Crisis Averted

Many of you know that Ty has hyperphenylalaninemia (definitely a mouthful!), and therefore has to have his blood checked every couple of months to make sure that his phenylalanine level isn't too high. Only a couple of times has his level come back a little too high, and we just rechecked it, and it was back down to an acceptable range. Last Tuesday his latest blood level came back at 8.9-- which is very high. It's usually in the 2-3 range, and anything above a 6 should be treated with a strict diet which basically cuts out all kinds of protein. No dairy, meats, certain grains, etc. Needless to say, we were worried. What kid is going to be happy eating a rice cake when everyone else in his class is having a cupcake? But sticking to the diet is critical, since high levels of phenylalanine can lead to seizures and mental retardation. Anyhow, we were pretty alarmed and sent off another blood sample right away. Thankfully, today it came back at 2.3. We are so grateful to not have to call that trial our own right now! My heart definitely goes out to all those who have PKU or hyperphe that has to be treated! It's not the worst thing that could happen, but it would not be fun.