Stress test or Sweat test?

Last Monday I took both my boys to see their pediatrician. Kyson went for his 18 month check-up and Caleb for his 3 year check-up. It was a little crazy trying to do both boys at the same time! They were both very uncooperative:( Dr. Auxier was concerned about Caleb's growth because he is quite small for his age. I don't think he was weighed correctly because they said he only weighed 26 lbs 8 oz and every time I weigh him at home he is more like 30-31 lbs. Also he is only 35 inches tall, which is quite short! Anyway, Dr. Auxier was concerned enough he decided to have a couple tests done. Both kids were screaming when he was telling me this so I wasn't able to ask a lot of questions. I knew I needed to take Caleb to get his blood drawn and someone from Phoenix Children's would be calling me to set up a test.
The next day I got a call from someone at Phoenix Children's and I thought they said we were scheduling a stress test. Well later I started wondering what this was all about. Why was Dr. Auxier scheduling a stress test for Caleb? The purpose of a stress test is to make sure the heart is working correctly. Did Dr. Auxier hear something that he was concerned about? Why didn't he tell me more about this? The more I thought about it the more worried I got! I finally called Dr. Auxier's office to ask what was really going on. I asked the nurse why he was getting a stress test and she was very confused. She said, I see that Dr. Auxier prescribed a sweat test...not a stress test. Oh!!! That makes more sense. A sweat test is to check for cystic fibrosis and one of the first signs is failure to grow. At least I understood the reason behind the test and why the doctor prescribed it!
Well, on Thursday I took Caleb to get his blood drawn and Friday we headed down to Phoenix Children's for the sweat test. I have to say that it was interesting going back to that hospital. It's been awhile...thankfully! As I was going down the elevator the thought crossed my mind that Caleb is about 3 1/2 and that is just about the age that Kyson will be for the 3rd surgery. Yikes! Caleb knows and understands so much, what's it going to be like taking a child his age to have open heart surgery?!? I try not to think about it too much but being at the hospital it was hard not too!
Anyway, Caleb's test went well and didn't take as long as I had expected. He got big "muscles on his arms!" (as the nurse put it) They wrapped his arms in celophane and a heating pad and then waited 30 min. I took a picture with my cell phone while we were in the waiting room.

Caleb put out plenty of sweat so we were successful the first time! I was grateful!
Now I am anxiously awaiting the news of how this all went. I have never had any concerns with Caleb's health. He seems quite healthy to me but I guess it is better to be precautious! Thankfully Kyson seems to be doing well at this time. Dr. Auxier was happy with his weight gain and I am thankful. That has always been a concern with him.
Good health is such a blessing and something I have always taken for granted! When we are healthy we don't seem to appreciate everything our bodies do. I sure hope I can keep my children healthy this winter and I hope all of Caleb's tests show he is healthy as can be!