The Beast of Chronic Illness
I wasn't quite expecting the whirlwind of crazy and insane we are caught up in. I've been keeping an eye on Spencer's throat and palate and that alone has been a cause for worry. The prednisone has taken it's toll on him. One thing I totally forgot about was the fact that prednisone can suppress the immune system drastically.
Yesterday, Spencer started throwing up. It went on every 30 min for nearly 9 hours. Sometime in all that, he developed a really bad pain in his abdomen and a high fever. We brought him in to the ER thinking maybe a little fluid and some IV anti nausea meds were in order. Instead, we ended up with CT scans, chest xrays, morphine, lots of fluid because he was severely dehydrated and blood cultures. This is not your typical gastroenteritis but what is it?
Well, we are sort of dealing with two seperate beasts. The throat/cranial nerve problem and the stomach issue. Part of the stomach problem is that he had 7 slices of pizza covered with jalapenos late Saturday night. He ate all that without taking his pancreatic enzymes. It was just too much fat for his body to manage. Spencer has chemotaxis of the white cells which means, he has plenty of white cells but they don't work very well, they don't move very fast to the source of infection so small, insignificant viruses we all deal with can get quickly out of hand. The prednisone aggrevates his immune system and makes it even worse than it is. We are waiting for blood cultures still.
The second beast is the cranial nerve problem. When our Oncologist came in this morning, he said he didn't want to wait for the prednisone to work or not. He wants to know sooner than later if Spencer has lesions in his brain, as in Multiple Sclerosis or even tumors that are pressing on the cranial nerve. If those tests come back normal, then it pretty much seals the deal for Mitochondrial disease.
Aside from being extremely tired in more ways than I even knew existed, I am not anxious about the results. I think the stomach issues will resolve when the prednisone is out of his system. Whatever the outcome of his neurological problems, we will deal with it as it comes.
So, those are the nuts and bolts of it all. Of course, my thoughts are running much deeper than just the facts. I will sort those out and save for another day.
Yesterday, Spencer started throwing up. It went on every 30 min for nearly 9 hours. Sometime in all that, he developed a really bad pain in his abdomen and a high fever. We brought him in to the ER thinking maybe a little fluid and some IV anti nausea meds were in order. Instead, we ended up with CT scans, chest xrays, morphine, lots of fluid because he was severely dehydrated and blood cultures. This is not your typical gastroenteritis but what is it?
Well, we are sort of dealing with two seperate beasts. The throat/cranial nerve problem and the stomach issue. Part of the stomach problem is that he had 7 slices of pizza covered with jalapenos late Saturday night. He ate all that without taking his pancreatic enzymes. It was just too much fat for his body to manage. Spencer has chemotaxis of the white cells which means, he has plenty of white cells but they don't work very well, they don't move very fast to the source of infection so small, insignificant viruses we all deal with can get quickly out of hand. The prednisone aggrevates his immune system and makes it even worse than it is. We are waiting for blood cultures still.
The second beast is the cranial nerve problem. When our Oncologist came in this morning, he said he didn't want to wait for the prednisone to work or not. He wants to know sooner than later if Spencer has lesions in his brain, as in Multiple Sclerosis or even tumors that are pressing on the cranial nerve. If those tests come back normal, then it pretty much seals the deal for Mitochondrial disease.
Aside from being extremely tired in more ways than I even knew existed, I am not anxious about the results. I think the stomach issues will resolve when the prednisone is out of his system. Whatever the outcome of his neurological problems, we will deal with it as it comes.
So, those are the nuts and bolts of it all. Of course, my thoughts are running much deeper than just the facts. I will sort those out and save for another day.
OH my goodness. Poor Spencer! I'm so sorry. We will keep you and him in our prayers.
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