Update on Jonathan - Good News!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Finally some good news. Jonathan has been at the hospital since Monday. He was originally admitted due to a high fever (102.5), as well as certain other symptoms (not sleeping or eating well). A fever this high in any baby under 8 weeks is considered extremely dangerous.

When Jonathan was first admitted, his blood test revealed that his neutrophil (a type of white blood cell) levels were very low, as well as his platelets. For instance, his neutrophil level was at 400, when they should have been at 1500. In order for the hospital to consider discharge, the neutrophil level had to be at at least 500. They also performed a spinal tap to determine what kind of infection Jonathan had (either viral or bacterial). Since there was a possibility that Jonathan had a dangerous bacterial infection, the doctors immediately started him on antibiotics (just in case). It would take 48 hours before the doctors would be able to determine whether or not Jonathan had either a viral or bacterial infection.

On day 2, his platelet levels went up to a normal range, but his neutrophil levels went down to 150. Also, he was still running a fever.

On day 3, his neutrophil levels went up to 384. At this point, we were hopeful that things were turning around and that Jonathan would be released soon. Also, by this time, Jonathan had stopped running fevers and it was determined that Jonathan did not have a bacterial infection. So the doctors believed that whatever Jonathan had was viral (which is good).

Unfortunately, on day 4, his neutrophil levels dropped to 56. At a result, the attending doctor decided to contact the hematologist to see if there was something else that was causing the drop in his neutrophil levels. The hematologist indicated that the cause of the drop may be due to one of several theories: 1) a genetic condition where Jonathan's body was somehow destroying his white blood cells; 2) the manner in which Jonathan's body was responding to a certain viral infection; and 3) leukemia (the worst case scenario). The hematologist suggested that we may want to get a bone marrow biopsy performed to rule out leukemia. We, felt, however that a biopsy was too extreme at this stage since Jonathan's drop in his neutrophil levels could have been caused for a relatively innocuous viral infection.

On day 5, the physician explained that when the hematologist examined Jonathan's blood samples, he found the presence of blast cells (which suggests a possibility of cancer). At this point, we were told that Jonathan's chance of having leukemia was a little less than 50%. Also, although Jonathan's neutrophil levels increased, it only increased to 132, which is still considered very low. After consulting with and getting a consensus from the hematologist, attending physician and our pediatrian, we decided to go ahead with the bone marrow biopsy. The preliminary finding showed that there were no significant amount of blast cells in the bone marrow, and thankfully leukemia was ruled out. However, the full findings from the biopsy would not be available until the following week.

On day 6, the blood test showed a significant improvement in Jonathan neutrophil levels - 531! It was good enough for Jonathan to be discharged. However, 531 is still considered very low since a healthy level is considered 1500. Therefore, we were asked to keep Jonathan indoors for at least week. We will get the final results of the biopsy next week.

Just want to give some special thanks to:

Mom Mom & Pop Pop Harris for coming down on short notice to take care of Jackie so that Daddy could go to work and Mommy could go to the hospital to be with Jonathan.

Uncle Chuck for staying with Mommy at the hospital on the awful day 5 (where their was a strong belief that leukemia may be the cause of Jonathan's illness) and bringing some lunch.

The Benders and the Bruckers for their support, prayers, and visit to the hospital including bringing some sustenance for Mommy (which was greatly appreciated since the hospital food was measly and horrendous).

To the countless others (and you know who you are) who were praying for Jonathan during this time.