My WHY...
2016 started off like any other year. Recent family trip out of state, New Year's resolutions, and picking up where 2018 left off. Little did I know that my life would be turned upside down in just a few months.
My youngest son (4 1/2 yrs old) had been battling fluid in his ears for too long (months). We'd visited his pediatrician several times and were told the same thing "It will resolve on its own." So, we continued to manage symptoms with holistic methods and antibiotics when I just got tired of waiting for his body to fix itself. First antibiotic didn't touch it. Second antibiotic was stronger and caused a rash. We stopped the drugs.
One day, as the lymph nodes in his little neck were growing, he started losing color in his little lips. The color loss did not make them purple - which indicates loss of oxygen. The color loss meant the pigment wasn't there - he was getting oxygen but something was definitely wrong. The nurse line advised me to take him to urgent care. I went... it was a Sunday. Urgent Care wasn't convinced they could help and they don't have radiology staffed on the weekend. So, they sent us to the ER. By this time my husband is with us... we all went to the ER - and waited. When they finally saw my son it was late afternoon. Blood draws, repeated pokes and prods. CT scan. More waiting. A jewish doctor looked at my son. He also physically felt my son's lymph nodes - all of them. He remarked that they were all swollen and that he didn't like that fact. He ordered more tests. More waiting. HE was the one that helped us discover answer.
CANCER.
But what kind? They didn't know, but they knew it was serious. They transferred my son to a children's hospital in a neighboring county. The ambulance drove away with my baby and my husband. I shattered into a million pieces in the hospital parking lot before scooping myself up and driving to meet my family at the hospital.
My youngest son (4 1/2 yrs old) had been battling fluid in his ears for too long (months). We'd visited his pediatrician several times and were told the same thing "It will resolve on its own." So, we continued to manage symptoms with holistic methods and antibiotics when I just got tired of waiting for his body to fix itself. First antibiotic didn't touch it. Second antibiotic was stronger and caused a rash. We stopped the drugs.
One day, as the lymph nodes in his little neck were growing, he started losing color in his little lips. The color loss did not make them purple - which indicates loss of oxygen. The color loss meant the pigment wasn't there - he was getting oxygen but something was definitely wrong. The nurse line advised me to take him to urgent care. I went... it was a Sunday. Urgent Care wasn't convinced they could help and they don't have radiology staffed on the weekend. So, they sent us to the ER. By this time my husband is with us... we all went to the ER - and waited. When they finally saw my son it was late afternoon. Blood draws, repeated pokes and prods. CT scan. More waiting. A jewish doctor looked at my son. He also physically felt my son's lymph nodes - all of them. He remarked that they were all swollen and that he didn't like that fact. He ordered more tests. More waiting. HE was the one that helped us discover answer.
CANCER.
But what kind? They didn't know, but they knew it was serious. They transferred my son to a children's hospital in a neighboring county. The ambulance drove away with my baby and my husband. I shattered into a million pieces in the hospital parking lot before scooping myself up and driving to meet my family at the hospital.
