long awaited phone call

I just spoke with Dr. Perszyk, Carter's genetics doctor. I've been waiting since last Wed. He said the drop we saw Thursday after Carter's blood draw is pretty common after transfusion. He suggested giving Carter more folic acid either through foods or pills that I could crush up and mix with food. This would help his red blood cells. He said with cancer your platelet count is usually bad and your white cell count is way up. This is not the case for Carter. Good news! He said it does look like an isolated red blood cell problem. If the red blood cell production has in fact stopped because of a viral infection we could still be looking at months until recovery. This depends on how long the virus has already been in his body. His counts could drop more before they get better. How quickly and drastically they drop though is what to be watchful for. If blood test start to show something else "fishy" than more tests will be run. He doesn't think Carter has an iron deficiency because the red blood cell size is pretty normal and if he were lacking iron it wouldn't be. I told him Carter has had loose stools for some time now (he went diarrhea 4 times Sat) and he said it could be related to the virus, if that's what's going on, or he could have a problem absorbing nutrients. He mentioned Celiac Disease. I did a quick google on this and read Celiac Disease is one of the most frequent causes of malabsorption during childhood. Malabsorption can result in other problems such as delayed growth and short stature. I think Carter fits into the delayed growth and short stature category, but I'm not sure this is what he has because with Celiac Disease you usually have chronic diarrhea and I wouldn't say Carter has a chronic problem yet. All this will be ironed out as blood work gets done. And in regards to blood work, Dr. Perszyk told me to call my pediatrician because there is something called Emla cream that you put on your child before blood draw. It warms up the area (makes the draw easier) and acts as a numbing agent. He said Wed morning should be an "OUCHLESS" draw for Carter. HOORAY! PRAISE GOD!

This is a waiting game that can go on into the new year. As time goes, more will be found out. All in God's timing, right! Our conversation lasted almost 40 min and I tried to write down and retain what I could. He is a really smart man. I kind of feel like I'm spinning. I keep thinking I missed something or forgot something. I know I did, but am trying to trust I remembered what I needed to. I need to figure out a way to record things - any ideas let me know. When you try to do research online it can become really overwhelming and eats up your time.

We had a good time away this weekend and I hope to post about that soon. All in all, we are doing well - waiting until Wed morning!