I get asked that question ALL the time. And the truth is I had no idea he had it, I thought I was being one of those overly concerned new moms... Let me explain.
The night of the 4th of July we were doing our typical night time routine (bath, lotion, sing, bedtime), but Rodney was outside with the neighbors setting up fireworks that we were about to do once I got done with Reece. I noticed a little rash on his arm but didn't think toooo much of it because the lights were dim and what little kid doesn't get a rash.
The next morning Rodney went in and got him up and dressed for the day. Not thinking too much into it I asked him if he saw the rash on Reece's arm (literally it was like 5 little pinprick dots on his elbow). He said yeah but it didn't look like anything much. He said it looked like maybe he rubbed it against something outside too hard (kind of like when you were younger and someone gave you an Indian burn). Again, not thinking anything much about it I told him if it was still there tomorrow I would call his pediatrician.
I don't know what it was, call it a mother's instinct, call it paranoia of being a first-time-mom, call it what you want (after all it was like I said just a couple of dots on the back of his arm - no sickness, Reece had never in his life had a fever, no runny nose, nothing) but that night after we put Reece to bed, I did the one thing all doctors tell you not to do and I turned to Dr. Google. I googled kids rashes and looked at all different kinds of pictures. I googled different kinds of bruises. Then I googled 'small dots on 2 year olds arm'. That's when I started seeing more of what looked like Reece had and that's when a picture of petechiea popped up, and I was pretty sure that's what Reece had.
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| This is exactly what Reece's arm looked like. |
So the next morning he still had the little dots so I decided to call the pediatrian and see if I could just go in right then. Thankfully, they had an opening within 15 minutes of me calling. Reece and I got to the doctors office and sat in the waiting room. I remember looking around at sick kids in their moms laps not able to play around and look obviously sick. Reece, on the otherhand, had his little tractor out rolling it all over the chairs and into people saying "tractor, tractor." I remember thinking to myself "what am I doing here, it's not going to be anything and the doctors are going to say to each other when I leave "first-time-mom".
The nurse called us back and after asking me what was the matter and listening to me explain, she asked if it was okay if our actual Doctor didn't see us, that the student pediatrian see us instead (and all I could think was, "see, it's nothing"). The student came in and poked at Reece's arm to see if it blanched (it didn't). He said he had never seen someone come in with this rash before, (geez thanks - worst thing to say - but hey, he's still a student) so he wanted to bring the doctor in to have a look.
After seeing it she said this is called petechiea, it can happen if your child was under a lot of stress or it could be an indication of a more serious blood problem. Don't be alarmed, but I'm going to send you to the nearest hospital just to get some blood work to make sure it's nothing more serious. (Whhhaaaaatt?!!) Me, being naive, didn't ask anymore questions because no, my child doesn't have a serious problem, so let's go get this blood work done to prove it.
Fast forward to about 5:00 PM (our initial appointment was at 10:15 AM). I get a call from our pediatrician saying they got the blood work back and his white blood cells were higher than normal. And then, in a vey casual voice said, "you're going to need to pack a bag and go to the ER at the children's hospital. I've already called ahead and they know you're on your way." (MIND BEING BLOWN) I get off the phone and ask Rodney to grab Reece a pair of pjs from upstairs (spoiler alert: we only packed one pair of pjs, little did we know we wouldn't be leaving the hospital for another 35 days) and I'll get some snacks together.
The car ride was weird. We had about a 45 minute drive. Reece was great! He watched Blippi the whole time, again little did we know that would turn into his best friend (hindsight sure is 20:20). Rodney and I kept trying to be positive. We knew from googling that this could end up in leukemia, but really, our kid wasn't sick. We've never had a sick kid. Our child couldn't possibly have cancer.
We got to the ER and well... Most of us have been to an ER. They aren't fun and they aren't fast, especially if your getting blood work done.
Four hours and five IV holes later Reece is passed our asleep on my chest, the doctor came in and said, "Our hemotology department has been looking at his blood and it looks like your son has Leukemia."
*silence in the room*
*more silence*
"I'm so sorry, do you have any questions for me? I know this is a lot to take in."
*more silence*
"I'm going to give you minute. Someone from our pathology and hemotology group will be in to answer any questions."
*doctor leaves room*
*rodney and I immediately hug and start to bawl*
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