It's November!

Well, it's November 1st, which means the 31 for 21 Blog Challenge is over. It was great to do and I hope y'all learned a lot :). I'll still try to keep the blog updated with a post a day if possible, but may miss a day every so often.

Thought I'd post a message here that I posted on the ES website list regarding the recommended blood work and some explanations for why.

This list below is taken from Dr. Leichtman's website.

    * CBC every 6 months until 6 years of age. (Looking for leukemia)
    * T3, T4 and TSH every year for life. (Thyroid testing)
    * Atlantoaxial X-rays at 2 years of age especially in active children.
(Looking for atlantoaxial dislocation)
    * Metabolic Testing:
          o If working through a local lab only: Obtain serum levels of Vitamin A, iron, ferritin, zinc, selenium, and homocysteine, IgA tissue transglutaminase anitbody, endomyseal antibody.

I think the first several are pretty obvious as to why you would get them tested. The other ones though...

Vitamin A - to make sure it isn't too high, since it's a fat soluble vitamin.

Iron & Ferritin to make sure iron levels are good.

Zinc & Selenium to make sure there are no deficiencies.

Homocysteine to make sure it isn't too low. Although this can be a tricky thing to test, because you may not even be able to get it to a good level even though you test. It's so hard and so Dr. L isn't even routinely doing homocysteine testing anymore.

IgA tissue transglutaminase antibody & endomyseal antibody are for Celiac Disease screening.

Blood Draws . . . :sigh: . . .

Thursday we had to get a blood draw for Osiyyah's celiac screening & food allergy test. Since Osiyyah has had his blood drawn so many times since he was born, we always ask the lab tech if they know how to draw on someone who is a "hard stick" and doesn't really have good veins. Osiyyah has small veins and just isn't an easy one to draw from, unless you really know what you're doing.

We realized that years ago when one lab tech had to poke him 3 or 4 times before getting a good draw. We said "never again!" If the lab tech can't get him in one poke and there's no reason the lab tech shouldn't have been able to get the draw, that's it. Someone else is going to try.

Well . . . Thursday was a bit of a long appointment for a simple blood draw.

Two nurses came into the room with us. One was a Phlebotomist (someone trained to draw blood) and the other was just some nurse in the office. One of the first things they said was "You guys may have to leave the room." It was my mom & I with Osiyyah and his twin sister. We are always there when he has his blood drawn - no exception. We help hold him still, etc. His twin sister has always been there too. We immediately said "No, sorry, we aren't going anywhere. He won't do better with us out of the room." That was uncomfortableness (if that's even a word!) #1.

We asked our routine question to the Phlebotomist and she said "Oh, I've drawn on everybody. Even 2 year olds. This is what I went to school for." I was a bit unsure, but we let her try.

We held Osiyyah still, she poked him and didn't get blood right away (uncomfortableness #2). Then she was moving the needle around a bit and got a tiny amount of blood in the tube, but lost it. She had to pull it out and gave O a little bruise from that. Poor guy.

We asked her again if she really could draw on someone who doesn't have the greatest veins. Someone with Down syndrome. Someone who is a hard stick. "Yes, this is what I went to school for" is what she kept replying with. She just didn't settle well with me at all.

We kept telling them "He does not have good veins." Both nurses kept looking at his arms and saying "He has great veins." I told them we'd been dealing with getting blood draws since he was born . . . for 5 years. His veins aren't good. Period. This isn't anything new to us, folks!

The nurses left to talk to the doctor, since we had told them the hospital has someone who can get him in one stick. They didn't have a contract with the hospital anymore, so they had to see what could be done. I told my mom "I don't want her trying again, she doesn't know how to draw on someone like him." We were trying to be very polite and not upset them . . . but still firm in what we wanted. We flat out told them "We aren't going to let him be a pin cushion."

My mom was going to be a bit nicer than I was and possibly let the nurse try again. But, thankfully, a different nurse from the office next door came over. She was a young gal who was super cool & laid back. We asked her our routine question and she said "I've drawn on everybody . . . I used to work at the hospital." Osiyyah was much more relaxed when she went to draw and she got the blood right away. First poke, the tube filled up. Praise the Lord.

We'll remember her name next time he needs blood drawn at that office. The first two nurses never came back to the room :).

So, now we wait for the results to come back. I'm super curious what they may show.

Qadoshyah