Last test (hopefully)

Today we have the LAST test in this ongoing saga. Christopher will have a bone scan this afternoon to further rule out any serious issues in his body. At 11 am he will be injected with some kind of radioactive tracer... we will then go back at 1 pm for the actual scan. My prayer has been this: that the scan is NEGATIVE of any problems BUT if there is ANYTHING that we need to see - for it to be seen. No matter how small.

I am so thankful for the strep diagnosis and the medicines they have put him on. He is feeling much better and I pray that when we take him off of the pain/anti-inflammatory medicine he will still feel great - proving strep was the cause!

Thank you for all your kind words and prayers (and cake Shana!)

I will post the results of his scan as soon as we hear them - not sure how long it will take but I've heard a couple of days.

Christopher and the KNOWN

We received GREAT news Friday! Christopher's strep culture came back positive! (His rapid strep was negative... but they did the longer strep culture as well) This could be the reason for his joint pain! Let's go back a couple days to fill you in on our week...

We had planned a couple of months ago to go camping Thanksgiving weekend. Brian and I had gone back and forth with the idea several times because we still have boxes to unpack... but it's not often (first time since May I think...) that I have a possible Sunday off so we hated to let it pass us by. When Chris got sick we again reconsidered the weekend plans. Camping doesn't exactly sound like a great activity for someone in pain... but then the dr put him on something to help with the pain. So the camping idea was again considered.

When you hear that your child might have something serious like cancer your mind goes on many journeys. All of the "what-ifs" take over. I thought "What if he is too sick in the coming months to take a family trip" "What if he ends up not able to walk" "What if this is the last opportunity we will ever have to take him camping..." Of course all of these things are going on only in my head because A) I don't want to be dramatic B) I don't want to scare anyone else and C) I won't dare utter these things aloud. No matter what Chris had... I decided life is too short to keep putting things off.

We finally decided on Thanksgiving morning to leave for camping THAT afternoon (after Turkey lunch at the in-laws). We would take Christopher's medicine, plenty of blankets to keep him warm and comfortable, and an air mattress to keep him off of the ground. That first night was quite interesting. Isabel and I headed up first (so the boys could watch the game) and we got the tent all set up and some of the things unpacked. By the time the boys got there it was too late to inflate all of the air mattresses (due to the quiet hours in effect). We decided to only inflate Christopher's and the rest of us could sleep on the ground. We got him tucked in all comfy and cozy on his mattress with tons of blankets while the rest of us huddled together in the other tent. Christopher slept GREAT! He stayed warm and had a peaceful night - waking with the regular pain he has had for the last week. He took his medicine and was ready to go in an hour or so. The rest of us however were not so fortunate. LOL We froze as we tossed and turned all night trying to get a wink of sleep. It was worth it though! Knowing that he was comfortable and not being put under any additional stress made it worthwhile. We had a great time and Chris decided he wanted to stay another night. (We all slept on air mattresses that night!)

We got the good news while we were camping Friday. I never thought I would be glad to hear my kid has strep! But it was like I could breathe again! We still have to do the bone scan Monday to further rule out the possibilities of any malignancy... but I am resting in this diagnosis and trusting it is the source of his problems.

I have learned - or rather been reminded - a great lesson through all of this... We always say - tomorrow, next weekend, next summer.... it's time to just say NOW. Not in an impulsive/reckless way... but to take time to "smell the roses" that might not be there tomorrow, next weekend, or next summer.

Christopher and the unknown

Well... what a journey we are on. And I am ready for it to end. Six days doesn't sound like very long - but trust me - it can feel like a lifetime.

Six days ago Christopher woke up complaining of chest pain. It hurt to breathe so I took him to the doctor. He had no other symptoms and his chest x-ray came back clear, so the dr diagnosed him with Costochondritis. Remedy? Motrin and rest. The next morning Christopher woke up with all over joint pain... ankles, knees, wrists, thumbs, elbow, shoulders, chest and neck. We headed back to the doctor. This new pain cancelled out the first diagnosis and we were sent home for the weekend to rest and monitor his condition. The hope was (and still is) this pain is a result of a virus that will go away on its own. However, Sunday the pain was so bad that Christopher stayed home from church (which he NEVER does) and missed the Student Turkey Bowl he was so looking forward to. Monday morning brought blood work and more rest. We tried to go by the grocery store but after 20 minutes it was too painful for him to continue to walk around. Tuesday morning we headed back to the doctor for another consultation, more blood work, and some test results. Christopher's lymph nodes are now swollen but other than that he still had no new symptoms. The results: blood count...ok, rheumatoid factor...negative, Sed rate...45, strep test... negative, other tests still pending. We learned that the sed rate was very high and while it shows that there is a LOT of inflammation happening in his body - it does NOT tell us the cause. Basically just confirms it's not all in his head... The joint pain migrates around his body each day. His latest and greatest pain has been his hips and this morning when he woke up he could no longer walk. Putting any pressure or weight on his left hip caused too much pain. Another call to the doctor and we were directed to Texas Children's ER.

The wait wasn't too bad and we were in a room within half an hour. Several nurses came by and asked all of the same questions and finally the doctor came in to ask them all again. The doctor said she likes cases like these... not for children to be in pain but because joint pain is like a puzzle and finding the diagnosis requires a lot of brain work and hunting. They started an IV line so that they could easily take MORE blood and could give him some medicine to help with the inflammation and pain. We waited an hour or so for the "results". Basically we still know nothing. The good news: Leukemia and Lymphoma have been ruled out. The bad news: It could be a million of other things including a virus, rheumatoid arthritis (or some other form), or something else malignant in his body. They sent us home with a prescription for naproxen, an order for a bone scan, and a referral to the pediatric rheumatologist. As for school - he is not contagious (though they don't know what he has) and can return to school on days (and for as many hours as) he feels up to it. FRUSTRATING

I talked with our pediatrician when we got home and found out that the rheumatologist was there - ready to see Christopher but the ER doctor NEVER CALLED HIM. We now get to wait for an available appointment which it looks like will be JANUARY 12.

Needless to say this has been an emotional and exhausting day. SO frustrated to not have answers and to have missed a chance to find some... BUT SO THANKFUL THAT THEY RULED OUT TWO KINDS OF CANCER. I also appreciate the doctor's careful choice of words around Christopher. She never said cancer... only malignancy (and then leukemia and lymphoma AFTER they were ruled out).

We REALLY appreciate everyone's prayers and calls and emails/FB posts. We will continue to update his status on this page and through Facebook. Please continue to pray... there is still a chance this is just the aftereffect of a virus and he will wake up one day pain free. Maybe it will be tomorrow!