maybe 45 isn't so bad

the new pediatrician called this morning after being on vacation. we've been waiting for his call since getting the word on the silent prince's lead level of 45. he has a calming voice and it reminded me how glad we are that we switched doctors for the kids.

we assumed right that the prince would have to be chelated again. chelation is a process of removing the lead through medicine that adhears to the lead and removes it from the blood through bodily functions.

it's a risky process because it can affect the immune system and the liver. in order to put him back on the medication he had to be tested to ensure that the meds wouldn't do harm to him.

so we were sent to the lead clinic at yale children's hospital. i admire when a person (especially a professional) can say i don't know the answer so i'm going to send to you someone who does know. this is what the new pediatrician did. "i'm not an expert on lead, so i want you to see someone who is." and so judy has become our expert.

the first thing that we learned is that having a high lead level is not the bad news we thought it was. when they test for lead they also do another test called a zpp. the zpp tells us how much lead is in the soft tissues of the body. the first zpp, back in november, was 500. 500 is an astronomical number. the latest zpp was 227.

this means that we are about half-way there. now, you can only chelate the blood and the lead level has to be over 40 in order for the chelation to make any difference. so, if the zpp is high, but the lead level is low there isn't much we can do. but if the zpp is coming down and the lead level is over 40 we can keep treating him.

finally, a positive spin on what's going on!

and then she told us something else and for the first time i feel like someone was honest with me. this is going to take awhile. silly me, i thought that this would take one or two treatments and then be over. no, this is going to take time and no one else was willing to tell us this except judy.

judy told us the way things really are. another reason we are grateful for the new doctor. the doctor who told the health department that we would go through the lead program at the other hospital (what program? we were there for two nights and sent home.) and then handled the whole thing himself even though he wasn't an expert.

and it's all grandmom's doing. you see grandmom knows the new doctor's mother-in-law. she goes to grandmom and grandpop's church and apparently likes to brag that her son-in-law is the number one rated pediatrician in the state. so grandmom called her church friend's daughter and asked if her husband would see her grandson.

we got the phone call from his office the next day.

as hubby said, your mom is crazy, but she gets things done. thank God for her.

yup, thank God for my mom, and for the new doctor, and for judy, and our contact at the health department, and for all the people who seem to care so deeply for this little wonderful beautiful child of mine.

and i feel better than i have in weeks. almost as if a lead weight is being lifted off my shoulders...

God's peace y'all