Hello. I have a request. Only two of my IRL friends know about this situation, but I'm asking for prayer here since it's fairly anonymous, and this situation needs prayer. My son has been complaining of being very tired, when mentioned at his annual well visit, the doc said "lets just run some bloodwork, normal for a teen boy to be tired, but not bone weary tired like he describes". Also, he has these odd breathing episodes where he goes pale white and can't catch his breath. They don't last long, etc. She mentioned putting him on an inhaler, but wanted to see the bloodwork results first. Well, after she got the results, she said she wanted to do a repeat round in about a month. We went today for a repeat round. She hasn't said WORD ONE about what she thinks might be happening. But researching the results from the original bloodwork, words like leukemia come up. Now, so do some vitamin deficiencies like D and pernicious anemia. Please pray. He just turned 13. He's our only son. He's still my little boy in many ways. I'm trying not to let my head "go there". But...it does. Thank you. Krista
Praying hard for your son and for you. We went through a similar situation years ago with our oldest child who was 11 at the time. His doctor would not say what he was checking for until I said, "there is nothing you can tell me that will be worse than what I am thinking." That is when he started talking to us about what we might be up against. It made it very scary to hear words like cancer, but it gave me direction in how to pray and fight. Please keep us updated.
Oh man. That is brutally hard. I will pray, and will submit prayers for your son's health to our prayer group at church. The waiting is so hard. One thing that I find kind of encouraging...is that the doctor is being sort of conservative with testing. You would think that if something really dreadful were showing up, she'd order other diagnostics right away. In my mind, the fact that she's comfortable waiting a month....instead of being more aggressive...is a good sign. Prayers for him... and for you and your family. *hugs*
Thanks everyone. I appreciate your prayers so much. I've been an absolute wreck today, doing everything I can to keep busy and not think about it all. Hopefully, we will have some news tomorrow.
Thank you all for praying. His platelet count has come back into the low side of normal. I believe that the platelet count going up means that the "c" word might be off the table? At least I'm hoping so. She is sending him for an full iron study and for a test for Celiac. She said his iron is low, and that could explain the exhaustion and all his symptoms, but that it's not normal for a 13 year old to be anemic. So...that's why she's testing the Celiac, she said it would impair his ability to absorb nutrients. (which I know to be true). So if the worst thing is that we have to make him GF, that's not problem at all!!! I'm already GF!!!! Please continue to pray. It's working!!!!
Does he, by any chance, drink a ton of milk? Excessive milk consumption is associated with iron deficient anemia in young people. Believe it or not, drinking too much milk can cause decreased absorption of iron and irritate the intestinal lining so much it can cause chronic blood loss in some kids. I know that sounds wild....but if your son is a big milk drinker...it's worth mentioning.
Not yet, I haven't picked up his latest bloodwork, but I will get it when I pick up the next bloodwork order. He does LIKE milk, and he does drink a "normal" amount - has some each day in his cereal and has maybe another glass. We drink organic raw milk from a local dairy that is scrupulously clean and visited by the food police at least once a month! LOL He would have more if I let him b/c he loves it....but I limit him to the cereal and maybe an 8 oz glass later in the day as part of a snack. But he does love cheese. He used to eat yogurt A LOT (like 3 times a day!!!), but he stopped because when he did eat any yogurt at all he would get a rash on his elbows and knees. The rash actually recently just started up again, which I'm thinking might be DH (dermatitis heptoformis) which is related to Celiac. We'll see....at least I'm a bit more relaxed and less worried. Did a lot of reading, and if it were a leukemia or blood related cancer, his platelets would not have rebounded on their own...I don't know if that's true, but I'm believe that! LOL Thanks for praying.
One verse above all others comes to mind in such situations: All things work together for good to them that love God. Our Lord knows even more than you yourself just how much you love your son.
Third round of bloodwork done today. They did say these results will take longer, might not have back until next Friday. When I picked up the paperwork last night, I talked with the doctor. I asked her point blank about Cancer. She said "no"..."not even in my thought process at this time" She did say it's not normal for a teen BOY to be anemic, but that she's fairly confident we'll find out what's causing it and be able to fix it. She doesn't want to just put him on supplements because boys shouldn't lose iron, so it's most likely he's not absorbing it, which is why she's checking for Celiac. She said if that's negative, she'll check some other things, too. Now, we wait. At leas the "C" word is off the table at this point.
Wow, what a relief! It's good to know that. Celiac is manageable. Of course, we'd like a complete "nothing wrong at all" 100% cure, but if God chooses not, well, celiac is manageable. Had a cousin who had it long ago, years back before there was GF, way harder to manage.