The final say on Grace, I hope!

Dear Everyone,

First, I'd really like to say that we are soooooo lucky and blessed to have friends and family who care for us when these things happen. We had people to take the boys and make them feel better, people bringing us food, and people calling with support. We have truly delightful friends and we are wealthy beyond measure in all the ways that truly matter. Such tiny words for such a big feeling, but THANK YOU! Even if all you did was think about us, it mattered.

I figured I'd better send this out as a final update and recap of events this week. It's been a heck of a week. If you are not a details person, here's the summary: Grace was really sick, was at Children's on Tuesday, got diagnosed with autoimmune hemolytic anemia, got better after a blood transfusion, and on Thursday night we got to come home. She'll need more blood tests to make sure her red blood cells are doing ok, and if they continue to do so, we will not have any more problems. If there are problems, then we have to go back and get her blood tested. The simple explanation is that her body decided to destroy her own red blood cells instead of a virus, dropping her red blood cells (hematocrit) to dangerous levels. It also affected her liver and kidneys, but an ultrasound says they are ok now.

Longer version follows:
Here is a link to a wikipedia article that I find to be completely accurate based on what the doctors told us.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoimmune_hemolytic_anemia

We will have final results soon, but they think we had the "cold antibody" variety, meaning that the whole thing might have been set off by getting cold. So I will be keeping her inside for a week, and after that, if it's kind of cold, I'll send her out in a snowsuit, and then fully dressed with mittens and hat. So if I look a bit paranoid for a while, it's because I am!

This should not be a long term problem, we hope. The prognosis is very good, and it appears to be a fluke. We sure hope so. She is in no way contagious. I begin to think this was a problem for a while, because she has always gotten cold awfully easily. We'll all be keeping a very close eye on her from now on.

I am really amazed by the level of expertise at Children's. They really jump on things quickly and are extremely thorough. If anyone is looking for a charity to donate to, or a place to volunteer, I can't recommend them highly enough. Wow.
I've been there before for other kids, and I'm amazed every time. I'm also amazed by our pediatrician, who with a little internet research, but being only a family doctor and not a hematologist, correctly diagnosed Grace's condition. I think I'll keep her. Thanks, Dr. Platz!

Thanks again and God bless!
Ann Marie, Francis, Gabe, Brandon, Grace and Dominic