We just got the results on a wet mount/blood smear for my daughter and the results were:
Occasional WBC's filled with swarming bacteria
Rare motile extracellular rods were observed
The doctor is out of town until next week, but has never seen a report like it. I called the lab to see if they recommended any specific PCR tests, but was told she should have a blood culture done.
From what I have read here, the second result seems like a mystery bug that some patients have, but I am curious if anyone else has WBC's swarmng with bacteria.
Any help or suggestions for new labs to be run would be gratefully appreciated.
Posted by feelfit (Member # 12770) on :
who ran the inital testing? which lab?
Posted by skigal (Member # 7443) on :
Sparrow, did Clongen lab run this test??
Posted by seibertneurolyme (Member # 6416) on :
It sounds like your report is from Clongen lab based on the descriptions -- is that correct?
Generally WBC would be more likely to be infected with ehrlichia or anaplasma. There may be other tickborne possibilities, but those are the most obvious ones.
Galaxy Lab in Raleigh, North Carolina has some new tests for Bartonella. Results take a minimum of 2 weeks. Not exactly sure yet if they see something besides Bart how or if it would be reported. They do have a special culture medium they are using.
The test is pretty expensive -- hubby's LLMD quoted $633. Think the docs can mark up the test if they run the cost thru their office so the price could vary depending on what doc orders it.
Is your daughter running fevers or does she have either a low or high white blood count? What are her major symptoms and how long has she been sick? Answers to some of these questions may help others make suggestions.
Bea Seibert
Posted by skigal (Member # 7443) on :
If the wet mount was done at Clongen, check out: www.lymemd.blogspot.com. Go to Sep '09 & look at "Antibiotic resistance, wet mounts-revisited."
From your description, looks like the result might go with #4. He mentions Zithromax & Rifampin.
Posted by Sparrow (Member # 11734) on :
Clongen was the lab. She has been sick for about 12 years--some years worse than others.
She has no fever. She runs a low temperature--like 96 or 97--and has low blood pressure, but a racy heart rate.
Main symptoms are intractible headache, hideous nausea, and constipation. She also has a very weird wound on her leg that she has had for several years. It started out as a small bite that looked like a spider bite. She has had a couple before that went away, but left tiny scars.
This one has stayed in a scabbed over state and never responded to anything until I zapped it with a Hulda Clark zapper. The doctor we see has been reluctant to send her to get it cut off for fear that it will become a bigger problem.
She has been treated for lyme, bart, and babs. The treatment that has helped the most has been mepron, zith, bicillin, and Deseret Biologicals Bart Remedy.
She failed IV treatment and the last time she had problems like the port site was infected. She had several blood cultures done and they even cultured the port, but the lab results were always negative for infection.
In the discussion I had over her recent results, anaplasma was mentioned and rickettsia in passing, but nothing definative. I do understand why it is not a definite test, I just am looking for the next direction to take.
I am so grateful for everyone's input. We could never have gotten this far without all of the information everyone is willing to share. Thank you so much.
Posted by timaca (Member # 6911) on :