Ridiculous but Required

So you recently saw my rant on the stupid lab and their inability to draw blood properly on Evan. Adam and I had seriously debated whether we wanted to put Evan through another blood draw or not. Finally it came down to me doing research on the consequences of not having him treated IF there is an actual issue with his thyroid. Here is the gist of the information I found...

Hypothyroidism in infants, children, and teens

Severe hypothyroidism in infancy results in slow growth, significant mental retardation, and developmental delays. Symptoms are seldom apparent at birth. The age at which they appear and their severity depends on how well the infant's thyroid gland works.

Symptoms in infants

• In the first few months of life, symptoms include poor appetite and choking while nursing, failure to gain weight and length, constipation, jaundice, breathing difficulties, a hoarse cry, and sluggishness. The baby's abdomen may be enlarged. His or her skin may feel cold and look mottled, and the genitals, hands, and feet may be swollen.


• Later signs include dry, scaly skin, poor growth of hair and nails, and a delay in the appearance of teeth. The child's growth may be stunted. His or her fingers and toes may be shorter than those of a healthy child. The child's head may look puffy and large, and the tongue may look swollen.

Infants are treated with synthetic thyroid hormone replacement. An infant treated for hypothyroidism within the first month of life grows and develops normally. Treatment must be continued for life. If hypothyroidism occurs after age 3, mental retardation usually does not occur. However, untreated childhood hypothyroidism usually delays a child's physical growth and sexual development.

Symptoms of hypothyroidism in children and teens

• Initial signs may include behavior changes, changes in school performance, and persistent abdominal pain. These signs are more suspicious in a child whose parents or siblings also have thyroid problems.


• There usually is some delay in growth and development, but it is not as severe as that which may result from hypothyroidism during infancy. Physical growth and sexual development are mainly affected. The onset of puberty is delayed, and children with hypothyroidism usually look much younger than they are. Children may also gain weight and yet have a slowed growth rate.

Children and teens also need lifelong treatment with synthetic thyroid hormone replacement. With adequate treatment, a child will catch up in height and weight to healthy children of the same age.

After doing my research I emailed this list to Adam so he could read it at work and give me his thoughts. Needless to say when Adam saw retardation along with the other possibilities he instantly called me at home and said to take Evan to the hospital for the lab work. So I packed up the kids and made my way there. During the draw I was talking with the tech and told her we were just here on Friday and apparently they didn't get enough blood and canceled the order but no one told me or the doctors office. Had I not checked with the doctor this would have went undetected for who knows how long. I told her the girl took an entire vial, so I didn't know what the issue was. At the same time I noticed that she had TWO vials laying in the bassinet. She explained that she is generally the one who handles all infant blood draws but she was out Friday. The girl who did it apparently did not know that the TSH test takes a significant amount of blood to test and therefore only drew one vial. The nurse today said that she caught wind of what happened and talked to the lady who drew the blood on Friday so this sort of thing doesn't happen again. She also said that she wasn't going to charge us for today's draw since it was their error on Friday. She was very apologetic with the whole situation. After I told Adam what took place today he said that should we have to ever go back for more blood draws to request the nurse from today. In hind sight, having my own blood drawn repeatedly for this same test I should have known better on Friday. They draw a full sized vial from my arm when the do it. Knowing that and seeing the tiny infant sized vials, it should have raised a red flag. But that is life and you learn your lessons.

UPDATE: While writing this post I received a call from the peds office that his TSH came back normal, so there is nothing wrong with his thyroid at this point. THANK GOD!!!!