A Little Info on Hudson's Condition

The questions I am probably asked most often about Hudson's condition is "what is it called?" and "what does it mean?" so I thought I would post a little information on it that made the most sense to me when I was first learning about it. That way, people can specifically know what we are dealing with and how to pray for him.

Diseases of the Red Blood Cells:

The most common condition affecting the red blood cells is anemia, a lower-than-normal number of red cells in the blood. Anemia is accompanied by a decrease in the amount of hemoglobin present in the blood. Anemia symptoms — such as pale skin, weakness, and a fast heart rate — happen because of the blood's reduced capacity for carrying oxygen. Causes of anemia can be grouped into two categories: anemia caused by insufficient RBC production and anemia caused by RBCs being destroyed too soon. (Hudson has anemia caused by RBCs being destroyed too soon).

When red blood cells are destroyed more quickly than normal by disease (this process is called hemolysis, pronounced: hih-mah-luh-sus), the bone marrow will make up for it by increasing production of new red cells to take their place. But if RBCs are destroyed faster than they can be replaced, a person will develop anemia.

Hereditary spherocytosis (pronounced: sfeer-o-sye-toe-sus). In this inherited condition, RBCs are misshapen (like tiny spheres, instead of disks) and especially fragile because of a genetic problem with a protein in the structure of the red blood cell. This fragility causes the cells to be easily destroyed.

An interesting thing about blood is that blood cells and some of the special proteins blood contains can be replaced or supplemented by giving a person blood from someone else. This process is called a transfusion. In addition to receiving whole-blood transfusions, people can also receive transfusions of a particular component of blood that they need. For example, someone can receive only platelets, red blood cells, or a clotting factor. When people donate blood, the whole blood can be separated into its different parts and used in this way.

It is so interesting to me just how unknown this disorder really is. I had never even heard of it until we started dealing with it with Hudson. Even though Wes had this same disorder, we had no idea what it was called or any real details about it. I wanted to learn as much about it as I could so I went to the library to look up some books on it. And I they did not have one single book on it!! Weird, huh? The Internet has been useful to some degree, but the Internet is also notorious for giving information that seems scary or isn't completely true or well-explained. So the best way I have learned things is to ask, ask, ask when we see a doctor. I still have a lot of questions and curiosity about this disorder that will just take time for me to feel more comfortable with.

Thank you for taking the time to pray for our Hudson and check in on him. I hope this post helped you learn a little but more about him.