big" because he is dry. It is so exciting to think we are done with all that.