CRP

The other day I posted pictures of my son's eye. I had taken him to the doctor on Monday and they drew blood, sent us home and said they'd call us on Tuesday. Tuesday morning I got a phone call from the doctor saying that the kiddos CBC was normal, but that his CRP was extremely elevated. Here's an example of HOW elevated. The normal person has a CRP level of <1. My son's level was 99.7! Of course the doctor is concerned but also confused and says he'll call be back. About an hour later he calls and sends us to urgent care in one of our city's hospitals. Being that this was a city hospital it was quite a cultural experience for us! The main attraction being a man who was escorted in by the police who kept throwing himself on the floor, putting his hands on his head and yelling "don't shoot me in my head!!!" So obviously my 5 year old is terrified, and to be honest so was I! Anyway, nurse comes in and draws labs again, CRP dropped to 4.5 - we get sent home with the explanation that the first test done must have been an error. So of course I'm relieved!!!!

Another crazy day here in my household, running errands, had a house showing (woo hoo!), and then I check my email. New email from our doctor, the original blood that was drawn was re-tested just to confirm that the first test was an error.... unfortunately it was not an error. CRP level was definitely 99.7 So now, next time his eye mysteriously swells we are being shipped to a specialist ASAP. This evening I browsed the internet for CRP, turns out that an elevated CRP can be an indication of rheumatoid arthritis or even lupus. What I was told yesterday that if an adult came in with a CRP level of 100 they would almost immediately assume that he'd had a heart attack.

So now, instead of being relieved that all was okay, I'm freaked out! I want to ask the doctors to run every test possible, turn over every rock... I HAVE to know that he's okay! :(