Results

I am thankful and discouraged. We went to Carson's GI doctor for results today and here's what we learned:
Good news: the GI looks healthy and he tested negative for EE and Celiac disease.
Bad news: his IgG levels were off the chart low.

What does that mean:
I’m not sure. Bear with me on the details… I was only given limited information. There are five classes of immunoglobulins: IgG, IgA, IgM, IgD, and IgE. Immuglobulins are antibodies…the army that fights off infection (Mel’s definition). The IgG class of immunoglobulins is itself composed of four different subtypes of IgG molecules called the IgG subclasses. Patients who lack, or have very low levels of IgG, are said to have an IgG subclass deficiency. The doc shared that a normal person ranges from 10-150 and anything <7 is classified as an Autoimmune deficiency. Unfortunately, Carson tested <7. We asked the doctor if this is common and he told us that he has seen quite a few children test low. He said he’s never seen a patient with <7. Lovely. This actually adds up. We recently had a stool test run and learned that he had off the chart HIGH levels of bacteria in the gut. So, lack of immune system = high bacteria. Makes sense to me.
The doc told us that we need to see a Pediatric Immunologist that focuses on allergies.

My biggest prayer was to leave the doctor’s office today with a diagnosis and a plan. Instead we were given a small piece of the puzzle which results in more doctors and more tests. Sigh.
The good news: I’ve already seen a Pediatric Immunologist so I grabbed an appointment for this Thursday at 10:30.

If you want to read the nitty-gritty, here’s a great article I found that helps to explain IgG deficiency:
http://www.immunedisease.com/patients-and-families/about-pi/types-of-pi/igg-subclass-deficiency.html

He hasn’t been diagnosed with IgG subclass deficiency, but this helps to understand what we are dealing with.
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.