Some of you know about my 15 month old niece, either directly from me, or on WTE.
Short story: She was sick and vomitting over a week ago. My sister took her to the hospital and they did some blood work. Her red blood cell count (cbc) was very low. They sent her to Arnold Palmer hospital for children in Orlando and they did more bloodwork and tests there. Her count came back even lower so we were all very worried. The words leukemia and bone marrow disease were thrown around and everyone has been holding their breath. So no answers up to that point...
Rest of the story:
So, I wanted to see her and be there for her next appointment so my mom and I drove up to see her and be there to support my sister. If anyone knows how it feels to fear something being wrong with their baby it's me. We arrived late that night and my Boogs was sleeping. Mom and I passed her back and forth during the night to keep an eye on her. She woke up that morning very lethargic and not her usual self. She wouldn't eat and drank very little. We were in high anticipation for her appointment that morning.
We drove the hour to the hospital and she slept most of the way after being fussy. We took her up to the waiting room and she had horrible diarrhea so mom changed her twice just in the time we were on there. When we took her into the exam room she started to get really fussy. The poor thing remembered what happened when she was there last time. The nurse came in and laying her on the table was a chore. She flipped out and started crying. Then when the doctor came in she really went wild. No one was even doing anything to her yet. Just checking ears and belly and stuff but she was a tiny crazy woman.
The doctor said he was glad she was fighting him tho because it showed she had the energy too. I on the other hand was balling like baby myself the whole time she was kicking and screaming. I felt helpless and obviously way too hormonal to watch her go thru that. The nurse actually asked me if i was ok haha. I was like yea don't bother with me just worry about my niece!
The doctor said they were going to check her cbc again and also testing her for parvo virus. He said that was the only other thing they had suspicions for at the time. I asked if there was risk to my sister and I as we were newly pregnant and he said yes. So if her results are positive I need to run to the dr. If her numbers went down anymore and/or the parvo came back negative the next step is a bone marrow biopsy. Jesus, I can't even think about that. I've seen it done, heard of it and it's just an awful proceedure to endure. But good new was the leukemia was pushed further down the list of possibilities.
Next came the blood draw :( This part she freaked out soooooooo bad that the nurse had to grab the other nurse to come hold her down. I've never seen this kid fight like that. I almost lost it again but managed to just tear and not cry. They finally got the samples and told us they'd call sometime that day with the cbc results. The parvo test in a couple days. We left the office and took Van to try to eat something. She ate a little bit of soft serve and a bit of tomato but that's all she had the entire morning so far. We decided to go to the mall and hang out. I got her to repeat Aunt Nikki which came out NiNi but she said it all day and it made me the happiest aunt in the world. We were there a couple hours and the baby started laughing and playing a little. Not long before we left my sister got the call from the doctor and I was looking at some shirts while mom took Van for a diapy change. I turned around to see her crying but smirking at the same time so I rushed over. She said 'her numbers went up' and it was like someone took their foot off my chest. I knew how much relief I felt, I coldn't imagine what my sis was feeling. Mom came back and she told her the good news. Mom freaked out like always and we all shared a hug and a cry. Van ate a fruit cup and we were all very happy about that. Her numbers went from 6.8 - 7.1. Nothing drastic but these numbers mean a lot in small doses so anything higher was much better! So we thought we'd celebrate a little.
We decided to grab something to eat at Olive Garden and sis ordered the baby's favorite for her in hopes she would eat- fettucini alfredo :) She ate! She had her fettucini and some tomatoes and some breadstick and of course aunt NiNi shared her breadstick with her whenever she opened and said ahhhh. Ha ha. She was being a little funny girl and doing the most hilarious stuff. We had a wonderful time. The day went so much better than anyone could have asked for. We now wait impatiently for her parvo results and the next step depending on the outcome. They will keep monitoring her if it's not the parvo and they think the virus, if that's indeed what it is, is leaving her system thru the diarrhea and such. I will be sure to update with the results as soon as we get them. For now I ask that everyone please keep this sweet baby in your thoughts. Thanks girls.
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