I have debated on posting this publicly or not. I know many choose to be very private about things in their lives, but I for the most part am pretty open with those I love and decided that there are too many friends + family who love Jackson and would want to be aware of things going on in his life. So, I'm going to share a personal post + future updates only simply to ask for prayers for our little man....
As most of you know, near the end of last year in NC, Jackson had collapsed while we were at Bible study out of the blue and was breathing but unconscious for about 10-12 minutes. He wasn't nor had he been sick. When the paramedics came his temp was normal at 97.6 and everything else was also normal. Once we got to the hospital, they just said they "thought" it was probably a febrile seizure that his ear had looked a little red and it was probably just a seizure caused from that but to follow up with our primary DR in a week. So, we did. After speaking with her she didn't feel comfortable saying it was a febrile seizure due to the length it lasted. She referred us to a neuro who wanted to have him do a 48 hour EEG test. But, they couldn't get him in for that before our move to GA and our insurance said once we moved we would have to get a new referral that we couldn't transfer it. So, once we got here, the NP + I talked at his appt and she thought it was unnecessary for him to undergo the extensive 48 hour EEG test unless he had another "episode." Since he seemed totally fine elsewhere, I agreed. Lately I had been noticing Jackson being overly clumsy. I wrote it off as just normal toddler boy clumsiness [not paying attention, etc.] Also, for several months/possibly years I had noticed whenever Jackson would sit in his high chair or car seat for an hour or more a spot on his back [on his spine] would get bruised or very red. I just assumed it was from that part of his spine sticking out a little when he sat and rubbing against the back of the chair or whatever irritating it. However, a few times I noticed the bruising getting very noticeable for times it shouldn't have been bruising so bad. When looking closer at the area, I saw the skin was a different texture in that area and no hair was growing there like either like the rest of his very hairy back. ;) I started monitoring it more closely and saw that even though the bruising would come and go, that it always stayed more red than normal and the skin always was different textured. I did the bad thing and googled and thought that with the mix of his extreme clumsiness, his episode he had in NC, and now this back spot, that I should probably just mention them all at his 3 year check up. So, yesterday at his 3 year check up, I did. They asked a few other questions and pin pointed a few other possible symptoms that could very well be normal stubborn 3 year old things, but also could be neurological issues. They looked at his spot thoroughly too and examined him all over. They then said that all the other things wouldn't always trigger a concern, but with the spot and all of the other things combined that it was a bit concerning to them and that they wanted to get him some further testing done. They told me they were going to get him a neuro referral to a specialist in Savannah and wanted him to get an Xray on his back. I took him to get the Xray after the appointment. I didn't expect to hear anything for a few days, but this morning I missed a call and the DR left a voicemail saying I needed to call her back as soon as possible that she wanted to speak with me urgently about his Xray. That wasn't fun to hear and got me a bit worried but I called back as soon as I heard the message. When I called her back she let me know that the Xray showed that Jackson has a fusion in part of his spine. She said basically some of the vertebrae are fused together. She said she and the other DR had been reading up last night and this morning to try to figure out more to be able to tell me a little bit more, but that there was only so much they could see with an Xray. When I asked her if it could be anything serious, she just sort of stuttered and basically said something to the nature of saying anything would be extremely premature at this time since they can only see so much, so to stay off google because I could read some scary things that don't necessarily relate and to just wait to see the specialists and let them run more testing. Since the spine is a very sensitive area to deal with and can be very relative to neurological problems, the issues he's had [episode in NC, extreme clumsiness, spot on back] could all be related, but then they could also just be very coincidental and not related. [which is what we are hoping] So, with her telling me all of that, they decided to refer him to two specialists instead of just the one and also to move him to specialists in Augusta instead of Savannah because they can get him in quicker there and are a little better there. So, we will be going to a pediatric neurologist specialist and a pediatric orthopedic specialist to get some more tests run hopefully and see what all is going on. All that being said, I could not be more thankful to have these two very caring doctors here in Statesboro who really took the time yesterday to listen and be very thorough and then to personally call to tell me everything. Obviously, as a mother, it is natural to worry when your doctors share such concern regarding a situation like this and also when you hear things like this about your baby knowing while it could be something simple, it could also be something serious. I'm praying and hoping for the best, and I really feel in my gut it's nothing super serious. [that's positive thinking right!?! lol] Other than those things, he seems like a very happy and healthy just turned 3 year old! So, I feel I can rest easy in that if it were more serious there would be more serious symptoms. Praying and positive thinking is all we can do at this point! Worrying does nothing, so I'm going to just pray that we can get into the specialists soon and get all these tests done quickly to get some answers and pray that it is nothing serious. So, all that being said, we would really just appreciate your prayers for our little man.
After his Xray and appointment yesterday [he had to get 1 shot too!] I took him for some frozen yogurt and he was pretty happy! [not to mention he swindled the nurses at the doctors office into giving him like 27 stickers!]
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