I got a letter in the mail today and it said that Sarah does NOT have any indication of Celiac Disease. So we are ruling that out completely now.

The letter did say that she had the IgA difficiency and that it could lead to increased sinus, ear, and lung infections and can cause the body to shut down if given a blood transfusion with blood that contains the IgA antibody
but the Dr had already told that to me so that wasn't a shocker... anymore.
(I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one. For the most part, that information doesn't mean much... but it is something that I think needs to be known)


So, now we're just down to waiting for the consultation with the Neurosurgeon. Just under 4 weeks wait now....

What is IgA & why did they test Sarah for that?

Would an ER ever test for that before giving a transfusion? That is scary!

Ig stands for ImmunoGlobulin and A is one of for types of ImmunoGlobulins that a person has.
Immunoglobulin being an antibody...

they test the IgA antibody because people who have Celiac Disease - for some reason - - their IgA antibody count goes WAY down ... almost to zero... and so if they test that antibody, and it's very low, then they do further testing to test for Celiac. (like a colonoscopy)
So they tested her IgA, and it came back as a big fat Zero !
So they were unable to give an answer for the celiac disease because the IgA antibody wasn't there to test. So we had to go and get more blood and test for another antibody (I believe they tested the IgG the next time) the IgG antibody was present and doing well in the numbers so they were able to rule out Celiac at that point.

And, in an emergency situation, normally, No. They don't test before giving transfusions. In fact, they barely test bloodtypes and oftentimes just put in O-negative if they're in a big hurry.
So knowing that she doesn't carry this antibody is actually rather important if ever faced with a need for blood - I'd want to make sure that they only gave her IgA deficient blood.

Like - for her back surgery. I'm assuming that they don't do much cutting and there wouldn't be much of a chance to need extra blood... but what if???
kwim?

At least you are getting some answers now and the IgA is scary but at least you know about it and is something that is great to know for the future if needed. Your countdown seems to be going pretty quick ... how are you and Sarah doing?

For the "what if" I'd see about getting family members to be tested for IgA & donate blood before Sarah has surgery. Its in their interest to know if they are IgA deficient anyway. I'm not sure what else you could do.

My 2nd c/section ended up being a what-if situation and I had to have blood. Lucky for me, my overly conservative OB had suggested I donate while pregnant & my dad donated for me too. His blood was more helpful because of the higher iron in men's blood.