Do you ever feel like life is changing, like your routine is all of a sudden confused and you are not sure why but you can feel you are being prepared for something? I have felt this way for at least 5 months--starting with the Pioneer Trek--like I was being prepared for something hard...
Well, it might be that time. Last week, we took Arielle to the urologist, Dr Cope, for what we thought was a kidney stone. Because she has only one kidney, he scheduled her for emergency surgery the next morning, then sent her to the hospital to have a ct scann and a KUB xray, along with blood work, so he could know the exact location and size of the stone.
Well, there is no stone...but her spleen is enlarged and her white blood cell count is elevated. Dr Cope sent her to see Dr Frame, a doctor of internal medicine. After reviewing her symptoms, he asked her if she has looked any of them up online. When we told him that she had, he asked what she found. She told him "leukemia" and other "scary stuff" and he nodded his head. Then he stepped out to talk to his partner. It all seemed so familiar! UGH!!
He sent us to the hospital lab to get tested for leukemia. They also did a sed rate and ebv panel. And it is going to take a week to get the results...
So here we wait. She keeps having pain and fatigue and weakness. She has called in sick to work and has come home early from work. It is frustrating because she just bought a car and needs to work. What if she loses her job? And then I get frustrated because that is awful for me to be worrying about that...
But, if we get the results and find ourselves on the cancer road, we will be ready and willing to face it and take it, and she will beat it--again.
2 comments:
OHhhhhh!!! I hope not!! I hope this is not a familiar road. However, I am so glad that she decided to come home from school! That is a blessing, whether it ends up being a "familiar road" or something less serious. Home is no doubt what she needs right now. Prayers your way!! xoxo
Update: Leukemia test came back as 'inconclusive,' so they are sending her for more tests. Possibly a bone marrow biopsy. In asking questions and doing my own research, an enlarged spleen can be mono, leukemia or lymphoma, or sarcoidosis. Mono has been ruled out. The flow cymetry (leukemia) test has false negatives sometimes, and lymphoma isn't diagnosed with this test. I have no idea what sarcoidosis is, other than that they mention it a lot on House, MD. :)
So we are pretty much in the hurry up and wait stage. She has bad days and better days, but is always exhausted and in pain at some degree. She goes to work, but often is sent home after an hour or two. (Luckily she had a really great job and an even greater boss who is working with her.)
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