Natural Killer Cells: The new path

What was supposed to be a simple follow up with immunology for Emmett was anything but. Because Emmett is still having the cycles hitting every couple of weeks his doctor is now looking down another,  incredibly rare path. 

I don’t fully understand what we were told this morning but we are expecting a follow up call from her when the results come in.

She said that she thinks me might have something called Natural Killer Cells. Again,  I’m probably butchering this explanation but I’m doing my best. 

Basically,  Emmett’s Natural Killer Cells aren’t working properly.  She thinks that the mouth sores may actually be Herpes and because his NK Cells are working too slow, he’s having regular outbreaks.  It becomes an endless cycle.

If the lab work confirms this,  he will start antiviral medication.

It’s something to that affect.

He’s the only one in our family that has these outbreaks and so we don’t know where this got started.

Emmett also needs a full autonomic work up done at the Cleveland Clinic. She said that since we have discovered this about Gavin,  that it could also explain the reoccurring fevers and also why his joints get so hot.  Just about everything else has been ruled out at this point.

We had the lab work done right away, per the doctors order. 

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We should hear something back when the results come back in. There were two tests being done.  The first was called Natural Killer Cells Panel.

The second was a HSV panel.

The blood work didn’t go over very well but they were great with Emmett,  and he survived.  🙂

If you wouldn’t mind keeping Emmett in your thoughts and prayers, I would really appreciate it.

This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsung’s Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do know how to spell but auto-correct hate me.

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Rob Gorski

Full time, work from home single Dad to my 3 amazing boys. Oh...and creator fo this blog. :-)
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OnyxPanthyr

 @lostandtired  @rmagliozzi I've found this site to be great quality and inexpensive with the coconut products.  https://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com/
 
I love their oil.  I cook with the Ultra-Clean, Supreme Expeller-Pressed when I don't want the coconut flavor and I use the other two when I do (the flavors are slightly different between the Cold Pressed and the Centrifuge Extracted).  Also, the coconut milk powder is so silky and thought I haven't tried the cream I ordered yet, I have high hopes.
 
You could probably use the cream and/or a little of the oil in your smoothies as well as cooking.  🙂

Dearest_Nikky

Has the results come back yet??

rmagliozzi

Wow. I'm sorry to hear about that!  Herpes Viruses and low natural killer cells are unfortuantly very common in some autistic kids.  My son also has Epstein Barr Virus, which is one of those 10 herpes viruses. You may want to look at a combo of antiviral medication and an immune modulator medicine called Immunovir, which increases natural killer cells. We use low dose naltrexone for my son's autoimmune disease. It has helped reduce his autoimmune episodes quite a bit. Both are pretty safe and do not shut down or turn off any part of the immune system- they help it work right.
And keep doing lots and lots of coconut products. That helps with viral problems. Want a recipe for making coconut  milk yogurt at home? All you need is a yogurt starter or probiotics and a crock pot.  

lostandtired

@rmagliozzi thanksso much for that information. Until you said something about this I nlknew nothing.

Batty

Rob, there is a fairly good article on wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Killer_cell) on natural killer cells–which are really cytotoxic lymphocytes–a vital part of the immune system.  Basically these are the rapid response system of the body to viral infections and tumor formation.  The blood tests may show Emmet has an auto-immune disorder.  The anti-virals will help his immune system fight off viruses such as herpes and others.  Poor kidlet! We will say double prayers for him!
Karen