Update 8/15/09

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are home from the hospital and are mostly puke free. The doctors are still thinking that the reason for Beck's vomiting is steroid withdrawals and because of this, Beckham, has been switched from Prednisolone to Cortef, which is supposed to be much easier on the gut (but much worse in taste - you should see little Beck try to swallow this. Poor kiddo!). He will be slowly tapered off this over the next couple of months and then we will meet with Endocrinology again for evaluation.

On another note, the rest of Beckham's hematology labs came back and showed that he still tests positive for an antibody that is attached to his platelets (which was the reason for his ITP in the first place). This basically means that Beck would bounce right back to his ITP and Hemolytic anemia were it not for the steroids and Rituxin infusion. His transplant doctor is hoping that the destruction of his B cells from the Rituxin will be enough to keep his ITP and Hemolytic Anemia from returning once he is taken off of the steroids....but only time will tell. But, his B cells will remain destroyed (through more Rituxin infusions when needed) until he tests negative for the presence of an antibody, which could be for a year or more (who knows). It looks like it will be a long time before this little guy can venture into the outside world (or the rest of us!). Let's just all pray that Beck's system will remain strong with only the Rituxin and not steroids, because he has to come off of steroids. They are too much for a little guy like Beckham to be on for an extended period of time. He is already pushing his limits as it is (that is showing because of his inability to come off of them).

Oh, just to clarify my statement in my last post: the reason that the Des Moines Hematologist does not completely think that Beck has Evans Syndrome is because she believes that his Hemolytic Anemia and ITP were caused from his Tacro (anti-rejection med), which his transplant doctor disagrees with. Because Evans Syndrome is a reoccurring syndrome, and incurable, we will again have to wait and see if it returns and then, if it does, then they will know for sure that he has it. Make sense?

Thanks for all of the continued prayers for our little guy! They mean so much.
-Beckham & Co.