Location, Location

As most of you know Vada and I met with the Geneticist; Dr. Hoganson, yesterday. We had gone to see him because originally they thought that Vada had a condition called Methalmalomic Acid Anemia. Turns out she us has low B12, which is great, especially compared to the MMA. The low B12 is treatable.

Prior to this appointment we had gave gave Vada a weeks worth of daily B12 injections. Then they re-tested her levels and her B12 sky rocketed. So, now we are just going to monitor those levels to make sure she is doing alright. We also put her on Poly Vi Sol, which is a daily vitamin.

We kept our appointment with Dr H. just to be able to discuss any concerns or any other findings he may have had. The whole visit was quick and easy.

We also discussed my lab work that was done the week prior to this visit because we were concerned that I may have very low levels of B12 which was in return causing Vada to have the low levels. Turns out my B12 levels are low, but not too low. I also have low iron and my Thyroid is low as well. I wasn't really surprised since I have been mildly anemic since before my pregnancy with Vada and I have had Hypothyroidism since the birth of Kiliegh. All I need to do is take a better daily vitamin and bump up my Thyroid medications.

Before we left our meeting with Dr. H. I asked for a copy of Vada's Karyotypes. His staff said that they would look into it and get back to me on it.

What does having a copy of Vada's Karyotypes mean? Nothing, except I would be able to see the third, twenty-first chromosome! I don't need proof that Vada has Down syndrome, that's not why I asked for my own copies. I asked for them because the opportunity to see your own child's Karyotypes does not often come up. Most people will never have this chance, which is fine, but since I am in a situation where I can see them, I'm going to do so. Carpe diem!

After meeting with Dr H. we had to wait two hours before we met with Dr. Jennings, the Neurologist.

The visit with Dr. J. also went smoothly. No surprises, no real concerns. Everything is pretty much staying the same. We are continuing to wean Vada off of the ACTH and if everything goes well she should be off by mid November. We are changing her "maintenance" medication from Keppra to Topamax. She HATES the Keppra, it's incredibly hard to get her to keep it in her mouth let alone to swallow it. Were hoping that this new kind will be better for her to take. That in return would be better for me. It is so stressful knowing that these medications are her life line. If she doesn't take them the seizure will can come back and will take over. If I cant get here to take them, then it's my fault. Irrational or not, that's how I feel.

So the appointments were yesterday. Earlier this morning Dr. H's assistant called me to let me know on the progress of getting the copy of Vada's Karyotypes. She said something about them being archived and that it may take a couple of weeks to receive them. She also said that I needed to directly contact the hospital to sign release forms. No big deal.

The next thing she said was very unexpected. She asked if I was aware that Vada has Translocation Trisomy21. At first my heart started to race. At first I was confusing Translocation with Mosacisim . I knew what both were, I just got swept away for a second.

I was not aware that this was Vada's full diagnosis; Translocation Down syndrome. In all honesty, it doesn't mean anything different for Vada. Just an extra word to add on to one of her diagnosis.

For us, Justin and I, it could mean that every child we have from here on out would have Down syndrome. That would be, if one of us were in fact a "balanced parent". There is something like a 1 in 4 chance for that to be our situation, so for "piece of mind" she suggested that if we planned on having more children in the future, we should get genetic testing done.