Stomach Emptying Test

Today Nathaniel had a stomach emptying test at Children's Hospital.  To prepare for the exam Nathaniel needed to stop eating or drinking eight hours prior to the test.  We checked into Children's Hospital at 8am in the Radiology Department.  In order for them to do the test Nathaniel is supposed to drink in the exam room 4 oz of his formula with a special radiation liquid added.  I sat him on my lap to ease him into his feeding.  The problem right off is that Nathaniel already gets anxious when we enter Children's Hospital.  He's been there and had so many procedures that he already knows something is going to happen to him.  So, I tried to ease him by cradling him and then offering him his bottle.  He closes his mouth up and refuses to open his mouth.  I remind his that he's hungry and that he's not drank his "bubby" (his word for bottle) this morning.  NO he yells.  The technician warns me that the test cannot be done unless he drinks his bottle.  I ask her for suggestions on feeding a child that refuses to open his mouth.  She suggests we syringe feed him.  We try this and fortunately he takes in about half the necessary amount.  She agrees to go ahead an begin.  
She now explains how the procedure works.  In order to perform a stomach emptying test the child has to lay flat on a foam board, then strapped down from the shoulders to feet.  Then the x-ray machine is laid on top of the child leaving only about three inches between table and overhead machine.  The exam runs for about two and half hours.  I looked at her shocked thinking how in the world does she expect a child to sit still for that long.  I was very skeptical this was going to work for my very active and easily agitated child.
As the technician takes Nathaniel from my arms to lay him down he immediately begins to scream and cry.  I warned her that any excessive crying for Nathaniel (more than one minute is his definition of excessive) leads to uncontrollable vomiting.  She said if he vomits we'll have to shut down the room and call the hazardous material team since he's infused with radioactive material.  In my mind I responded well get the "haz mat" team ready because he's gonna throw up. She lays him down and straps him in from his shoulders down to his feet.  He was hysterical. Then she laid the imaging machine about three inches from him from the tip of his nose down to his toes. During that moment I thought, we'll be lucky if he stays still without throwing up for five minutes.  Then suddenly I remembered how calm Nathaniel gets when I sing to him his favorite songs.  I sang for about an hour and half straight while having my cheek next to him and rubbing his temples.  He finally fell asleep about half an hour before the the test ended.  The end result was that Nathaniel's stomach empties normally.  This is good! However we are back at square 1 - why is he not gaining weight even with the feeding tube?  More test to follow from the Geneticist to see if Nathaniel has any genetic disorder.