Many of you are aware that our sweet daughter Katie has been struggling with her health over the last few months. I’m not a “share everything on fb” gal, though I do try to be real and honest. I have many times considered sharing her situation more publicly, but we honestly hoped that things would be figured out/resolved quickly and proven to be no big deal.
Well… not so much.
On Sept 6, we went in for a blood transfusion because Katie’s hemoglobin was only 6.6, and wound …up doing an iron infusion the next day because Kate had too many antibodies in her blood for it to be safe to transfuse.
In the months since, we’ve been to the hematologist, the rheumatologist, the pathologist (for a bone marrow biopsy), and spent lots of time communicating with our fantastic lead doctor. Kate has had So Much Blood drawn and tested. For So Many Things. Her puzzle is evidently one that is not easy to put together.
While we’ve been trying to figure out how things fit together, her lab work has continued to go wonky. Her platelets have dropped as low as 107k, her neutrophils to .oo, and while the various tests that have been run show that there is definitely something wrong. they are not telling us what it is.
A scare last weekend with a fever while severely neutropenic illustrated vividly how quickly things could get critical with Katie, even when it looks like she’s not faring badly for how poor her blood is.
We have decided, in agreement with Katie’s medical team, to pursue answers with a facility where doctors from various specialties can come together and look at Katie’s puzzle. Mayo Clinic was the first choice because they deal with a broader (worldwide) range of medical mysteries, that door shut very loudly with the news that they do not take our insurance.
We are thankful for God’s sovereignty and are taking that shut door as His leading toward Children’s Mercy in KC. We trust that He has all the right people in place to move forward exactly as He sees fit.
We are praying to get in at Children’s asap, and are hopeful that we will be there this week. Papa & Mama Byrd are planning to arrive from FL on Monday to help with things on the homefront while Kate & I go to KC and Jonathan continues working.