Nookie had the visit with Dr. Marsden today. After 2 series of blood tests and an exam, he said Nookie is close to critical. He has severe anemia, only about 1/3 the red blood cells that he should have. He isn't quite to the point of needing a transfusion, but close. His thyroid has shut down as well. He thinks that weaning him off the Azathioprine is no longer an option, we need to stop immediately. He still wants to wean the Pred down. He *hopes* that the herbs he has him on will control the inflammation enough to keep the seizures at bay. We *hope* he is right. He has Giardia again as well and the stool sample has been sent off to the lab to check for blood, though I don't think we need a test to determine that. His stools are almost a charcoal black now
He put him on another herb that will help stop any internal bleeding that may be happening. But he seems to think the anemia is caused soley by the medications and that by removing them, he will be able to heal. He said if we leave him on the drugs, he will be surprised if he lasts more than 6 months. One good thing is that his liver function is almost back to the normal range, so the herbs have to be helping somewhat (his liver enzymes were VERY high 3 weeks ago).
I have to say that I'm not really that confident in removing the drugs. I just worry that maybe he's wrong and Nookie has some sort of internal injury that's causing the anemia. After all, Shaun and I both know that he eats just about anything he can get his little mouth on. If he does have an internal injury and we just go with the holistic treatment and end up causing more damage to him, or he doesn't make it because we made a bad decision, I don't think I would be able to forgive myself
I just don't really know what to do for our baby