Larry picked Oliver up from school in the afternoon and noticed a rash on his arms and legs and that his thumb was swollen and bruised and had a cut that appeared to be infected. We immediately took him to an urgent care clinic as it was after regular office hours. The clinic physician indicated the cut was infected and that the rash was vascular but she did not have the proper equipment to do the labs. She recommended we follow up with his pediatrician the next day and prescribed him some antibiotics. I asked her if we should go to the ER and she said if he gets a fever, then we should. I did not want to wait until the next day to follow up with his pediatrician so instead took him to the nearest ER. They did some blood tests and said the blood work came back abnormal – his platelets (5) and blood were extremely low and that he needed to be transferred to Texas Childrens Hospital. They ran an IV with antibiotics as instructed by the TCH doctor and transported Oliver and I to TCH in an ambulance. Oliver was in very good spirits and was scared at first but then thought the ambulance ride was pretty cool. Larry followed us in the car. We arrived at TCH ER and were admitted into an ER room. The first doctor came in, felt his stomach and said she needed to have the in charge doctor exam him. The in charge doctor came in and within a couple of minutes of examining him, said he was 90% sure Oliver had leukemia. We were in complete shock. It was a very painful day for us but we are fortunate to be in Houston and have access to the best healthcare facilities in the country. The hospital was full on the day of admission and Oliver was admitted to the last room on the 9th floor –which is primarily for cancer/blood issues. We were blessed to get the last open room on this floor. Oliver received a platelet and blood transfusion. He had a reaction to the platelet transfusion and so we had to stop in the middle and try again later the next day – from now on, he has to be pre-medicated with Benadryl and Tylenol before any type transfusion. The next day we found out Oliver had ALL -Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. As a parent, I can only say, if you notice something on your child and it you know it is not right, please follow your intuition. Who knows what could have happened if we waited to act.
