Fecal fat test for toddler

[em7729]

Hi there,
My three year old daughter has had numerous health issues from the time she was born - she suffers from seizures, has had c-difficile, several sinus infections, hospitalizations, hypoglycemia, skin infections, etc. We recently took her to Mayo Clinic in MN for several different tests to pinpoint her problems and where they stem from and the gastro we met with did a sweat test for CF. The test was low, I believe 7. He wanted to do a fecal fat test but she got sick while we were there and we had to cancel it. Her one stool test came up positive for c-difficile, which is basically from overuse of antibiotics. Her stools, though, for the past several months have been very foul smelling (possibly from the c-diff) and recently have been extremely yellow in color and floating. I've spoken to her pediatrician about doing the fecal fat test but we need to wait until she's off her antibiotics for a recent sinus infection.

Here are my questions:
Does a negative sweat test definitely rule out CF?
If the fecal fat test comes back as showing pancreatic insufficiency, will this potentially lead them back to CF or could it be something else since her sweat test was negative?

I guess I'm focusing mainly on the sweat test and that it was negative - they seemed content to not pursue CF after reading the results. Plus, I noticed that Mayo is NOT on the list of hospitals approved to do the test.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[em7729]

Hi there,
My three year old daughter has had numerous health issues from the time she was born - she suffers from seizures, has had c-difficile, several sinus infections, hospitalizations, hypoglycemia, skin infections, etc. We recently took her to Mayo Clinic in MN for several different tests to pinpoint her problems and where they stem from and the gastro we met with did a sweat test for CF. The test was low, I believe 7. He wanted to do a fecal fat test but she got sick while we were there and we had to cancel it. Her one stool test came up positive for c-difficile, which is basically from overuse of antibiotics. Her stools, though, for the past several months have been very foul smelling (possibly from the c-diff) and recently have been extremely yellow in color and floating. I've spoken to her pediatrician about doing the fecal fat test but we need to wait until she's off her antibiotics for a recent sinus infection.

Here are my questions:
Does a negative sweat test definitely rule out CF?
If the fecal fat test comes back as showing pancreatic insufficiency, will this potentially lead them back to CF or could it be something else since her sweat test was negative?

I guess I'm focusing mainly on the sweat test and that it was negative - they seemed content to not pursue CF after reading the results. Plus, I noticed that Mayo is NOT on the list of hospitals approved to do the test.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[em7729]

Hi there,
My three year old daughter has had numerous health issues from the time she was born - she suffers from seizures, has had c-difficile, several sinus infections, hospitalizations, hypoglycemia, skin infections, etc. We recently took her to Mayo Clinic in MN for several different tests to pinpoint her problems and where they stem from and the gastro we met with did a sweat test for CF. The test was low, I believe 7. He wanted to do a fecal fat test but she got sick while we were there and we had to cancel it. Her one stool test came up positive for c-difficile, which is basically from overuse of antibiotics. Her stools, though, for the past several months have been very foul smelling (possibly from the c-diff) and recently have been extremely yellow in color and floating. I've spoken to her pediatrician about doing the fecal fat test but we need to wait until she's off her antibiotics for a recent sinus infection.

Here are my questions:
Does a negative sweat test definitely rule out CF?
If the fecal fat test comes back as showing pancreatic insufficiency, will this potentially lead them back to CF or could it be something else since her sweat test was negative?

I guess I'm focusing mainly on the sweat test and that it was negative - they seemed content to not pursue CF after reading the results. Plus, I noticed that Mayo is NOT on the list of hospitals approved to do the test.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[em7729]

Hi there,
My three year old daughter has had numerous health issues from the time she was born - she suffers from seizures, has had c-difficile, several sinus infections, hospitalizations, hypoglycemia, skin infections, etc. We recently took her to Mayo Clinic in MN for several different tests to pinpoint her problems and where they stem from and the gastro we met with did a sweat test for CF. The test was low, I believe 7. He wanted to do a fecal fat test but she got sick while we were there and we had to cancel it. Her one stool test came up positive for c-difficile, which is basically from overuse of antibiotics. Her stools, though, for the past several months have been very foul smelling (possibly from the c-diff) and recently have been extremely yellow in color and floating. I've spoken to her pediatrician about doing the fecal fat test but we need to wait until she's off her antibiotics for a recent sinus infection.

Here are my questions:
Does a negative sweat test definitely rule out CF?
If the fecal fat test comes back as showing pancreatic insufficiency, will this potentially lead them back to CF or could it be something else since her sweat test was negative?

I guess I'm focusing mainly on the sweat test and that it was negative - they seemed content to not pursue CF after reading the results. Plus, I noticed that Mayo is NOT on the list of hospitals approved to do the test.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[em7729]

Hi there,
My three year old daughter has had numerous health issues from the time she was born - she suffers from seizures, has had c-difficile, several sinus infections, hospitalizations, hypoglycemia, skin infections, etc. We recently took her to Mayo Clinic in MN for several different tests to pinpoint her problems and where they stem from and the gastro we met with did a sweat test for CF. The test was low, I believe 7. He wanted to do a fecal fat test but she got sick while we were there and we had to cancel it. Her one stool test came up positive for c-difficile, which is basically from overuse of antibiotics. Her stools, though, for the past several months have been very foul smelling (possibly from the c-diff) and recently have been extremely yellow in color and floating. I've spoken to her pediatrician about doing the fecal fat test but we need to wait until she's off her antibiotics for a recent sinus infection.

Here are my questions:
Does a negative sweat test definitely rule out CF?
If the fecal fat test comes back as showing pancreatic insufficiency, will this potentially lead them back to CF or could it be something else since her sweat test was negative?

I guess I'm focusing mainly on the sweat test and that it was negative - they seemed content to not pursue CF after reading the results. Plus, I noticed that Mayo is NOT on the list of hospitals approved to do the test.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Alyssa]

I am the queen of sweat test numbers in the negative range ! There are many people on this site whose sweat test numbers are high normal (20's and 30's) <b>but because you are fortunate enough to have gotten a single digit number I'll save you the speech</b> -- my guess is you are in the clear with a number as low as that. Steve with Ambry has posted on his thread about people with single digit numbers being very <b>unlikely</b> to have CF.

I think it's a good idea to pursue the fecal fat testing, but it is probably very unlikely this will be CF.

 

[Alyssa]

I am the queen of sweat test numbers in the negative range ! There are many people on this site whose sweat test numbers are high normal (20's and 30's) <b>but because you are fortunate enough to have gotten a single digit number I'll save you the speech</b> -- my guess is you are in the clear with a number as low as that. Steve with Ambry has posted on his thread about people with single digit numbers being very <b>unlikely</b> to have CF.

I think it's a good idea to pursue the fecal fat testing, but it is probably very unlikely this will be CF.

 

[Alyssa]

I am the queen of sweat test numbers in the negative range ! There are many people on this site whose sweat test numbers are high normal (20's and 30's) <b>but because you are fortunate enough to have gotten a single digit number I'll save you the speech</b> -- my guess is you are in the clear with a number as low as that. Steve with Ambry has posted on his thread about people with single digit numbers being very <b>unlikely</b> to have CF.

I think it's a good idea to pursue the fecal fat testing, but it is probably very unlikely this will be CF.

 

[Alyssa]

I am the queen of sweat test numbers in the negative range ! There are many people on this site whose sweat test numbers are high normal (20's and 30's) <b>but because you are fortunate enough to have gotten a single digit number I'll save you the speech</b> -- my guess is you are in the clear with a number as low as that. Steve with Ambry has posted on his thread about people with single digit numbers being very <b>unlikely</b> to have CF.

I think it's a good idea to pursue the fecal fat testing, but it is probably very unlikely this will be CF.

 

[Alyssa]

I am the queen of sweat test numbers in the negative range ! There are many people on this site whose sweat test numbers are high normal (20's and 30's) <b>but because you are fortunate enough to have gotten a single digit number I'll save you the speech</b> -- my guess is you are in the clear with a number as low as that. Steve with Ambry has posted on his thread about people with single digit numbers being very <b>unlikely</b> to have CF.

I think it's a good idea to pursue the fecal fat testing, but it is probably very unlikely this will be CF.

 

[thefrogprincess]

You need to have genetic testing to difinitively rule out CF. Honestly, I think the only reason they even use sweat tests anymore is because genetic testing is expensive, but there are countless stories of sweat tests being negative but the patient does have CF. Not all of the problems you described could be CF, but you need to at least rule it out. Good luck.

 

[thefrogprincess]

You need to have genetic testing to difinitively rule out CF. Honestly, I think the only reason they even use sweat tests anymore is because genetic testing is expensive, but there are countless stories of sweat tests being negative but the patient does have CF. Not all of the problems you described could be CF, but you need to at least rule it out. Good luck.

 

[thefrogprincess]

You need to have genetic testing to difinitively rule out CF. Honestly, I think the only reason they even use sweat tests anymore is because genetic testing is expensive, but there are countless stories of sweat tests being negative but the patient does have CF. Not all of the problems you described could be CF, but you need to at least rule it out. Good luck.

 

[thefrogprincess]

You need to have genetic testing to difinitively rule out CF. Honestly, I think the only reason they even use sweat tests anymore is because genetic testing is expensive, but there are countless stories of sweat tests being negative but the patient does have CF. Not all of the problems you described could be CF, but you need to at least rule it out. Good luck.

 

[thefrogprincess]

You need to have genetic testing to difinitively rule out CF. Honestly, I think the only reason they even use sweat tests anymore is because genetic testing is expensive, but there are countless stories of sweat tests being negative but the patient does have CF. Not all of the problems you described could be CF, but you need to at least rule it out. Good luck.