The Official Diagnosis

The biggest question to date has been "what the heck happened?" The answer: antiphospholipid antibodies, an autoimmune disorder/disease.

Alex had an infection that triggered/created (?) these antiphospholipid antibodies in his system. There is no research that has yet uncovered why people have or develop these antibodies, so we do not know if he had them before the infection or if he developed them as a response to the infection. We only know that they caused his body to react in such a way that blood clots were formed, causing the strokes.

They do know that the chance of any of the rest of us having the same antibodies is rare (Jason, Troy or I). The specialist overseeing Alex's case has only seen this syndrome affecting multiple family members once in 20 years.

It is possible that he will cease to test positive for these antibodies any time. If he does then they will be able to cut down on the blood thinners. His next testing for the antibodies will be at the end of October; until then we are giving him injections of blood thinners twice daily using diabetic insulin needles into his thighs. He's getting used the injections but it's still difficult. He is also taking aspirin (orange flavoured chewable) each morning.

So we are hoping that the October test is negative and will result in either little or no more medication.