A rundown to how we got to where we are today.
6/19: Cydney had been complaining on neck pain and occasional headaches for a few days. I had also noticed her walk seemed off. We attributed the pain to her sleeping awkward and treated with over the counter medication, ice and heat. The walk we passed off and some growth spurt issues and that she would soon be back to normal. On this morning we were at the doctors office for Nathan and Lily's well checks. At the end of their appointment I brought up to the pediatrician, Dr. Martin, the pain Cydney had been having and the change I had seen in her gait. The doctor felt around on her neck and observed Cydney walk down the hall. Dr. Martin advised us to watch her for a couple more days and if no improvement to come back in.
6/21: Cydney was still saying it hurt and walking with her arms drawn up at the elbows, could not walk a straight line and seemed off balance. We ran some errands this morning and she could not walk through the store without being in pain, so we decided to go ahead and go home. I called the doctor at 1pm and got her an appointment for 2pm.
We all went along and the doctor once again felt on her neck, talked to her about the pain level and observed her walking. She noted the gait was widebased and could see her balance was off. She put in an order for blood work, to check for inflammation markers and sent us to a local lab to have the blood work drawn. On our way to the lab Cydney asked me why they needed to test her blood. I told her, "blood is tested because sometimes it can tell us what is going on inside your body that we can see from the outside" She then responded "so they can check for Cancer?" I was taken back by this comment, never did we bring this up as a concern or anything we thought it could be. Once I got my composure back I told her that yes they can check blood for Cancers, but I don't think that is what they are looking for.
Dr. Martin said she would call me as soon as the results were sent back to her.
6/22: Dr. Martin called around 10:30 am and said the blood tests did not show any inflammation markers or anything that would be concerning. She suggested the next step to be getting an x-ray of the neck and upper back. Possible scoliosis or other alignment issue. She was able to get us scheduled for one the following Monday.
6/26: Went in to hospital for X-rays. Took about two hours for the xrays to be completed. We would wait for a call from Dr. Martin with results. That evening around 6pm she called and said there was a slightly exaggerated curve in the C-spine. It could mean several things, most likely her neck was just extended too much. She wanted to refer us to a Pediatric Orthopedic Doctor for his assessment. That appointment was scheduled for 6/30. The next few days were spent managing her pain the best we could as ibuprofen was not bringing relief for any real length of time. We also kept tabs on any changes we noticed. Some of which being, Cydney could not balance on one leg, or when eyes were closed and hands to her side. This set in worry that is was more than a simple muscle strain or alignment issue. We began thinking neurological.
6/29: Went in to Orthopedic's office and I could see on their faces as soon as they saw Cydney walking they knew something was not right. After some tests on balance, strength and him reviewing the xrays taken he left the room, stating he would be right back. Once he returned he told me he had been consulting with Dr. Martin and they were both in agreement that more images were needed and an MRI would be the best way to do this. He said that Dr. Martin would be putting in that order and would contact me with a schedule date.
Around 5:30pm that evening Dr. Martin called, told me we have two options to get and MRI done. 1. Go to ER tonight/early tomorrow morning and she would call them to let them know we would be coming in. 2. Put in the referral and wait 3-5 days for insurance approval. Her advice was to take Cydney into the ER. I called Jared to tell him what she said and he was on his way home. Once he got there, Cydney and I headed to the ER.
Once at the ER, we went over the past few days with that doctor and more blood was drawn to compare to the results from earlier. This doctor also observed Cydney walk and do balance tests. After about an hour, we were told that Cydney would need to be sedated for the MRI. She would be admitted overnight and the MRI would be the next morning. I called Jared to let him know we would be staying and to have him bring up a bag of clothes and Didgee so Cydney would be able to sleep. We got situated in a room and attempted to get some sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment