Warning: Long post ahead
This past week the stress level has been a little high around our house. Our son was able to enjoy his Spring Break for the most part. It all started on Monday night when he smashed his finger between the car door and the rail on our golf cart. His finger immediately looked so funny and abnormal that we took him to the ER, afraid he had broken it. We were in the process of running out to grab a quick dinner for all of us. So by the time we reached the ER and I went to get our 3 yr old daughter out of the car I realized she didn't have any shoes on. Fun times. This is about 8:30 which normally means bedtime for our kids. We ended up only having to stay a couple of hours, had an x-ray and a temporary cast put on for precaution and referred to an orthopedic doctor. No real answers yet.
Tuesday we were able to schedule an appointment with the best orthopedic in our area. Thank goodness we have friends who are trainers, nurses and otherwise have 'connections.' We saw the orthopedic Tuesday afternoon. We are still thinking possibly a broken finger or something. My mind is already thinking about how this is going to affect him in school, left hand... so wouldn't affect writing.... my first thoughts. Then we heard something that had not even factored into our minds.... words like cancer, tumor, benign, bone deformity, deformed tissues, enchondroma, MRI, bone scan. It was all like a tornado hit us. The doctor thought this was not something that was the result of the door accident, but something that had been there all along. Smashing it in the door just helped us notice it more. The doctor told us not to worry (yeah, right!) he didn't think it was cancerous. But we were scheduled to have a bone scan and MRI done in 3 days to rule out the possibility of any type of growing tissue or 'activity' going on in his hand or anywhere else.
Notice the middle finger and the 'bump' right past the knuckle towards the hand...
Honestly, those days were a blur. Roby and RJ spent everyday together from the time he woke up to the moment he went to sleep. They played golf, baseball, went to movies, had lunches and breakfasts together at RJ's favorite spots... it was like our head was in the clouds. I didn't want to believe the doctor and thought he must be just sending us on a wild goose chase.
Lunch at Fuji's eating hammerhead sharks (shrimp cut by the chef)
Golf with Daddy
Friday morning, we took off we were there early and ready to face whatever it was together. First up was the injection of the radioactive chemical for the bone scan. Now, our son, has a deathly fear of needles and or blood. The nurses were great with him, especially Joan, who took very good care of him and was very patient and kind to him. We will remember her caring spririt. We finally got the injection done after two sticks and three nurses having to hold RJ still. Joan made him a bunny bandaid...
We had to wait 2 hours for the chemical to take effect throughout his body so we knocked out the MRI during that time and even got to go get some breakfast at the Waffle House, another RJ favorite. I have never had an MRI so I wasn't sure what to expect either. The loud noises, the tunnel, the not knowing when it's going to end... all very stressful and I'm an adult, much less for a 6 yr old boy with lots of energy that has to keep his hand still for 30 mins with his body half way in this tunnel. We made it through, with a few tears, but he did it.
We got to take a break and head out for breakfast while still waiting for the time for the bone scan. The bone scan was somewhat easier than the MRI but it was still hard trying to get a very active 6 yr old boy to be still. He first went through the open tunnel for the bone scan for his entire body then we had to concentrate on his hands. He had to keep both hands still for what seemed like an hour. It may have only been 30 or 40 mins but it took forever.
DONE! Friday afternoon we let him go swim with a friend and just have fun! Secretly, I would have loved to have him all to myself, snuggle up and watch a movie (Jurassic Park is our new fave) but he deserved to be a kid and have fun after all that craziness this morning. We were still super stressed all weekend. I just kind of put it out of my mind. I couldn't even fathom the possibilities of bad news. I couldn't let myself go there.
Roby had a doctor friend of his at the hospital read the radiologist report on Sunday for us and we finally had some relief - no cancer. Diagnosed as fibrous dysplasia - a bone deformity. It can be severe and painful, but it seems as though the problem RJ has is isolated and painfree. It is something we will have to watch and keep an eye on, but no action needed for now. He can do anything and everything he was doing before all this craziness started. We met with the orthopedic on Tuesday to confirm the test results.
RJ was very concerned as you can tell.
We are so thankful and so blessed to have two healthy children. I realize there are children and families with so much more severe problems than we have experienced. My heart goes out to those families. But it is like you always hear, you never really can understand these feelings until they happen to you and your loved ones. We merely peaked in the door at a much bigger issue than we had ever dreamed of. We are more aware of our blessings and have been shaken to the core and back again.
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