March 15, 2010: a Day in Durant Family History

This blog will be long. It will have dialog( mostly me and doctors, some family, and Bosston; but mostly me and doctors.) it is serious, and really not a laughing matter. Knowing me, I am sure I can find some places to throw in a smilemaker, but don't get your hopes up. Okay, here goes:

8am "may I have the patient's name and health record number?"
"yes, it is for my son, Bosston Durant, record number 08043875."
"and he sees Dr. Bass at East Interstate?"
"yes, that is correct."
"can I have you verify address and phone number?"
"2560 Gable Rd. Saint Helens....971-322-8095"
"okay, how can I help you today?"
"my son is sick and he needs to see a doctor."
"what's going on? and I can have you talk to our pediactric advice nurse."
"NO! I am done talking with nurses and having them tell me he is fine. He is not fine, and I want, I need him to see a doctor as soon as possible."
"What's goin--"
"No, no, no, you are not listening to me, HE NEEDS TO BE SEEN!"
" Okay, Dr. Bass is not available until Friday, does that work?"
"No."
"Well, I can get him in today with another pediatrician, Dr. -"
"Yep, that's great, as long as he or she has a license to practice medicine, sign me up."
"Okay, we will you see at 10:20 with Dr. (I can't even remember her name.)
"Thanks."
Well, folks, that is how my day, yesterday, started. Nothing like a trip to the Dr. to get your week started right? So, let's back up now about 2 months ago, when it all REALLY started.
The night of Feb.3 I took Bosston to the ER room at St. Vincents' hospital. The drive over was a little scary, it was 11:00 at night, I was by myself, the moon was high, full and an orange color. I hate driving Cornelius Pass in the daytime, let alone at night, by myself, but I made it. The ER was packed, and I dreaded my decision to come. I, however, told myself, we were here, and not leaving. Bosston was having a hard time breathing. You could see his chest move up and down with every breath. He had a slight fever, but nothing that the ibuprofen, we were giving him, couldn't take care of. The nurse looked him over and then the doctor came in, looked him over, and ordered a breathing treatment. I did forget to mention that we waited in the waiting room for over an hour, and now we were stuck back in this room waiting yet again. I hope this Health care plan, our dear president is coming up with, helps with the long waits at the ER. It is called an emergency room, and don't you think they would move a little faster?:) Anyway, after waiting about 30 min for the breathing treatment to be administered, we started, and although Bosston couldn't breathe very well, he still found enough energy and air to fight both me and the tube of mist I was blowing in his face. Finally, the medicine had evaporated, and the treatment was over. So, we wait some more. The doctor re-enters the room, listens again, and is still concerned about some moisture he hears in his lungs. So, down to XRay we go. Yeah, Bosston did not like this either, and the XRAY lady, was not nice to him or me. Don't worry, I take notes at these visits, and when the survey comes a few days later in the mail, I let them know. Okay, so the XRAY shows a small case of pneumonia in his right lung, down in the lower half. Simple, put him on some anti-biotics and we are good to go. YEAH RIGHT? I could see the nurse at the desk just talking away and when she saw me, she got this "oh, crap" look on her face and then got back to work. It is 2:30 in the morning. So, she gets the medicine all mixed up, and hands it to us. I let her know that it is not okay to be visiting on the job when you have patients who are tired and want to go home. We are not here for her social hour and she should do that on her break. Let me pause here for a moment. I respect and admire ALL medical staff. Their willingness practice medicine is highly respected in our home. Just the sacrifice of years it takes to become a doctor or nurse is long and time consuming, and I get the need the need to want to take a minute and chat with a friend, but again that is what breaks are for.
Okay, so we get home, get to bed and in just a few hours, I am up getting Dasher ready for school. We do the antibiotics for the ten days three times a day as instructed. He gets better. He is happy, eating, sleepy, and overall back to normal.
A couple of days, maybe a week go by, and he is starting to not feel well again. He slept for 15 hours straight, and I was worried. I would go check on him, to see if he was still breathing, startle him enough to calm my nerves, and just let him sleep. "maybe he's growing" I told myself. Well, I decided to call the advice nurse. She told me this, "his body is probably still fighting the pneumonia. Let him sleep, make sure he stays hydrated, and if he starts to vomit and have a high fever, call us back." That, to be honest made me feel better. She didn't seem concerned, so why should I? I will tell you why. I am his mommy. I am the one who is with him all day. I see his behavior and demeanor, and he was sick. I should've dropped everything that day, and barged in and demanded they see him. But that just wasn't me.
So, he kicked whatever he had for the time being and he was Bosston again. Telling knock knock jokes, playing the WII and eating everything in sight. I was happy, my fears for the time being were hidden in the back of my head.
Thursday night, it started again. "I'm tired, mom. I wanna go bed."
"Okay, buddy, let's go put you in your bed."
"No, I seep in yo bed mommy."
"Fine, whatever, but I will put you in your bed, when you fall asleep. Let's go!"
The next morning, he still complained about being tired, and when I would give him what he asked for for breakfast, it just sat there all day, untouched. He was drinking and having wet diapers, but I just started to worry.
Now, I blame no one, but I will tell you, I hid all my fears about something being really wrong with him from everyone. I know moms would've just told me I was worrying for no reason, and the more I dwelt upon it, the sicker I was making myself.
Sunday, was the day it all came out though. We had taken him to church, knowing he shouldn't be there. He was sick, he had a fever, yet on Sunday, with the stress of our callings, we took him. I was that mom who put her sick kid in nursery. I am horrible. We went home an hour into church. I didn't care about primary music, I cared about my son, and his health. My fears were becoming reality. So, once we were home, he was sleeping. That is all he wants to do. He wakes up, only to find a new resting spot. The couch, chair, my bed, his bed, the floor. Anything. He sits or lays down, he falls asleep. He will play for a short amount of time, but then he is down for the count. It is breaking my heart. Where is my happy boy? I want him back. We all need him back. So, now we are to Monday. All caught up for the most part. I told you this was going to be long. I just feel if I put it here, people can read it, and I can just stop telling it over and over each time someone new calls. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the calls, and the concerns, it just gets overwhelming.
So, at the doctor, they look him over, and I tell them just what you read. We do a strep culture, and she told me if it comes back positive, we put him on antibiotics. If it comes back negative, we check his blood count. Okay, so we wait, yet again. For the record, I HATE WAITING. I am not a patient person. The test comes back negative, and right there in the waiting room, I just say it. " Ah, crap!" I know, but I don't use foul language, and this is about as foul as it gets. I am trying to teach our kids other phrases to say when one is upset, and I don't like the word crap, but I just said it. Back in the room, the doctor comes in and said it was negative, and lets' do some blood work. I lose it. I cried right there in front of this stranger. I told her my fear, and she understood. So, we do blood work. NOT FUN. He wouldn't sit still (do you blame him) they blow a vein and have to do it again on the other side. I used all my strength to hold him still, but these little suckers are strong. I was crying, he was screaming, but this time it was successful. The blood draw that is. Now we wait again.
Instead of waiting at the hospital, I decided to go to Nick's parents house. Thankfully, too, Robin, waited at the hosptial with me, and took care of Lucy. Around 1 pm yesterday the doctor called. He has anemia. His iron count is low, but we are not going to medicate him yet until we find the reason. There is an infection in his body, they just need to find what it is. They are still testing his blood, we are still waiting for the results. I got brave and had this conversation with the doctor over the phone.
"so, what are we testing for?"
"two, non specific tests are being done and the results should be back later today."
"can we rule out luekemia?"
"no immediate red flags, but one thing we are testing for is seen in leukemia, but not always associated with the cancer."
"so, are we in the clear?"
"not yet."
Did you just read what I typed. There is still a chance that this INFECTION that has found its way inside our son, could be leukemia. We are just waiting. They didn't call last night, so hopefully today, and soon. We go from that point. Minute by minute. That is all we know for now. Thank you for reading. We appreciate the love of our friends and family who are praying for us at this time. I will keep this blog updated as soon as we are updated. We love our Bosston and we love our Father in Heaven. He has received two wonderful blessings, and we love those men dearly. We rely on our faith now. He is in good hands, and I feel the love of my Father and Savior.
I am sorry for the spur of the moment bad news blog, but this was the easiest way to let all of you know. If you have comments, please leave them. They are words of encouragement. You can also email our family at durantfab5@gmail.com. Thank you and we are looking ahead to happier days!!!!!