Cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut!

We hosted company on March 9th and had a blast.  Then we were happily ticking things off of our Massive To Do List when I got sick.

When I wasn't getting any better, I went to Patient First and they were very alarmed by my elevated white blood count.  They asked me to the return the next night to re-run my blood work.

So I returned and it had gone up even more.  They sent me to the Emergency Room.  The ER doc didn't know what to do with me.  He prescribed antibiotics and gave me a bag of fluids. He did a chest xray, abdominal xray and checked to make sure I didn't have a urinary tract infection. 

Nothing was found.  He told me to follow up with my PCP on Monday.

Sunday, I woke up with what appeared to be sinus congestion. 

Monday, my doctor reran my bloodwork.  He changed the antibiotic I was on so that it was able to cover more bugs. 

Tuesday, I got a message telling me to report to the hospital and enter through the Emergency Room.  We happened to be walking into the PCP's office with three more sick children when we got the message.  (Four of us were seen on Monday.)  My doctor gave me my blood report.  My white count was 29.5K at that point.  Normal is up to 10K or 12K depending on who you ask. 

I also had developed head/neck pain.

So Brandon took me to the emergency room.  I again, stumped the ER doc.  She spoke with the hospitalist and I was admitted.  And I continued to puzzle everyone.  They ended up consulting a hematologist. 

When the hospitalist read that I had had hives for over 3 years off and on now, and he realized that the white cells that were wildly out of control were allergen/inflammation markers, he put me on iv steroids. 

And he sent me for an MRI that came back normal.

As of Thursday afternoon, my WBC dramatically dropped.  I was in the 14K range.  The allergen/inflammation markers went from 50% (normal is below 5%) to .1%. 

I've been told I most likely have an auto-immune issue.  I was discharged on a two week steroid taper and will follow up with the hematologist on April 26th.  This should give me time to finish my steroids AND to see how my blood work does without the steroids.  Will the crazy high WBC come back?

Here are our prayer requests:

1.  That the steroids do their job.  Right now I have a very specific list of symptoms and if any of them appear, I have to go back to the ER. 

2.  I'd love to be healed and leave everyone scratching their heads.  I'd love to be able to say that God healed me while I waited for the appointment.

3.  We are supposed to be leaving the next week for a convention.  I'm praying that no matter what we find out, we can still attend the convention safely. We need some relief! 

4.  I'm praying for peace.  My hematologist actually works inside a Cancer Treatment office.  I've been assured by several doctors that at this point, they do not suspect cancer. (There is a long list of leukemias that high white blood cells and other symptoms I had can indicate.)   Still it is a bit unnerving to watch the name come up on our caller ID, listed on all of our paperwork, etc.

Unfortunately this sort of derails some goals I had for myself.  I was doing great in the weight loss part of my life, and the steroids can cause an overactive appetite.  I also am not to get myself get worn down, so 5-6 days a week in the gym will not be happening.

Some of the house projects have now been placed in a holding pattern as we wait to see how much our third hospitalization for our family this year will cost us.  Womp, womp. 

But I'm hanging in there.  These are all temporary things.  Trust me, I had plenty of time to think about things.  I've never been so happy to hear I may have *just*  an auto-immune disorder. 

Perspective changes everything!

~Stephanie