Monday, March 9, 2009

We Covet Your Prayers:
Brandon


Dear Friends and Family,

I want you to know how important your thoughts and prayers are at all times. Today I ask for your prayers on behalf of Brandon. Many of you know a little of his history. Basically he's had ongoing blood issues. His hemoglobin hit a low of 7.2 about 18 months ago which spiraled into multiple other blood tests in an attempt to discover a reason for his anemia. Nothing turned up--his iron levels were fine, his folic acid was fine, they tested for lead poisoning--negative, and even checked for genetic conditions. At one point there was mention of possible early signs of leukemia. But after a quick sed rate test, our doctor felt things looked good enough to not worry about that at this time.

Last summer he began giving low platelets readings. I believe his platelets count was low a couple years ago, but the first shocking reading was 120 (we were told it should be between 250 and 700). So he tested again and it was better at either 160 or 180, but still lower than they'd like. However, there were no definitive answers.

Our doctor consulted with another doctor and today we heard more possibilities. Our local clinic believes Brandon may have an enlarged spleen. Apparently this could be what's eating up his platelets. From a quick internet search, we also found that it could also be resulting in his continual abdominal pains, his lack of hunger, and a few other symptoms that he's shown for the last couple years.

Brandon goes in for some more detailed blood work and physical exam on Friday. He's also supposed to have an ultrasound on his abdomen this week to look at all his organs and, more importantly, his spleen. Our doctors are also looking into doing an immediate referral to the Children's Hospital either in Omaha or Denver.

I'm not sure what prayers to ask for, exactly. Certainly, we'd prefer this be something like a treatable enlarged spleen over a childhood cancer like leukemia. But we'd really just prefer that it be nothing huge at all. Please pray that health, peace, comfort and happiness abound in the Miller home throughout this process. We'll let you know once we know more.

Thanks all!

5 ♥ thoughtful comments ♥:

♥ Boomer ♥ said...

Shannon, your daddy and I will certainly be praying for our little guy. I am happy to know he's going through deeper level tests on Friday, and I pray that the results will reveal something easily treatable. We love you and will be wanting to hear from you as soon as you know something. Would really like for your brother to see the blood work, too.

Ronna said...

Shaye and Lee,
I am Praying that God gives you peace and that when the worry comes at you you will remeber that Saten wants more than anything to rob us of Gods peace, and that God wants to give us life more abundantly. So hang on to God and his peace and be looking for the miracles and the leading of God through this experience so that you can come out the other side with your faith strengthened and JOY seeing Gods care and Love for you and your family :)
Love You ((( hugs )))

Tipsy Gypsy said...

That poor baby boy. Prayers are going up, my dear friend. Keep us updated on the results! Love you!

2Shaye ♪♫ said...

Thank you all for your prayers! We took Brandon in for more blood work on Friday and they said they didn't want to do any for now. Our doctor called a specialist (a pediatric hematologist) and they weren't all that worried about his odd levels over the last two years. And apparently a couple times when they were low, he was also running a fever which indicated he had some sort of infection/cold which automatically lowers those levels. Yes, they were notably low, but not horrific and they didn't encourage further blood tests at this time. They'd like to do another full work up in 6 months. So...next stop is a pediatric gastroenterologist to check stomach and intestinal issues. There's one who comes to Rapid City from Sioux Falls and the clinic is trying to book an appt for us in the next few months.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

Jess -n- Jason -n- Crew said...

Prayers on the way, Shaye. God is GOOD!

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