Reading the Blood

This week we learned a little something about why doctors spend lots of money and many years going to medical school to become doctors, and why lay people, like ourselves, should not attempt to interpret lab results. Oh, and also why the internet is not an effective diagnostician. Common sense? You’d think so. But when it comes to Samantha’s health and well-being, we think it’s better to be safe and certain than too late and sorry, even if it means a few extra gray hairs.


Sammi had her blood drawn last week for her annual check on all the important stuff for a kid with Down syndrome, as prescribed by her geneticist. Zinc, thyroid, etc. The list is a long one. But with genetic aberrations come some funky things to look out for that are typical for a child with Ds as opposed to a "typical" child. That’s not to say that a typical child can’t have some funky stuff come up, but here’s where we’re at a distinct advantage, in that we start looking for these things from an early age, rather than waiting until there’s a problem and pulling our hair out to figure out what it might be. I was dismayed (but intrigued) to hear an expert once say that it’s not if a person with Down syndrome will have a thyroid problem, but when.

The blood draw went well. Not only did they find a vein on the first try, but Samantha didn’t even cry. Well, at least not until the nurse went to put a Band-Aid on the site. They had to forego the bandage in favor of tape, which was readily accepted. My kid’s weird. The next day we got a call from the geneticist’s nurse, who said that the results were in (astoundingly fast!) and that everything looked good.

The day after that, the hard copy of the results arrived in the mail.

And with this, we compiled the results from all of her previous labs to compare. And Steve noticed something we took to be alarming. White blood counts have decreased steadily over the last 3 years, and monocytes have increased. A quick check on the internet told us that this could mean she’s fighting an infection, and that she has a potentially compromised immune system. Those of you out there who know anything about blood work may be laughing at our naiveté, but hey, we try…

Something to remember about the internet…it does not know how to ask important questions. You can look up productive cough and see the result that tells you that you could have tuberculosis or bacterial pneumonia. Oh no! Get to a hospital asap! What was not asked was if that cough may have been accompanied by a runny nose, which might better suggest a simple cold. Whew. It’s the same with blood test results. A few hours later, after calling Samantha’s pediatrician, who we love, we were informed that the white count and monocytes as they stood alone in the sea of numbers, can not be interpreted as individuals. There is actually an equation that results in the true number used for determining illness such as the dreaded “L” word, and for Samantha, that final number showed that she is in excellent health, with absolutely no cause for concern.

As parents we are trained to worry about our children, to take them to the doctor every time they get a fever or a rash. Health is the most valued concept that we parental detectives seek. And it’s not like we’re looking for anything wrong, we’re looking for what’s right, and within that scope, things that are wrong jump out quickly. And as untrained pseudo-doctors, Moms and Dads have their limits of knowledge. But we are not too old to learn.