Looking Back

Kaylee has always been a happy, healthy, NORMAL child. I can count on one hand the number of times she's been to the doctor due to illness. She's had one mild ear infection, one virus, and a bad cough in a little over 6 years. 

The most common question I get from new friends is "How did you know something was wrong before diagnosis?" The short answer is "We didn't. We had no idea" And it's true. We really had no clue that there was something "really" wrong with Kake when her first symptoms presented. Here's the long version:On Feb. 7, 2012. I went to pick Kaylee up from school, like always, and she tripped and started crying uncontrollably. She'd been acting over dramatic (or so I thought) a lot the past week, and I was frustrated. Her teacher assured me she never acted like that at school, in fact, she'd never even seen her cry! We went to the store after school, and she sat in the cart the whole time, tired and weepy. It was the night after the super bowl, and she'd stayed up later than normal, so I thought maybe she was just exhausted and hungry (She didn't like the lunch I sent her that day, so she refused to eat it). For the rest of the evening, she didn't walk, and fell asleep early (after eating a BIG supper). I decided it was a virus (fifth's disease was going around) and thought I'd keep her home the next day. Later that same evening she tried to get up to use the bathroom and still couldn't walk. At that time, I thought she couldn't be "faking it" and brought her back to bed with me and decided to take her to the pediatrician the next morning. 

Still thinking it was a virus, I kept her brother (age 4) home from preschool the next morning (because I didn't want to send him if they had something contagious) and we all headed to the pediatrician's office. After waiting for an hour and a half with a VERY cranky (almost) 2 year old, I was livid and at the end of my patience. Kaylee was walking, and I was back to thinking she was being over dramatic. The pediatrician looked her up and down and told me she was certain Kaylee's symptoms were all in her head, as well. She listed all the symptoms she SHOULD have if it were any number of diseases, and she had none. No bruising, no redness, no swelling, and no fever. However, she suggested that we could have some blood work done just to be certain. I was just ready to be DONE at that point, and started to refuse. Then, I thought, "well if she thinks she can fake being sick, and keep me from working, she's going to learn that there are repercussions", so off to get blood drawn, we went. The rest of the day, she behaved normally. She was still walking a little slow, but went to ballet and made it up and down the stairs several times.

The next day (Wednesday- 2 days after she first fell down), she went to school like normal, and I went off to run my errands. (A week before Valentines' Day, so I had TONS of work to get done). I was checking out at Whole Foods when I noticed I missed a call from the pediatrician's office. I checked the message real quick, and started to worry. Her doctor just said that they'd gotten Kaylee's blood work back, and we needed to talk. Call her at the office. I could tell something wasn't right, so I headed to the car, loaded the groceries and the baby up, started the car and made the call. I KNEW something was REALLY wrong when they pulled the pediatrician out of a room to talk. She said Kaylee's levels were all too low- Her red blood cells, her white blood cells, and her platelets. This was indicative of a bone marrow problem- it could mean she had a virus that caused her bone marrow to stop working, temporarily, or it could be leukemia. Her levels were so low, though, that she didn't want to run more tests. She had already talked to the staff at Texas Children's and they agreed that I should take her downtown to the TCH ER immediately. There are SEVERAL hospitals closer to me, so I didn't know (then) why it was so important for me to take her to TCH (close to an hour away). I facebook messaged my husband right away, telling him to call me (I can't call him in Germany), and called my mom to see if she could take the boys. We were all in a panic. I called the school and asked them to have Kaylee waiting for me at the front, called one of my oldest/best friends (who owns a daycare) and asked her if she could watch the boys (my mom was downtown too, and couldn't make it back in time), ran home and grabbed some stuff and headed downtown.