White Blood Cell Count Concerns (and a correction)

Just popping in here to correct something from a previous post. I stated that a normal white blood cell count reading was about 5,500. I've now researched this quite a bit: the normal range is actually between 4,000 and 11,000. A typical reading for a three-year-old child is about 9,200.

Beth's reading was high in February and April (23,000 and 24,000). Any reading over 15,000 begins to concern doctors. Readings over 30,000 can be indicative of a bone marrow disorder such as leukemia. Other markers for leukemia were normal for Beth, but there is one type, chronic leukemia, in which only the white blood cell count appears abnormal.

So wow...I can't even rule out leukemia.

As much as I'm praying and trying to feel peace, the blood tests results? Worrisome.

I spoke with a nurse at the rheumatologist's office and learned that Beth's doctor wrote in the chart: are we missing a tumor or cyst in her knee?

She'll order an x-ray and possibly send Beth to a hematologist if the next reading is also high.

Funny how they write such things in their notes, but don't tell the parents anything? Don't you love medicine? Too much information isn't good, but too little can be even worse.

For the record I looked up pediatric knee tumors and thought it unlikely in Beth's case. The only red flag is her rapid growth in height, which sometimes put kids at greater risk for tumors. Most pediatric knee tumors occur in teenage boys with growth spurts.

The rheumatologist didn't mention this, but I've learned that Prednisone--given to Beth in late January/early February for 9 days because of a particularly bad arthritis flare--can cause high white blood cell counts. How high and for how long seems to be an individual thing. This would be an unusually long-term reaction to Prednisone, so the doctor's discounting it...not even mentioning it? Or she didn't review the chart from January and she forgot the prednisone? There are too few pediatric rheumatologists in the United States (most have high case loads).

NSAID's (she's been on naproxen for many months) can also cause higher counts, but not this high. Auto-immune diseases and inflammation can also contribute to higher readings, although most Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis patients have normal white blood cell counts, despite chronic inflammation.

She doesn't seem sickly and she's quite active--even using her knees better than she has for months. There's been a slight weight gain recently and she's grown three inches, making her quite tall for her age. The pediatrician said Beth's weight is only 1.5 pounds lower than average (at just over 30 pounds). He's not concerned about weight gain and doesn't think I should be, since we're all on the skinny side.

Don't you love that they look you over to decide what your child's weight should be? My Mary is packed with muscle and doesn't look skinny at all, at 5.5 years old and 42 pounds (about average). Hopefully the pediatrician doesn't make any comparative comment in front of Mary at her upcoming physical. I don't want an eating-disordered child who became sensitive when her doctor said she wasn't skinny "like the rest of us".

Sorry for that digression....Anyhow, I want to think the abnormal white blood cell readings are a combination of a lot of different things, but mainly an unusual reaction to oral Prednisone.

I will have her blood test repeated this week (the third time). Please pray for peace of mind? And no more health issues for Beth? Thank you.

How can I pray for you? I am faithful and it's worth the effort to share. Comments are on delay and I won't post prayer-request comments. Bless you, friends.

P.S. I really do like our pediatrician. 

A Prayer When Nothing Goes Right

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Isaiah 26:3

I can honestly say that very little is going right this week. Usually I would feel too ashamed to write that. It sounds ungrateful. Whiny. Self-centered.

But this week, it's true. A four-day hormone-induced migraine has me popping pills day and night. I'm fearful that my liver--despite following bottle instructions--might fail someday from too much acetaminophen, making it impossible for me to help my children when they have their own families.

I have aspirations as a grandmother, you see. Without the daily responsibility of feeding them, clothing them in clean, unwrinkled clothes, keeping their faces clean and hair combed, and wiping up their spills? That sounds like a recipe for real quality time. Quality time that lasts longer than twenty minutes.

I love these days and realize that the mundane is beautiful in and of itself. When I read on Ann's blog that her youngest turned seven, it made me sad for her, and grateful that my own youngest is still 3.5 years old. (Never mind that Beth's having fit after fit and seems as needy as a baby.)

The days of grandmother-hood? They will be sweet indeed. A different kind of sweetness. As long as my health holds up.

The headaches aren't all of it. My Beth is holding in her poops, creating havoc in my mind and heart. It's like a daily birthing, these poops. Sometimes just a little at a time. The fear of pooping? It. takes. up. a. lot. of. time. Her diet? Not the culprit. It's just fear.

That same three year old woke up and cried out for me, every time I rose early for devotions. The dinner dishes got completely finished on only one night. At least two loads of laundry were done per day, but very little got folded or put away.

Imagine it. Laundry on the couch, unfolded. Some laundry on top of the couch, folded. Laundry in the dining room, hanging. Laundry equals clutter and it makes me want to scream! And the kitchen counter, which I usually manage to completely clear at least three times a week, remains cluttered for the fifth day in a row!

I feel like an utter failure. Nobody has a house messier than this one. Order isn't everything, but it sure lends to a person's sanity.

I feel ready to admit this to the whole world. I am a horrible housekeeper!

I know this much. God wants me to hold my needy children. To sing to them on the potty. To whisper I love yous into their tiny ears. To kiss their ten-year-old cheeks. To give them the long hug they didn't know they needed. To tell them how good it feels to be with them on the couch, watching Stuart Little 3 from the library, while mommy's headache rages.

Children's hearts are so full of grace for mommy. At least at these ages. I wish my own heart could be so generous...to itself.

Prayer Time: Dear Heavenly Father, I'm at the end of myself. Heal this headache. Protect my liver. Help me, with patience and good will, catch up around here. Give me a heart of grace for myself. Help me with the fruit and cookies we're preparing today for our annual church town party. May hearts be beckoned to attend church. May all of us radiate your love, despite our infirmities and imperfections. May all mommies everywhere know that they are more than their clutter. More than their sticky floors. Help us to focus on You, and on Your Kingdom, while walking through our homes without tripping. I love you. Thank you for plucking me out of this world at age 31, and remaking me in your image. Help me to do you proud and be humble in heart. I owe you everything. May my life be a daily offering to you.


In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Isaiah 26:3

photo credit

If We Could Only See

I ran across wonderful truth words. It's the truth I feel. The truth I live. The truth I look for all around me. 


Have you ever heard a testimony similar to this? A person loses his job, prays to the Lord for help, and then finds another job with a better salary in just a couple of weeks?

While we can all rejoice with that person, many times the situation does not turn around that quickly. Sometimes it may even get worse in spite of our most earnest prayers.

I wonder if the angels rejoice even more so in a testimony like this one: “Things got bad, I prayed, they got worse, I prayed again, they didn't improve. But I am still trusting in God and praising Him.”

Courtesy of Compassion International: http://blog.compassion.com/why-do-we-follow-the-lord/#ixzz1xfacVwIY


What if...


...the disease doesn't go away. 


...the problem personality doesn't soften. 


...the mother-in-law doesn't become more encouraging.


...the husband doesn't get more spiritual. 


...the family member doesn't come to the Lord.


...the poor family doesn't stop hungering for daily bread.


...the child doesn't remain in the faith.


...the problem neighbors don't move away.


...the bank gets the house.


...the tumor gets bigger.


...a second miscarriage occurs.


...the infertility never resolves.


We live for improvements, for success, because we don't see with God's eyes. We don't understand the brevity of this life. The weight of problems--either our's or someone else's--bury us. We fail to see past them. But God sees. God never stops working to win souls to himself. One more soul. That's His heart.


The challenge of this life is not to solve the latest problem, but to adopt God's heart. God's eyes. The real problem is not the mother-in-law, or the disease, or the lost job.


The real problem is our vision.


Prayer Time:  Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the cross. Thank you for your commitment to winning souls, above all else. Thank you for Eternity. We can't understand it all, Lord, but we want to see with your eyes anyway. Please help us. Please heal us of a here-and-now mentality. May we focus on the lost souls, instead of the lost jobs. May we be your hands and your feet, and your heart, to others. May we keep our eyes on you. 


In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.


photo credit

Happily linking with Jennifer

And with Emily

The Parenting Dance

Mother and Child by a River with Wild Roses
Mildred Butler, 1900

Trying to keep my three year old from using her injured (inner) wrist is a full time job. I can take up regular blogging again after her stitches come out next weekend. The wrist is an area that naturally gets a lot of movement and I have to watch her activity level closely to achieve the best possible healing. We are so thankful her veins weren't involved! The scene could have been far worse.

Last Thursday, June 7, she bent down slightly to look at a critter and lost her balance on the way up, because of her arthritic knees. She used a glass critter cage to try and break her fall. (10-gallon fish tank, dry, empty, but turned on its side by Paul to allow some bees to escape). Her wrist went right through the glass, shattering the cage and giving her a nasty skin flap wound, which needed four stitches. It was very close to veins but didn't hit any and didn't bleed much at all.

Maybe because I have a family history of anxiety--or maybe just because I'm a mom--any accident makes me anxious for weeks. I begin to feel as though I'm helpless in protecting my family. My mind switches to overdrive as it considers all the possible mishaps.

While I'm anxious this time too, I also feel a certain assurance from the Lord regarding Beth's condition. Her balance may not be right until her arthritis goes into permanent remission. She is always at greater risk of injury. But the Lord protected her. I feel as though he'll let her stumble, but not fall--so to speak. There may be more scary scenes, but I must trust Him to again protect her.

I can try harder to keep any glass or metal out of her playing environment, but I can't go overboard and take childhood joys away. She needs to fully live, regardless of her arthritis.

Parenting is as much about letting go, as it is about conscientiousness. It's a fine, delicate dance. It's clinging to God, the true owner of my children, and trusting His plans.

It's so hard. And such a privilege.

The greatest mothering blessing comes to those who lay it all at His feet. When we take it all back--the full weight of it--we fail and make ourselves, and our children, miserable.

If mothering is exhausting you, as it has me lately, maybe our sin is in thinking it all depends on us?

1) Pray much. 2) Point the way to Him. These two things, we must do.

Prayer Time: Dear Lord, thank you for the gift of children, for the gift of mothering. Help us to relinquish control over to you, as we parent the children you so graciously trust us with. May we remain in You, so we can point the way. Heal us of anxiety and stress over outcomes, whether for next week, or for the next decade. Teach us to lay it all at your feet. Come alongside us and teach us to pray, and to point the way. May we never crowd You out, as we seek to give the best to our children. You are the best.


In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Today's Blessings

Blessings spill here every day. I'm so grateful for the Lord's faithfulness in providing grace and wonder.

First, my cousin came and fixed our leaky shower. The sight of Mommy in the tub filled my children with giggles for three days. "Mommy! Adults don't take baths!"

One day my three year old stripped down and invaded my bath, singing Barney's song: "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family. With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too?"

Then she preceded to help me rinse my hair.

As sweet as I found that serenade, and as much as I'll remember it forever, baths use up a lot more water and more time. I'm so tickled to be back to showers.

Another blessing? Paul, who has earned more chore money than any of the four, heard the Ice Cream Truck and decided it would be a good use of a portion of his hard-earned money. Usually I would object, but this is his money.

He stopped hearing the singing truck and grew disheartened. He promptly prayed, and seeing his downtrodden countenance, I took pity and prayed as well.

Fifteen minutes later the Lord provided. Paul had begun to loose faith. I kissed him and told him that Jesus loved him. The ice cream truck coming back was a sure sign that his hard work on chores was pleasing to the Lord.

My excited children, all laden with chore money, partook of ice cream truck favors for the second time in their young lives. I would think that the ice cream in our freezer tastes far better, but you wouldn't know it by their cheery smiles.

Lastly, when the boys expressed interest in baking something, I suggested searching for recipes with Cheerios, since we had extra boxes.

Oh, these bars! So delicious.

Betty Crocker No-Bake Cereal Bars  print recipe here



Ingredients

1 cup light corn syrup

1cup sugar

1 1/4cups peanut butter

6cups Cheerios® cereal

1bag (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

Procedure

Step 1

Lightly butter 13x9-inch pan. In 4- to 5-quart Dutch oven, heat corn syrup and sugar to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Cook until sugar is dissolved; remove from heat. Add 1 cup of the peanut butter; stir until smooth. Add cereal; mix well. Immediately press in buttered pan. 

Step 2

In 2-quart saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate chips with remaining 1/4 cup peanut butter, stirring constantly. Spread evenly over bars. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or cool completely at room temperature until chocolate is set. For bars, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows. 


And what's better than a Psalm to go with a little praise and thanksgiving?

Psalm 107:1-9

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.


 

Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, 

those he gathered from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south.
 
Some wandered in desert wastelands,
finding no way to a city where they could settle.
They were hungry and thirsty,
and their lives ebbed away.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.


 

He led them by a straight way
to a city where they could settle.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.

Prayer Time: Dear Father, Thank you for your faithfulness and lovingkindness. You fill us to the brim with blessing and love. Thank you for my cousin, his skill, his help. Bless him in every way. Thank you for blessing Paul with an ice cream favor, and for building his faith. Thank you for confirming for him that you listen and answer prayer...that you love him and seek to bless him. Thank you for my boys' work in the kitchen. Thank you for "filling the hungry with good things", both spiritual and material. We love you. We worship you. May our lives bring you glory.

In Jesus name, Amen.


P.S.
Later this same day, Beth cut her wrist on a glass critter cage, meaning we spent three hours in emergency. It was a skin flap wound. They did their best to repair it, using four stitches, but a bit of skin stayed behind in the cage so it won't be the best looking spot on her arm. Good thing we have lines on our wrists anyway, to mask any scar. She did well--her strength is a miracle--until we came home at 10:00 PM, at which time she completely fell apart, along with one of her siblings (who can't take any change). As exhausted and disheartened as I feel right now, I know there will be grace in the morning. Grace enough that we'll all find many blessings to count. There will be many stories read, and lots of cuddles. A day to just be together, nurturing one another.