A mother's intuition.... that nagging feeling that something isn't right.
I don't often blog much. Most of the stuff I put on here is pictures of the kids w/ little captions. Im even pretty sure that no one even looks at this blog page. But I have a lot on my mind and Im using this as a dumping ground to get it out.
If anyone knows me they know that I am an analyzer. I will sit and absorb the info you are telling me, store it away in little folders in my brain and when I have the time I will sit down and recall all those folders and start to break apart all the info. Sometimes this is good and more times than not its bad. Sometimes I over analyze things and get myself so worked up. Which is why I am so glad I am married to my husband. He knows this and is able to bring things into perspective. But I think this even has him scratching his head and freaking out a little bit. This will probably be a long blog post so I will try to start from the beginning.
Hindsight is always 20/20.
Back in the late summer early fall, I noticed a bruise on Chase's back. It was on his spine towards the lower portion of his back. I didn't think too much of it other than maybe he fell and hurt his back. After all boys will be boys and he is my Moose, very clumbsy. So I brushed it off. It kind of lingered for several weeks but eventually went away. Then one night while getting him ready for a shower I noticed a lump in the same spot the bruise was just in. Thought it was strange but again brushed it off. I filed all this information in a folder and stored it away in my brain. Another week or so went by and as Chase was walking by me w/ no shirt on, trying to be like his big brother, I still noticed the lump. I thought it was strange how he started w/ a bruise and now a lump. Isn't it suppose to be just reverse when you injure something. A lump will form and then will develop into a bruise from healing?? So just to put my mind at ease I called the naval clinic and scheduled an apt w/ his new primary doctor. We needed to get in to meet her anyways.
So day of the appt, I point out the lump. I explain there was a bruise there before. She starts feeling around his body and feels a swollen lymph node in the back of the right side of his neck about 1/2 a cm. Feels his armpits, nothing. Feels his groin and feels another swollen lymph node on the right side about the same size. She asks a bunch of questions like has he been sick lately, has he felt tired, etc. Then one question she asked which initially I answered no to, was has he had any night sweats? She orders some blood work to be done and off to the lab we went.
I later recalled that he has had night sweats. Often times I have put him down for a nap and he has woken up w/ a wet head. I brushed it off as him drooling and we have even thought maybe he peed because his shirt would be wet in the back. Upon checking for pee in the bed, there was nothing. My MIL recalls him being a sweaty baby too.
The lab was a freightning experience for Chase. Very traumatic. The guy missed his vein in the left arm. Moved to the right. Was able to get it for a little bit but then the vein clotted. So he had to move back to the left arm. After all was said and done they have 5 viles of blood to send off. We wouldn't get those back for a week so we scheduled a follow up for a week later.
A couple days later, Dr Cash called saying his blood work looked good and she would see us in a few days to discuss. I was kind of relieved that nothing had shown up on the blood work.
Get to the follow up appt (Thurs Nov 20) and she feels the lymph nodes again. The right one she didn't feel but now feels one on the left side. The right groin one is still there and now there is one on the left groin. While feeling the right groin Chase started to cry because he said it hurt when she pressed on it. She went over the blood work. Tried to explain it to me. Like I said before, I file away all this info in my brain just to go back home and analyze it to pieces. The blood work was testing for Epstein Barr Virus, which after Googling (which by the way..... Google is a very scary place when searching medical stuff) turns out to be the main virus for Mono. There were 2 more virus tests which all came back Negative. So we know he doesn't have Mono. There were a few other blood test to determine if he has some kind of inflammatory thing going on like Rheumatoid Arthritis or Lupus and all that was Negative. (insert Sigh of Relief). So she whips out this algorithm for something called Lymphadenopathy and says that the next step is to either try a round of antibiotics or get a chest xray. She said our next option would be to send him to a Pediatric Surgeon to have a biopsy done in Greenville. I told her lets do Xray and Antibiotics. Whats it going to hurt?
So Chase and I walk down to schedule the xray and they said they have an opening now could we stay. I said sure. Xray gets done and we head to Pharmacy to get Antibiotic. The next day she calls w/ results of the xray and they looked normal, no masses showed up. However I failed to ask if it showed any lymph nodes or just the lump on his spine? She said to take the round of antibiotics and after we returned from vacation for Thanksgiving schedule a follow up so she can feel the lymph nodes and go from there.
She had mentioned that his blood work looked good but there were a few things that were a little on the High side but not too far off normal. So what do I do.....I analyze it at home and start to google each result. His HGB, HCT, Platelets, Lymph % and Lymph # were all the High ones. His Neut % was Low. His WBC was on the low side of normal (5.0-15.5) and his was 8.3. His RBC CNT was on the high side of normal (3.4 - 5.3) and his was 4.88. It just doesn't make sense that if he is fighting an infection (reason for lymph nodes to be swollen) shouldn't he be showing some kind of sign: Fever, sore throat, cough, runny nose? Nothing. Looking at him you wouldn't know anything is wrong. So if you rule out all that and we have ruled out Mono, RA, Lupus, etc...... what is the cause of the swollen lymph nodes, bruising, night sweats? Google seems to indicate 2 things: Leukemia and Lymphoma. This has freaked me out!
We head to GA for Thanksgiving week. On our last day there I noticed a new bruise on his spine. (See below) I show it to Chad and he seems to recall that Chase fell off this little scoot car in the house. But he wasn't sure where he hit. There was a small bruise on his butt cheek that I think was where he fell and hit. But again neither one of us saw him fall and can not confirm where he landed. (See below - right picture just above his pant line) There is also a huge bruise on the front of his left shin (didn't get a pic of that). Chad said that was probably from him riding Emily's longboard on his knees. We drive home (Monday Dec 1). Tuesday I happen to notice another new bruise on his spine above the one I noticed in GA. Plus there is a new bruise on his right hip/butt cheek. Chase completes his antibiotics. I felt around his neck for the lymph nodes and while I am no doctor and not sure if I am feeling lymph nodes, I now feel what I think is a lymph node. I lay chase down and feel in his groin and feel what I think are the lymph nodes down there. So in my mind the antiobiotics didn't work. I called to schedule another follow up appt on Tuesday Dec 9.
Left side was Sunday Nov 30 / Right side was Tuesday Dec 2
Wednesday Dec 5 - Knee bruises (not there day before)
Wednesday Dec 5
Wednesday Dec 5 Side hip bruise (was not there the day before or in GA)
We will see what comes of it. I of course think the worse and think its connected w/ the early onset of Lymphoma. But time will tell and I have to keep myself busy between now and Tuesday. Because Google really is a scary place when you are doing medical research on your child.
I will try to keep blogging about this till we find an answer. In the mean time I have to pray about my BIL and my dad. Both are under going some medical issues they are trying to get answers to as well. I hope this isn't the "they come in 3's" thing everyone always talks about.
