Day 155 November 6 2009

Friday- Today was the Yankee parade. They won their 27th world series. Pretty exciting. We were in the city but did not get near the excitement. Cody got an infusion of IVIG which is the intravenous immunoglobulin. He handled it well. Then he got a dose of another medicine tto give him added protection for RSV virus that comes with the flu. They could not stress enough how important it is to wash your hands and get a flu shot. The BEST news today was that Cody is gaining weight!!! Remember he has no IV or line so all the eating and nutrition is up to us and he is doing it!! A line is scheduled for Wednesday just in case. If he continues to gain by Tuesday, it will be canceled. He was so happy and he was singing and dancing in the car on the way home!! That picked him up for sure. He is back on track and we will get past this. ( Intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) is made of antibodies that have been extracted from blood donations from 3,000-10,000 healthy donors. IVIG is used to treat many autoimmune disorders, idiopathic diseases (disease of unknown cause), and infections.

Immunoglobulins (Ig) are glycoprotein molecules that function as antibodies. During an immune response, these antibodies, which are present in the bloodstream, detect and bind to antigens (foreign substances that are capable of inducing immune responses). Examples of antigens include bacteria, viruses, mold spores, dust mites, animal dander, and fungi. Once the antibodies attach to the antigen, white blood cells are stimulated to destroy the antigen. Since antibodies are present in the bloodstream, they are considered part of the humoral immune system.?