7 yr old with low white blood cells

[malleycc]

My daughter is 7 and had been feeling bad - no real definite symptoms lacy rash with red spots, cough, tired, not eating, said knee hurt, pale, slight fever 100-101 off and on...  I took her to dr and dr took blood and said low white blood cells 2.4 said it was a virus and to come back if not ok in 3 days.  3 days later I took her back still same symptoms (I think the rash was worse over more of body) dr took blood and urine this time.  white blood cells 2.6 and some white blood cells in urine.  was put on Bactrim still after one week is still not doing great is better but not back to normal.  Is complaining of head ache.  Never did that before.  I will probably wait till the anti's are done and see if the head aches go away.

Should she be checked again for the white blood cells to see if they are normal yet?

Daughter has down syndrome, had urinary reflux until 4 yrs old, had heart catherization to close pda at 1yr.  Thats the history.

[kira754]

Hello my name is kira i just had my 7 children with my husband. i just gave birth to a baby girl she was born 9 pounds. on the day we post to be discharge they said her white blood cells drop low in with 2 days it drop low. they dont understand why her white blood cells are droping in they are doing tests on her everyday my baby will be 7 days old on wednesday.

[seantal]

Low platelet count can actually be caused by a virus. This actually happened to my daughter about 2 years ago. She woke up with a HUGE bruise on her back (she couldn't remember hitting herself) and I found multiple other smaller bruises. Took her to our GP who ordered a CBC, her platelet count was 62! I am a lab technologist who actually works in hematology so my first thought was leukemia. We were referred to a pediatric hematologist immediately and her platelet count was repeated 2 days later..... it was back to normal, just a viral reaction (scary as all get out!!!).

Good luck I hope everything clears up and is nothing to worry about!

[sj58]

Endocarditis

Check it out.  I know that it is a little late and hope all is well with your daughter, but my son is 7 and just went to the dr with fever and a previous (within 2 weeks) history of impetigo.  I kept pushing because he had never been sick in 7 yrs other than a common cold which he was able to get over on his own with help from tylenol.  

4th day fever at 102 and dr refused blood draw, I begged the primary care to draw blood and they were sure that this was a virus.  Since he had the annual virus less than a month prior I was sure that this was different, but they didn't want to write a blood draw either. Finally I went to an infectious disease specialist (Same day) which ordered blood work.  Came back the following day as a bacterial infection.  She ordered an EKG and and Echocardiogram which confirmed that the infection was in the heart.  4 to 6 weeks of antibiotics through an IV but it saved his life.  Look it up, prognosis is severe heart damage to death.

Get second opinions,and go with your gut as a parent.  Don't keep going to the same Dr if they cannot logically explain things to you and why they are happening.  the internet does wonders....  it's proven that now dr's are running a numbers game with insurance and for the most part they are guessing and not taking the time to diagnose properly.

Thank God we pushed forward.  I hope that this may help someone else along the line to get a second or third opinion.

[worry2010]

hi, i have a 19 month old daughter , she recently picked up a virus, due to a high fever and past kidneys problems i took her to the hospital to be checked out, after running some blood work they found that her platelets were down to 118, and the white blood cells down to 2.3, they have repeated the blood work twice since then and the platelets are up 130 and now 149, but the white blood cell is still at 2.3, the dr. wants to see her again tommorro and said bring her sooner to be seen if fever comes back......  the dr. is suspecting its all from virus,,, could this be from a virus or should i be demanding more to be done?

[davie85]

Hi there, I agree with sharon1971. It is a frightening thought to keep in the back of your mind that your daughter may have cancer, but based on her symptoms, she should definitely be tested for leukemias and/or lymphomas. The constitutional symptoms of fever, tiredness and decreased appetite are typical of cancers. Her painful knee may be due to cancerous cells invading the bone. The paleness may be due to anemia (low red blood cells). When you have anemia, it's hard for the body to deliver adequate oxygen to your organs and one of the organs that requires the most oxygen is the brain. Starving the brain of oxygen may contribute to the headache. The rash you're describing may actually be petechiae or purpura (blood underneath the skin due to low platelets). Platelets are involved in blood clotting. When your platelets are low, you are prone to bleeding even without injury. The low white cells put her at greater risk of getting recurrent infections. The most common cancer in childhood is acute lymphocytic leukemia, a fancy term for cancer of the white blood cells. Fortunately, it is a very treatable disease with more than 85% of children achieving recovery. With leukemias, the cancerous cells invade the bone marrow and replace the normal tissue with cancer. The bone marrow is responsible to producing red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. The destruction of the bone marrow by the cancer causes a reduction in red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. When that happens, you begin to notice all those symptoms you've described. Having your doctor check your daughter for leukemia should be your top priority right now. It might turn out that she may not have it but it should be ruled out. Hope that helps.

[sharon1971]

Hi there , I hate to say this but did you ever have your daughter checked out by a pediatric cancer specialist. ? or by any cancer specialist. ? sounds pretty scary. maybe you should demand that you doctor send you to one.