This is our story:
Email sent to friends and family on 2-7-09.

I have a very special prayer request. My baby girl has got some pretty serious issues going on right now. We travel to Albuquerque for a tooth filling appointment Monday morning and see a “new” oral surgeon at noon to discuss setting up a surgery date to remove two wisdom teeth. A lot of you are already aware that we’ve been waiting for this surgery for over 15 months with our “former” oral surgeon. In the process of waiting – one of the teeth (which had a cavity in it) developed a hole. Brooke has been in pain for over 4 weeks while we waited to see this new doctor. We’ve had her on a low dose antibiotic in hopes of keeping away infection. She’s been a trooper, as usual. Please pray that the new doctor is kind and compassionate and that he can help us. Sadly enough, I feel the former doctor never wanted to bother with us but he wasn’t a big enough person to say so. Instead, he just left us waiting. I have exactly two oral surgeon choices for my daughter in the state. I pray that Dr. Traub is the answer to our prayers!!

And on an even more serious note…during our 6 month immunology blood workup in January, Brooke’s doctor found a blood issue. She has a severely low Neutrophil count. I had never heard of it prior to last Friday! Neutrophil is something in the white blood cells that is produced by bone marrow. Normal levels range from 1600-2800; Brooke is sitting at 200. We did a second blood test Monday that confirmed the low levels. What this means is that she has no way of fighting infection on top of already being immune compromised. Double whammy!!! Neutropenia (as it’s called) can be caused by lots of things: Salmonella (my guess as to what has happened with Brooke since she hasn’t been “right” since July), bacterial infections in the body, autoimmune disorders, the spleen (Brooke’s is still enlarged), kidneys, certain medicines, bone marrow damage, etc. (The etc. is something I try not to even think about!!) The doctors first have to figure out what caused it before they can treat it. We’re waiting on a call from a Hematologist at UNM who will meet with us and start trying to figure this out. I’m assuming he will run more blood tests and either do an ultrasound or CT of her spleen. I know from my research that a bone marrow biopsy is also possible, but let’s pray we don’t have to do that! People with immune deficiencies are susceptible to autoimmune disorders and Brooke already has one that we know of, so this is a possibility for this issue. Since the salmonella in July, things have not been right! Brooke has fought protein issues, potassium issues, iron issues, skin issues, has had mystery spots and has lost half of her hair. Her belly also remains enlarged. I can’t stress how nasty salmonella is and how merciless it has been to Brooke. Salmonella has killed 43 people in the most recent peanut butter recall, so please listen to those warnings and play it safe!

As you can imagine, we have our hands full right now. It’s been pretty emotional around our house. Please pray for guidance and strength as we face whatever we have to face. Ask God to wrap his loving arms around each of us and help us cope. Ask for extra fight for Brooke and for relief from any pain she has to endure. To help reduce the infection risks, I think we’re going to home-bound Brooke from school for a while - at least until we get some of these health issues worked out and until after the flu season passes. It’s hard to understand why there has to be so many obstacles in this little girl’s life, but we know God is in control and he is a gracious and loving God. When we hurt – he hurts.

Thank you for your friendship, for the kind words and most importantly --- for your prayers! Please feel free to add Brooke to any prayers lists, prayer groups, etc. I believe in the power of prayer and appreciate each one of you.

I’ll keep you posted.

Love,
Gena