31 for 21: Hematologist (28)

Back in August, Colin had blood work done with the intention to check his CBC (checks blood cell counts), his thyroid levels, and to check for celiac disease (which we were pretty confident he didn't have). We get blood work done somewhat regularly just to make sure his levels are normal because of the fact that kids with Down Syndrome may have a higher incidence of leukemia.  What we found at that time was that Colin was really anemic (his hemoglobin levels at that time were 60% of what they should have been) and so he was started on an iron supplement right away.  

When the levels were repeated several weeks later, his hemoglobin levels had started to rise but some of the hemoglobin indices (other measures of iron in the blood) were still low (although we do know that those can take a longer amount of time to come back to normal).  Our pediatrician has been consulting with a hematologist over these numbers and has been assuring us that things were looking Ok.  However, I received a call from the office the other day telling us that we needed to make an appointment to see the hematologist to follow up about the blood work with her.  Before I could even reach the office, the hematologist's office called me to schedule the appointment (that in itself is alarming as it's hard to get specialist appointments!).  

So, Colin and I took a trip to the doctor this morning and found that we really don't have any more answers than we did before.  While she was happy with his hemaglobin levels, his white blood cell count was a little low (although he could have been fighting a cold/virus/etc. at the time) and some of the other counts were still on the low side.  While she wasn't concerned (and said that I shouldn't be either) she is also sending us for more extensive blood work to be done in 2 weeks.  During the  next two weeks, we need to stop giving him the iron supplement so that his numbers can baseline for him and then she is also going to be gathering his original bloodwork from when he was born (apparently, they check for anemia levels as a newborn so she can compare his results to that).  

For the time being, we just have to take the "wait and see" approach and then I guess we will discuss what else could be going on.  He was really good during the exam but I don't think there is much to check for physically.  Most of his coloring has improved from over the summer when he was more on the pale side (although my children really can't get more pale than they already are) and the dark circles under his eyes has been improving.  I also discussed with her what the dentist said a few weeks back that the iron is what is causing the discoloration of teeth (in addition with some staining that's happening "just because").  Hopefully we get everything straightened out soon!