Some Lab Results

So we went to our doctor on Tuesday morning. She did a thorough exam and here's what she said:
- Her low temperature was caused by her body overreacting to the high fever. It should level out sometime, but is nothing to worry about.
- The rash did not look like roseola. This WAS the one thing we were pretty sure we had pinned. Of course, we were wrong! She diagnosed it as a "non-Roseola virus".
- She did believe that the low blood counts were from said virus.
- Kate looked very healthy and was acting too well for there to be anything too serious.
- Kate's history with viruses is somewhat normal because it was a bad year and even if she wasn't being exposed to viruses first hand, we were bringing them home to her. I don't really buy this because I am a stay at home mom, Leah is not in school or any "child" filled activity other than gymnastics once a week, Daddy-O works solely out of the house (he literally leaves the house once a week for church) and Kate has not been to hardly any child care/playground/public/germy place in quite some time (OCT). If it is true that she is getting these viruses from the minimal exposure to the general public, what IS going to happen when she starts going back to Bible Class or play groups or Leah starts school?
- The doctor did not see any sign of a secondary infection.

They drew blood twice, the first didn't test right. The second didn't come out very clear, but it appeared that her white blood count was up some. The couldn't get a reading on her ANC (first line defense in immunity). They gave us orders to have blood work redrawn at the hospital late Wednesday or early Thursday. She also wrote for a mono test, some cancer/leukemia screens and an immune deficiency panel.

We went and had the lab work done Wednesday afternoon. They got her on the first stick and drew 4 big vials. She did okay with it. The doctor called today with some of the results:

- Her white blood cells were up to 4.7 from 1.7. The "normal" range is 5-15 and we would love to see it higher than 7.
- Her ANC had actually dropped some, not significantly, but some. I think it was 900 last Friday and at 860 yesterday. Basically this is the same level of immunity you would have after receiving Chemo treatments. This means she is still at extreme risk for bacterial infections and secondary infections. We are supposed to keep her away from germy places and sick people. The doctor said we could go to church and stuff like that, but need to use caution, stay far away from the nursery, not hand her around and move if someone near us has a cough. LOL! She really expected this to have come up, but still feels it was caused by a virus. She said it must have been a really bad virus. We really need to get this number up.
- The cell smear (I think that's what she said) came back normal. This is a test to check for abnormal cells, ie. cancer.
- The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (also to rule out cancer) came back normal as well.
- The mono test and immune deficiency panel have not come back yet.

We are supposed to go in early next week and have another lab draw to see if her ANC has come up any. Until then we need to watch for any fevers or signs of infection and get her seen if there is anything.

For now, she seems to be feeling okay. She hasn't had any fever since Sunday. Her temp is still running low and she gets cold really easily, especially during the night. I went and bought her some fleece sleep sacks to try tonight. She has been waking us every time her blanket comes off during the night. I am exhausted and hope that this will help keep her warm. She is still a little clingy, cranky and sleeping a lot, but I think that is to be expected. For now we will wait for the rest of the results and then I'll go back in next week to try and make a game plan. If the tests come back "normal", we are going to have to find a way to deal with "normal" and if they come back abnormal, we will need to figure out how to deal with that too.

Thank you so much for all of the prayers, support and advice that you have all given. It is so nice to have so many Christian friends to lean on. We will let you know when we learn more!