Drew's Endocrinology Appointment

Today was Drew's endocrinology appointment. The endocrinologist follows him for his hypocalcemia (that means low calcium for you non-medical types out there) which is associated with his DiGeorge. We have been trying to wean him off his calcium because we were told by his immunologist at UCSF that most kids with DiGeorge no longer need calcium at this age.

After waiting for an hour we finally got to see the incredible Dr. Styne. He is supposed to be one of the best pediatric endocrinologists around, so apparently he is worth the wait. He did a quick exam, ordered some blood tests, asked if I had any questions or concerns (I did not) and he was out the door. He wants to see what Drew's blood calcium is now before we change his meds. We may decrease it , we may keep it the same for a little longer. We won't know til the blood tests come back.

And so it was off to the lab for the blood work. Our favorite phlebotomist was not there--she was out on maternity leave. I told the lady that Drew is a hard stick, but she didn't seem to really spend a lot of time looking for a good vein. She put on the tourniquet and found a vein and went for it. No blood came out so she wiggled the needle all around Drew's pudgy little arm while he sat in my lap and screamed. She gave up on that arm and tried a second time. This time we were lucky! I was trying to distract him by telling him to look at the stickers on the wall, sing the ABCs, etc. and between sobs he was saying "I don't want to look at stickers!" "I don't want to sing ABCs!" Poor guy. He is so good. He really calms down quickly once its over and moved on to picking out a sticker (Cars) and getting his treat (m&ms).

So that was going to be the extent of my post, except guess who just called? Yep, Dr. Styne. He noticed that Drew was cyanotic (blue) and wanted us to make sure we called the cardiologist in the morning. What?! Does he know that nothing strikes fear into this mother's heart like those words do? Um, we just saw the cardiologist last week and his O2 was 83. That's pretty much the highest its ever been. He's acting fine, it doesn't seem like anything is going on with his heart. But now there is the Unknown. The What-ifs. I hate the Unknown and the What-ifs!