As I type this, Carter is in his bed crying. I think it is partly because I put him to bed, but mostly because when I prayed I asked God to take the pain away and to comfort him tomorrow at his 4th blood draw. As soon as I said amen the tears and the "I don't want to go to the train doctor" started. Up until now, every lab experience has been awful! Last Wed he ended up being "stuck" twice within 30 min. It is starting to become very difficult for me.
There was a good and a bad to last weeks visit. I haven't posted "counts" since the beginning, but from here forward I think I will only to help me keep track. When Carter initially went into the hospital, 11/15, his hemoglobin was at a 5 and his retic was at a 0 (which means he wasn't producing red blood cells).
Retic is an abbreviation for recticulocyte. A reticulocyte count is a blood test that measures how fast red blood cells called reticulocytes are made by the bone marrow and released into the blood. Reticulocytes are in the blood for about 2 days before developing into mature red blood cells.
After transfusion, 11/16, his hemoglobin was a 8.3 (suppose to be between 12 and 16).
11/20, his hemoglobin dropped to a 7.5. His red blood cell count was a 2.3 (suppose to be between 3.9 and 5.3). His retic was 1.1.
11/26, almost everything stayed the same with exception to his retic, which rose to 2.1.
12/03, hemoglobin dropped to 6.1, red blood cell count dropped to 1.8, retic 4.9.
Although, numbers are dropping, because the retic is going up the doctor has decided not to transfuse again at this time. A high reticulocyte count means more red blood cells are being made by the bone marrow which is a good thing. I believe this is a sign we are on the road to recovery, although, it may be slow. The doctor believes Carter is following the "classic course" for TEC. He said anything else wouldn't clinically make sense. This is good news since TEC is something that will pass. I don't think they will do a bone marrow biopsy unless the retic stops improving.
I will try to update tomorrow. In the meantime, please continue to pray for my little man and please pray for me. Thanks so much!
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