Thursday, June 9, 2011

Leukocytes and Depakote


We just got the last of Pajama Monster's blood test results back. The Depakote levels are in the low end of the therapeutic range, so based on behavior (he's for instance tearing the plastic covers off the toilet bolts and flushing them, slapping Daddy, etc.) we can increase now. All other readings look great EXCEPT the leukocyte count. It's very slightly below the normal range. The leukocyte count is a measure of white blood cell/immune system health. Essentially, there is a chance we're improving everything in our lives and Pajama Monster's life at the expense of his little immune system. The levels aren't dangerously low...yet. We're doing another blood test in 2 weeks to see if they're still low or if it was just a fluke caused by something else.

This is the best things have ever been and in 2 weeks we may be right back where we started from, trapped in a stinking house full of poo and urine soaked carpet with a son laughing hysterically as he carves up the drywall and attacks his sister. I don't want to stop the Depakote. I really, REALLY, don't want to. I want to increase it to the top of it's therapeutic/safe range and see if things can just be normal then. I don't want to move on to heavier duty/scarier meds and I don't want a complicated huge med cocktail, but above all I don't want to endanger my child. Sadly, that leaves me with only one choice if the Depakote is trashing his immune system. I suppose all I can do is try to enjoy things for the next 2 weeks and pray that the low leukocyte count is a red herring. Why can't anything ever be simple? At least we've had a few weeks. We went to the zoo and went out to eat and got coffee and it was wonderful! Sometimes we ended up boxing our food up and carrying a screaming, hitting Pajama Monster out of the restaurant because he was mad that his noodles won't stay on the fork, but that didn't happen every time. It used to be about a 90% chance that the evening would end that way, but now it's more like 20%, with about an additional 40% chance that we'll have a couple incidents that require removing Pajama Monster to let him calm down. That used to be a 100% chance. It's not perfect, but it's so much better and the fear of losing all this is killing me. If anyone out there is reading this, prayers for my little Pajama Monster and his immune system would be very much appreciated!

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