Ethan saw the Pediatric pulmonologist on Thursday July 9th. He did some blood work to check his immune system and also did a CBC. He looked at Ethan's most recent 2 chest x-rays and said that the x-rays didn't look like true pneumonia but more like atalectisis. He wanted me to schedule a bronchoscopy to look down into his throat and lungs. He said we can stop the breathing treatments and contine the Zyrtec. We left feeling pretty confident that we would have some answers soon. That evening I got a phone call around 6:30pm and it was the doctor. He had gotten back some of Ethan's bloodwork and wanted to admit him into the hospital for further testing. My heart dropped into my stomache. My first thought was that it was cancer or something really serious. Come to find out Ethan did not have a white blood cell count. The doctor felt that since he had been running fevers and his white count was depleted that if he were to come down with an infection then he might not be able to fight it off. So off to the hospital we went. He saw quite a few doctors and a few nurse Ratchetts. They were concerned that it was either chronic Neutrapenia (not good) a virus or the beginnings of leukemia (not good either) They were able to rule out chronic neutrapenia We go for bloodwork at the end of this week. If his counts are up then they can pass this off as a virus that depleted his neutraphils. If they are still low then it could be what is called autoimmune neutrapenia. They also are watching him closely for leukemia. We have to have a swallow study done and then pending the results of that we will go for the bronchoscopy. From now on if Ethan gets sick we have to take him right away to get his neutraphils checked.
Even with all that Ethan has been through he still has a smile plastered on that sweet little face. I have a lot to learn from my little boy. When my instinct tells me that I can do this all on my own I have to trust in God. It is hard for me to do. It is hard for me to not be in control of all of this. I know that it is all in his hands though. He put that sweet little boy into my home for a very good reason. Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and support.
1 comment:
Scanning through all the blogs on my page and had to stop by to leave you a few words. I'm so sorry that y'all have ben having such a hard time with little Ethans health! We have been there. Andy has been hospitalized for pneumonia so many times that we actually feel like each visit is a little reunion. I know most of the nurses and doctors by name. There isn't much advice I can give you while you're going through all of this. I know that nothing takes away the worry and fear when you are sitting in a hospital with your baby, hoping to find out why its all happening. I will tell you that we have been there, and if it means anything, there's a family in Austin, Texas praying for your family and your son's speedy recovery.
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