Palm Sunday at CMC

Grier's procedure started around 10:00am--they put in a Hickman Port, and did bone marrow biopsies from both hips. He did well throughout the procedure and was back in recovery within two hours. This was our fourth time under anesthesia in five days--our Grier is truly a champ. We were greeted in recovery by our very favorite recovery nurse--Susan Natale--who had once again gone the extra mile and come in early to care for Grier. In recovery, Grier was able to rest peacefully for several hours. Sweet Susan allowed us to stay throughout this most peaceful, three hour rest. In addition to a peaceful sleep, Grier was able to keep his oxygen saturation levels stable--unassisted. Susan helped us transport Grier back to his room, and upon glancing up at the television and seeing the Wonderpets--he smiled. An orange Freezerpop proved to be the highlight of the day--the first food/beverage intake in seven days. Amy was able to get home for a quick shower--yeah, Amy! When she left, Grier was alert and playing games with Jeff. He seems to be resting more comfortably in the last 24 hours--hallelujah! We continue to wait for a definite diagnosis, so we can begin treatment as soon as possible. Hayes and Grace have been busy with baseball, soccer, Easter activities with Leah and David, sleepovers with Maggie, as well as an exciting visit from their great aunt Linda, from Florida. Go Gators! They are also looking forward to a fishing trip next week with Jeff's parents--Mimi and G-dad.
I know I sound like a broken record, but your notes, blogs, visits, goodies, support, and prayers mean the world to our family. We truly can't thank you all enough. All your efforts allow us to focus on the important things--which have become oh so abdundantly clear. Many, many thanks!

How did We get Here?

Everyone keeps asking about how we ended up at CMC on Monday morning, March 26th, so we thought it might be nice to share some background information with you all.

The end of February Grier had been complaining of a stomachache—at that time there were no other symptoms. About a week later, he had a stomach bug that we thought explained the stomachache. Grier went to the doctor because he still had stomach pain and a little bit of a headache. We were concerned because he had experienced 3 bouts of strep since October. He tested negative for strep. He still continued to complain of a stomachache, but he was able to do his normal daily activities. The last Wednesday in February, we returned to the pediatrician and it was believed to be constipation causing the stomach pain.

Friday, March 2nd at 11:20pm, after talking to the Doctor, they suggested that we go to the ER to check into what might be causing the stomach pain. The ER did x-rays and a barium enema x-ray, and everything looked normal. At the request of our pediatrician, we made an appointment with a pediatric GI. The following Friday/early Saturday (approximately 1:20am) we went back to the ER concerned about the same stomach pain, accompanied by back pain. They ran blood and urine tests, and the doctor said everything looked fine. He stated that he wasn’t sure where the pain was coming from, so we should follow up with our pediatrician.

The following Thursday, we thought that Grier was experiencing another stomach bug, as we had been surrounded by unhealthy people in the waiting room. Then, Grier’s complaints seemed to subside somewhat and it appeared that he had returned to his active self until that Monday night when his neck seemed stiff. Tuesday he seemed to have a stiff neck all day and by that night it appeared better, so we believed it to be stiff from sleeping on it wrong. Throughout this timeline, he was still playing and racing with his friends at preschool. On Thursday, he ran errands with me and seemed fine.

Friday morning, Grier complained again of neck pain, but seemed to have better range of motion from the prior complaint. Saturday morning, we went back to the pediatrician to check into the neck pain. More tests were completed and it was believed to be muscle spasms. Early Sunday morning, we noticed Grier limping somewhat, favoring his right leg and he continued his low-grade fever. Later that evening, he spiked a fever and we again called the doctor to make an appointment for Monday, in order to check into the limp, fever, and on-going neck pain. Our pediatrician decided that we should have tests done to examine all the symptoms together, so we were admitted to Carolina’s Medical Center Monday, March 26th.