A little help with labs (Non-Surgery related)

[DonRobbie]

My youngest son is getting Calcium deposits in his eyes. He's 21, on the autism spectrum (he's verbal but difficult to communicate with) with pretty terrible anxiety and making sure he's eating is a constant battle (He will eat as long as the items he likes are available, but he won't tell us if he needs something, he just stops eating. We had him checked by his Primary Care Physician after we heard about the problem from the eye doctor and he came back with elevated Calcium levels in his bloodstream. Now we've got him on Vitamin D and his most recent labs came back 'normal'.

Here's the numbers:
Calcium Total SerPl QN (mg/dL) Current 10.0 Previous (H)10.2 Reference Range 86-10
Calcium Ionized Bid QN (mmol/L) Current 1.15 Previous - Reference Range 1.10-1.35
PTH Intact Ser QN (pg/mL) Current 55 Previous - Reference range 15-65
Phosphorus SerPl QN (mg/dL) Current 4.1 Previous - Reference range 2.5-4.5

They only listed the previous result for Total Calcium. I know after the DS people monitor their pTH so I was hoping someone would have a little insight into the numbers.

 

[Larra]

When you refer to your son having seen the eye doctor, do you mean an optometrist or an ophthalmologist? The optometrist is the one who assesses your vision and prescribes glasses. They are well trained specialists, but not medical doctors. The ophthalmologist is an MD specializing in diseases or the eye.
If your son's pcp is at a loss, and especially if your son's vision is being affected, I would think he should be seen by an ophthalmologist. Those labs are within the normal range, if only just barely.

 

[DonRobbie]

He was seem by an optometrist, his vision is quite bad (It didn't help that he wasn't talking until 3-4 years of age and not able to communicate really until 5 so his first glasses had to be prescribed just based on looking at his eyeballs)

 

[Larra]

See if his pcp will refer him for a consult with an ophthalmologist, not to assess his vision but to examine his eyes and determine whether or not these calcium deposits are of any significance. If they don't interfere with his vision, they may be unimportant. Granted it may not be easy to sort that out in his case, but it still may be worth a try.

 

[southernlady]

He was seem by an optometrist, his vision is quite bad (It didn't help that he wasn't talking until 3-4 years of age and not able to communicate really until 5 so his first glasses had to be prescribed just based on looking at his eyeballs)

Most ophthalmologists do not require referrals but his insurance coverage might. Not the vision insurance but medical as this may be a medical condition.

Both my husband and I see ophthalmologists due to medical conditions that can damage the eyes. We don't even have vision insurance now that we are retired.