The Scariest of Scares

On Black Friday, Vol Fan and I were doing as his Mama taught us.  We were shopping.  Not buying but shopping when I got a call from The Boss Man.  A call that took the wind right out of my sails.

The evening before Thanksgiving we had met for our family Thanksgiving dinner.  AB has always been a kid that likes to point out her boo-boos.  She was sitting on my lap and was showing me her 'rash'.  There were a handful of the tiniest little red spots that I've ever seen - like a tiny pinprick.  I looked, asked if they itched, if they hurt, etc.  No, they didn't itch or hurt.  They were just there.

We were talking about AB liking to show off her war wounds and Prima Ballerina said that she had been complaining about her hip.  Prima Ballerina assumed it was a copycat thing since Prima Ballerina has been complaining of hip pain for about 2 years now and is scheduled for surgery on Dec 13.  We all laughed.

Later that evening as Pita and AB were doing backbends in the den.  I saw why AB had been complaining about her hip.  She had a HUGE bruise on it.  She couldn't remember what she did.  We all examined it, determined that with all their bouncing around she probably crashed into a piece of furniture, and didn't think another thing about it.

On Thanksgiving Day and the day after, AB's 'rash' got worse.  Enough that it concerned The Boss Man and Prima Ballerina.  They texted a photo of the rash to AB's pediatrician who told them to go to the ER - that she was sending orders for some bloodwork to be done.  When the bloodwork came back, the hospital staff promptly put AB and Prima Ballerina in an ambulance for a fast ride to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.  The Boss Man called me while he was following the ambulance.

AB's bloodwork had showed that her platelet count was low - like seriously low.  Like low to the point that internal bleeding was a serious possibility - thus the ambulance ride.  The 'rash' was actually where she was bleeding.

What did all this mean??  There were two possibilities - it could be nothing more serious than a virus  or it could mean leukemia.  When he said that, I seriously almost fell to my knees in the middle of the mall.  Struggling to keep the tears under control, Vol Fan and I immediately left for the hospital.

Once AB arrived, the staff at Vanderbilt immediately kicked into action.  More blood was drawn and it was sent for examination.  And the scary wait continued.

Several agonizing hours later, we received word that there were no abnormal cells in AB's blood.  Thank heavens - no leukemia!

Apparently she had a virus within the last month and it had caused her antibodies to attack her platelets.  It is a condition called ITP.  As long as her platelet count continues to improve on her own, no intervention will be required - other than having to be careful since she will bleed more freely until the levels normalize.

I have never been so scared and then so very thankful in the span of just a few hours.