Upcoming surgery...

Here is a little about Kaleb’s and his upcoming surgery:

 

We noticed the whites of his eyes were a bit yellow and took him to the doctor.  The doctor ran blood work and his billirubin is high and he has hemolytic anemia.  All this is caused from a blood disorder he has (Hereditary Spherocytosis {HS}). {We have known since birth he has this, Rik, Shelby and most of Rik's family has it as well.}

 

The doctor ordered and ultra sound of his belly which we had done last week.  The ultrasound was to look for gall stones (which are common with HS) and to check to see if his spleen is enlarged.  The results were that there are no gallstones but his spleen is a bit enlarged.  He has ordered a CAT scan of his belly (they were not able to get a picture of the entire spleen with the ultrasound) and referred us to the general surgeon.

 

We had the CAT scan and met with the surgeon.  Kaleb's spleen is very enlarged.  The normal spleen is 7-10cm and Kaleb's is 19cm. 

 

He will have surgery to have his spleen removed on April 21st.   The surgery will be laparoscopic/ hand assist and he will have to stay overnight one night.  The surgeon thinks he will be able to be back running in about 2-3 weeks after the surgery which makes Kaleb very happy.