Mei-Rose Kauanoe Yuk Sim Moikeha

Okay. It got pretty difficult to explain and re-explain to each one of our friends about our daughter's condition. So here is the basic history. We will post more info as we have the time and as we get it.

Our daughter, Mei-Rose, is 20 months old. She is the youngest of six children. She was teething and crying at night for several weeks. She also had a few ear infections that I attributed to her crying at night. One day (June 16, 2005) had difficulty standing and subsequently walking. On June 17, 2005 I took her to Dr. Blane Chong who with consultation with Dr. Okimura, ordered a blood test. The blood results showed that she was iron deficient. Doctor Chong suggested that we take her to the emergency room so that a more thorough blood work up could be done. When we got there, the emergency room doctor ordered a CT scan so that we could figure out why she had difficulty standing and walking. The two problems seemed to be completely unrelated to each other. The CT scan seemed normal but Dr. Young suggested admission so that more test could be completed. CT scans, Xrays, Bone Marrow biopsy, and bone biopsy were completed and Luekemia was ruled out. Many days passed with us waiting for results. Different stains were used on the samples taken from Mei Mei's bones. We were released from the hospital on Tuesday June 28, 2005 and we are now awaiting confirmation from a specialist on the mainland. Histiocytosis is the culprit at this time. The disease is rare with some chance for full recovery. Treatment varies but is similar to cancer victims- chemotherapy. Our daughter is extreemly healthy. We would have not found out about this if we didn't go to the emergency room for the anemia. At Mei Mei's last appointment (July 6,2005) she weighed 31.5 pounds and we still had no word from the specialist. Hopefully something will come back soon.