CancerCompass message board discussion started by momof6angels on 3/26/2008 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,22365,0.htm Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ In Feb. of 2007 my 12 yo son started complaining of stomach pain.  It took 2 months to find that he had an infection of the lymph nodes in his stomach cavity.  They treated him with antibiotics and steroids, but 3 months later the infection returned.  They have done a biopsy of the lymph nodes, but found nothing.  After the surgery, his health has continuely gone downhill.  We have seen dr. after dr. trying to pinpoint a diagnosis, and finally in Dec. of '07 found that he had a parasite in his bloodstream called Toxocara.  That was treated and we assumed he would start getting better, but things have stayed the same.  He is in continual pain and is constantly back and forth with his symptoms.  We saw an orthopaedic dr. yesterday for his spinal pain and he asked me twice if we had had him tested for leukemia, then a 3rd time acted like I was stupid for not pushing the hematologist to do a bone marrow test.  These are his symptoms: general ill feeling, loss of appetite, loss of weight, low grade fevers almost every night (never over 100), chills or night sweats, constant spine pain. His blood work has also been all over the board since Oct. '07.  Here are the latest results: WBC - 3.5 L (this has been down to 2.9)Hematocrit - 35.6 LMCH - 31.8 HMCHC - 36 HNeutrophils - 35.2 LLymphocytes - 52.5 HABS Neutrophil - 1.2 LI am so confused and frustrated with dr's in my area that I have started bringing him to dr's 3 or 4 hrs away trying to find out what is wrong!  Should I push to have the bone marrow test done with a different hematologist?  I don't want to put him through unneeded procedures but we are at a loss of what else to do since we don't seem to be getting any answers.  His primary pediatrician sent me a letter stating that since nothing had been found and he continued having problems, that he would no longer be treating him and to find another dr!!!  I just want my child to get better - is it too much to ask for a dr. that will help me do that?  Please let me know what you think - I've had 1 dr. tell me it may be leukemia, then the hematologist that did not want to follow up with anymore tests, now an orthopaedic saying that he thinks he should have already been tested. momof6angels Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT Leukemia is a very difficult condition to diagnose for a variety of reasons.  Should a patient suffer any symptoms, they are easily confused with lesser conditions and often overlooked.  Given all that has been done already, I would press for a BMB.  They are painful and sometimes hard to do, but its the only way to be sure. Oncrx Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT Thank you so much for your response.  I really do not want to put him through a painful procedure, but it scares me so much when I see him get so pale and in pain.  I tell my husband he looks so pale, but it's almost like he's got a flushed "rash" appearance on his face, too.  I just want answers as to why he has been so sick so that hopefully we can begin getting him better and back to normal soon.  Thank you again.  I do have a dr's appointment for him on Monday to discuss this with his pediatrician and will be asking for another blood test to see if he is still anemic and how his wbc are doing now. momof6angels Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi,I am new to this board and I can only tell you my experience with my son being recently diagnosed with leukemia. My son is 14 and was very tired all the time, had headaches, nodules on his head and chest, (previously diagnosed as gynecomastia) and had night sweats. His lab values showed a very high white count with high lymph count and it also showed a blastocyte count (the cancer cells). A follow up chest x-ray revealed a mass in his chest which were enlarged lymph nodes. You can have leukemia diagnosed by having a smear of the blood done with a manual count of the types of cells in the blood. If your son was diagnosed with worms my suggestion is to consult with a internal specialists as I think worms can be deposited throughout various organs within the body (I'm not definitly sure of this). I know with animals that these worms can lay dormant within various organs until they give birth to a litter and new pups are actually born with worms already in them.  These worm eggs can come from the dirt or just playing with the family pet. Asking a vet what type of damage they can do to a human body might not be a bad idea, (they are the ones that deal with this sort of thing more regularly). Anyway I hope this helps it is just an opinion. My prayers are that your son is not diagnosed with leukemia as I have watched my son suffer for the last two weeks and it is breaking my heart, especially knowing that the results may be poor and that the treatment is so hard on  his young body.good luck ilovemyboys Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT