We learned last week that Gavin has a severely compromised immune system. His IgM and IgG antibodies are less than half of what they are supposed to be. He is currently being treated for pneumonia and chronic sinusitis. They also believe there is an asthma component as well so he has started with an inhaler this past weekend. It actually seems to help. Gavin says it's easier to breathe now so that's good. We didn't know he was having trouble before but I'm not sure he realized that either, if that makes any sense.
At this point we don't know for sure what's causing this but we do know that he now needs monthly antibody infusions. I believe it's called* IV IgG* and basically, they take donor antibodies and infuse them into Gavin to rebuild, at least temporarily, Gavin's own immune system.
Going forward he will need to have these infusions every month or we can do it at home via a small pump that will infuse the antibodies over a 2 hour period every week. I don't envision Gavin allowing me to place a sub-Q needle into his stomach every week and leave it there for 2 hours.
We received the call we were waiting for and Gavin will receive his first infusion in the morning, Tuesday, August 9th. The infusion lasts about an hour, assuming Gavin cooperates.
We have made arrangements for the other boys so Lizze and I can both be there. Hopefully this will help Gavin to feel better.
I also heard from the Cleveland Clinic but that's a post all by itself.
- Lost and Tired
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