As you probably already know, Matthew has been sick almost continuously since the first of November. He's had lots of ear and sinus infections. When he's on an antibiotic, he's fine. When he finishes the antibiotic, he is usually sick within 2 to 3 days. This happened again this week. He finished his antibiotic on Monday and had a fever, green runny nose, and cough by Wednesday. When he had his surgery in February, the doctor ran a partial immune system test on him. The results came back and showed that his IGG immune levels were low. Our pediatrician referred us to a pediatric immune specialist but we were told it would be one to two months before we were able to get an appointment. This was Thursday a week ago. The specialist's office called on Wednesday. They had a cancellation and were able to see Matthew this morning. Praise the Lord!We saw the most wonderful doctor this morning. She diagnosed Matthew with Transient Hypogammaglobulinemia of Infancy. This is a temporary condition in infancy and usually resolves itself by the time kids are two. Basically, his body is behind in producing some antibodies so he gets sinus infections and ear infections more easily. His immune system is functioning and just needs a little more time to develop. He is going to take a sulfur antibiotic for 2 months to keep him well. She ordered a full immune profile be done on him. They were not able to get blood from the veins in his arm so we spent a few hours at Children's Hospital waiting on an IV specialist to take his blood. She got it right away when she finally was able to get to us...thank goodness! In 2 months, we go back to the specialist and she will check him and draw blood again to retest his immune system. At least next time we know to ask for an IV specialist to draw his blood!
Thank you for all the prayers. Please continue to keep us in your prayers and pray that all of the other levels in the immune system profile come back normal. Also, please pray that Matthew's immune system is able to correct itself in a short amount of time. As always, we'll keep you updated!
2 comments:
My goodness, what a whirlwind! So glad the initial tests were good. We will be praying for a strengthened immune system. He looks like he feels great in the picture- so sweet!
Oh that is rough! Poor little Matthew! We too know what it is like to have a sick child all the time. Noah's is due to his beta thalassemia though. We have also been through the blood work thing at children's and also had to have a specialist put in an I.V. to draw blood. No fun!!!! You are in our prayers and I hope Matthew outgrows all this very soon!
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