Via Cord

For my prego friends, please check out ViaCord. They are a cord blood bank and research company that specialize in infant cord blood banking.
Your baby’s cord blood is a natural way to protect your baby. More specifically, your baby's cord blood is a valuable source of precious stem cells that can be used for your baby or an immediate family member. Cord blood stem cells are used today to treat nearly 80 different diseases.
We used ViaCord for our family and I am so thankful we did. You never know what health issues you, your children or your extended family members may experience, so this is an amazing way to invest in your fam's health.
If you know anyone interested in using ViaCord, please let me know. They are offering assistance for our family by getting referalls.
Check out www.viacord.com for more info or I am happy to answer any questions. I've researched this quite a bit and have strong opinions about the benefits!

An inspiring article:
http://www.blog.viacord.com/a-maybe-one-day-turns-into-a-chance-for-katie/?utm_source=enews&utm_medium=email&utm_term=031110&utm_campaign=group1

Immunologist/Allergist

I took Carson back to the Immunologist/Allergist today to share the results we received from the GI testing. We had already done some blood testing with this doctor and the good news is that he said we can eliminate true food allergies (IgE). He tested negative for the epi pen, break out in hives, true food allergies (which is great news).
The doctor believes based on the symptoms (distended stomach, high levels of bacteria, food intolerance, chronic ear infections, etc.) that he has IgG and IgA deficiencies (aka "immune system disorder"). A blood test will determine if he has it and how severe the disorder is. For many children, restricted diet, potent pro-biotics and antibiotics are enough to sustain them. For children than have a severe deficiency, immunoglobulin gamma transfusions are necessary every three weeks to keep patients healthy enough to engage in normal activities.
Fortunately, his diet is already clean and very restricted and he is on a potent probiotic, so we are taking the right steps. More bloodwork and testing to come..but hopefully we are headed in the right direction.

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." 1 Peter 3:15

On a lighter note...

Recent Alexism's include:
*"Branch" dressing-- bless her heart. We can't help but encourage this cuteness. Why would we call it ranch dressing, when she's decided it's branch dressing? :)
*"Mommy, why did you just squish that yucky bug? Jesus made it. He made the squishy bugs so why did you kill it?" What do I say to that?
*"Gorilla bars" instead of granola bars.
*"Mommy, are you having more babies?" Mommy: "No, we are all done." Alex: "Good, cause it's sure a lot of work. I am tired from all my work I do. I woke up today and ate breakfast and took my vitamins and now you want me to get dressed? That's a lot of work." Yeah, she's got it REALLY rough!
*"Dear God, please heal the bonk on my head. I got a barbie sleeping beauty doll thrown at me and it bonked my head really bad. It needs to get better now. And heal mommy's head (?? she must just think I am a nut case...shocker!) and heal baby Carson's tummy and I love everyone in the whole wide world except the mean people and dear God say Amen." She still says "and dear God say Amen" from hearing us teach her how to pray. How cute is she?

PLEASE DON'T GROW UP. We love you just like this!

Busy Bee

I've called so many doctors in the past few hours, I'm not even sure where to start. MommyMD (me) isn't ruling out Celiac disease. He may not have Celiac disease, but he most certainly has a terrible reaction to wheat...just found that out the hard way. From what I've read, in order to get an accurate Celiac test, the patient needs to be on a gluten diet for 6 months to see indications in the GI lining. I don't ever feed him wheat, so I'm sure that's why the GI said things look good. Good times.

Plan I've made today (because really you all care, right?!):
- ECI coming to our house for an evaluation. Early Care Intervention-- this is amazing. Government funded assistance for developmental delays. I will have a therapist come to our home and help me work with Carson on his motor skills, vocabulary, etc. What a God send! Can everyone just come to the house like they are?

- Taking Carson to the Gonino Center for healing on March 22 for a consultation. The center uses a combination of testing, natural remedies and medications. My hands are in so many pots right now, I just think it might help to find a doctor that will look at everything and tell me we are on the right path or we need to do additional testing. I am really excited about Dr. Gonino. He has asked me to mail him all of our test results so he can review them before we come. It's 1.5 hours away so I REALLY hope this is worth the drive. But at this point I will stand on my head for 7 days straight if it will help.

- Still going to Immunologist at 10:30 tomorrow. Might as well hear what he has to say :)

WE WILL FIGURE THIS OUT. I may go insane in the process, but we WILL! Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.
Love,
An exhausted but hopeful mommy

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.