September, Part V

Here is a LONG story about Kanyon and the week we had not so long ago...

So, one Friday night I could tell that Kanyon was having a hard time "pooping". It was a little worse on Saturday and by the time Sunday rolled around it was bad. Every time she'd get the "urge" she'd squat, cry, and say 'my butt hurt'. So, Sunday morning I gave her a suppository, hoping that it would do its job. It didn't work. So I called the pediatricians nurses station to ask for advice on what to do to help her. They said, that because of her age, it was better that the doctor see her. Well, because it was 4pm on a Sunday, her normal pediatrician wasn't working so we had to see a different doctor. We took her in and they felt her tummy and took an x-ray. The x-ray came back showing that she did have excessive stool in her intestines, but it also showed that her liver & her heart were enlarged. The doctor wanted to physically feel Kanyon's belly again because when she did it before the x-ray she couldn't feel an enlargement of the liver. She couldn't feel it on the second check either. At the moment, she told me to just concentrate on "getting Kanyon's poops out". In the meantime, she'd have the radiologist look at the x-ray and see what he thought about it. That night, Kanyon had an "accident" in the bath tub, but I think that really helped her. Monday went by without a call from the doctors office with the results of the x-ray. Most of Tuesday went by without a call from the doctors office. I ended up calling them and leaving a message with a nurse. About a half an hour later the radiology tech calls me. He says that the radiologist wrote in his report that the organs were large, however, they were still within the limits of being normal. I asked this tech kid what that meant...like do I need to have a dr continue looking at her or is she free to go about her life and not see a doctor again until her 3 yr old check up???? He said he didn't know and that he would run up and ask the doctor. He said that if the doctor wanted to see me again, she would call. Ok--I am not naive enough to believe that this doctor is really going to call ME...I just figure that we're done with this mess. Not the case. About 10 minutes later the actual doctor called me (I was shocked too!)...She said she would like to see Kanyon again. We made an appointment for the next day. We go in Wednesday and the doctor wants to get a new x-ray to see if things look different now that she isn't as constipated. Kanyon isn't as willing to go get an xray this time. Its quite a long hallway that you have to walk down and she won't let me carry her. So I try to talk her into getting closer to the x-ray room...and it works...until the very last corner. She quickly turned around and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her back to the same room her Granny and Ridge were waiting for her in. I of course, didn't catch up to here until she was in the room. Granny looks at me and says "That was quick". I had to explain that we haven't even done it yet. Its also always a thrill to try to get a 2 year old up on a cold table, to lay still, with her shirt pulled up. Needless to say, we had to bribe her with 4 lollipops! (3 of them were blue, and those who know me know how I feel about BLUE pops!) The results come back the same as before...and the doctor physically tried to feel the enlarged liver and can't feel it the second time either. So, she decides that its better to be safe than sorry, so she sends us to do blood work. They wanted to test all the normal stuff, plus her thyroid, & do a hepatitis panel. On top of that, she was going to get us a referral into a pediatric cardiologist. When she tells me that I am thinking 'what the heck is wrong with my little girl??' We then make our way up to the hospital to get the blood work done. While we were waiting at the lab, Kanyon saw the colored stretchy tape that they wrap around your arm after you give blood. She thought it was so cool & she wanted to play with it. By the time the nurses were ready to draw her blood, she had every one of her fingers covered with that tape. Jake's mom went into the room with Kanyon while I stayed in the waiting room with Ridge...that was the best place for me :)  After a few tears from Kanyon, a few tears from me, & taking 3 vials of blood from her little arm we were able to go home to await the results.

At 10:05 that NIGHT, I get a phone call from the doctors office. My heart sunk. I thought for sure it was going to be bad news...why else would they be calling me so late?!? The nurse told me that all of her blood work came back normal. (Except for the hepatitis panel, which we had to wait another 24 hrs to get). That was relieving, but I was still really worried about the hepatitis test. In the meantime, I decided I was going to call her regular pediatrician and get his opinion on all this. Was all this necessary? Or is this other doctor off her rocker??? We were able to get in to see our doctor on Friday. He was a little frustrated with the day he had been having, but seeing what we were going through frustrated him even more. He showed me her blood test results. Perfect. He had the results from the Hepatitis panel. Negative. He did all sorts of physical feeling on her abdomen. Nothing abnormal. He listened to her heart. No murmur. He listened to her lungs....he put the stethoscope to my ears so I could listen. "Do you hear that?" he asked me. I said yes. He says "Its wheezing. Probably from asthma that she gets from her Dad." He talks to me about the x-rays and the enlargement of her 2 most important organs. He tells me that it wasn't a pediatric radiologist who assessed the x-rays. He said that the radiologist probably didn't make her take a deep breath when he took the picture. Come on, how could he, she's only 2! So...if her lungs are deflated, the other organs look larger...hence, the "enlargement" of her heart & liver. So to make a long story end, she's fine.