Tyrone Simons – Week 2
Tyrone came into the world on a cold night in December.
Odetta and Julius couldn’t have been happier. When Tyrone came home from the
hospital, the Simons family had all of their family there and many people from
their church. They were overjoyed.
A few months went by as Tyrone’s parents settled into life
with a newborn. They took Tyrone to all of his pediatrician appointments, and
he received all of his vaccinations. For some reason, Tyrone just seemed a
little less responsive than they might have expected – he seemed to be
“listless” at times. The pediatrician was concerned about Tyrone and wanted to
run some tests to see if everything was OK.
* What does “failure to thrive” mean? To what extent might
it apply to Tyrone? What else might be going on with him? What illnesses are a
risk to children who are 3 months old? Should Odetta and Julius have Tyrone
tested?
* What should Odetta and Julius expect at this point in
terms of Tyrone’s major developmental milestones? What should a 3-month old be
doing? Is his “listlessness” something that Odetta and Julius should be
concerned about? Why or why not?
* Are vaccines safe for children? Is there any evidence that
they cause Autism? Would you recommend that Tyrone continue to receive his
immunizations? Why or why not? What are the risks if he does not receive them?
DECISION POINT
* Will Tyrone continue to receive his immunizations?
1. What does failure to thrive mean? To what extent might it apply to Tyrone? What else might be going on with him? What illnesses are risks to children who are 3 months old? Should Odetta and Julius have Tyrone tested?
ReplyDelete- “Failure to thrive” is more of a condition then a specific disease, but can be defined as children who don’t receive or are unable to take in, retain, or utilize the calories that are needed to gain weight and grow healthy. Upon further research, we learned that “Failure to thrive” can develop into more serious issues, including:
• Chromosome abnormalities such as Down syndrome and Turner syndrome
• Defects in major organ systems
• Problems with the endocrine system, such as thyroid hormone deficiency, growth hormone deficiency, or other hormone deficiencies
• Damage to the brain or central nervous system, which may cause feeding difficulties in an infant
• Heart or lung problems, which can affect how oxygen and nutrients move through the body
• Anemia or other blood disorders
• Gastrointestinal problems that result in malabsorption or a lack of digestive enzymes
• Long-term gastroenteritis and gastroesophageal reflux (usually temporary)
• Cerebral palsy
• Long-term (chronic) infections
• Metabolic disorders
- A fever is very worrisome to infants especially those under the age of 3 months, as their immune system is not yet fully developed and if the baby does have a fever then they are more easily susceptible to multiple diseases and sicknesses. Another reason Pediatricians take fevers more seriously, is because any temperature higher than a baby’s normal temperature (between 97-100 degrees F, which is already higher than an adults) makes way for a higher likelihood of the raise in temperature being caused by a serious bacterial infection like pneumonia or meningitis. The concern is more about what caused the fever than the actual fever itself.
Odetta and Julius shouldn’t be too worried, but it would be a good idea to get a doctor’s opinion just to be safe.
-We believe Odetta should have Tyrone tested. There’s no harm in getting everything looked at if there are any concerns. This is a critical point in a babies development, so if there is any apprehension at this stage all possibilities should be looked at.
2. What should Odetta and Julius expect at this point in terms of Tyrone’s major developmental milestones? What should a 3-month old be doing? Is his “listlessness” something that Odetta and Julius should be concerned about? Why or why not?
ReplyDeletemotor skills: improved neck strength, enough upper strength to support their head and chest with their arms while lying on their stomach and enough lower body strength to stretch out their legs and kick, early signs of hand-eye coordination, opening and shutting hands, swipe at toys with hands and grabbing them.
sleep: nervous system is maturing and stomach can accommodate more milk and formula and should allow the baby to sleep for longer periods of time (6-7 hours), nap times should also become more routine.
senses: vision and hearing are improving, turns head and smile at parents voices, prefer to look at brightly colored toys, faces are fascinating to 3-month olds.
communication: begin to react and relate to the world around them (called the “hatching” period because they are coming out of their shells), crying is no longer their main way of communicating, and they are also starting to make “cooing” noises and vowel sounds.
Tyrone’s listlessness is something that should be watched. One of the common reasons for listlessness is dehydration. Obviously dehydration is a serious problem. In knowing this Odetta and Julius should look into the eating schedule of Tyrone to see if there is any extended periods of time where he is going without being fed. If so they should change Tyrone’s feeding schedule around so that dehydration is not an issue
3. Are vaccines safe for children? Is there any evidence that they cause Autism? Would you recommend that Tyrone continue to receive his immunizations? Why or why not? What are the risks if he does not receive them?
ReplyDeleteVaccines are very safe for children! Since vaccines are used on healthy people, they are some of the most rigorously tested and safest medical products. It can take years and lots of money to release a single vaccination to the public. There was one study in 1988 that “proved” that vaccinations were correlated with autism. However, that study was recently withdrawn because it was found that the study wasn’t performed ethically and he altered the medical histories of all 12 of the patients in the case study. Because of this, i think it would be wise to continue the immunizations for Tyrone, but only if they are closely supervised by his pediatrician. The risks if he doesn’t receive the immunizations would be whatever they were protecting him from. Odetta will need to be more cautious when allowing Tyrone to play with other children so that the disease does not spread to Tyrone.
DECISION POINT: Will Tyrone continue to receive his immunizations?
YES! We believe that he should still continue to receive his immunizations with the close guidance of his doctor. We do not believe that his developmental milestones depend on whether or not he is vaccinated but could be a larger issue.