After a lot of thought, I have decided to start a blog about everything we have gone through with Ali. I think it will help to write things down and get my feelings out in some way. Where do I start?? I have never blogged before so I guess I'll start from the beginning.
Late January, Ali had gotten really sick with a really bad cold/flu. The doctors told us she had croup. It was a nasty bug that lasted about 2 weeks. Then Ali got better. She started eating again and playing like her old self. Then about a week later, she started showing symptoms of being sick again. This time, she would sleep all throughout the day.
I thought that she would sleep because she was trying to get out of cleaning her room!!
She complained of leg pain and was very pale with dark circles under her eyes. My husband and I thought she caught another strand of the flu! We brushed off her leg pain as body aches from flu like symptoms.
Ali's dance teacher had said that Ali did not want to dance because her leg was hurting. I remember scolding Ali after dance practice telling her that I wasn't going to pay for her to do dance if she was just going to sit in the corner! Now looking back I feel just awful.
I told my mom about Ali not being well. Later that day, my mom called me and told me she had a really strong feeling that I needed to call the doctor and get Ali's blood work done. She told me not to brush it off...I needed to take her in. After the conversation with my mom, I called the doctor and made an appointment for Ali for the following week. A day or so later, Ali complained of severe leg pain. She refused to walk! It was so bad that we called the doctor back and explained her symptoms. He told us to go to Brigham City ER to have her examined. There, the doctors thought she may have a hip infection. That thought was so scary. From what I researched as I waited, hip infections could put you in the hospital for 2 weeks! They took her in for xrays and then took her blood. When the blood tests came back, they told us they thought she may have leukemia. My heart sunk. I looked at my daughter, then sleeping with her teddy bear in her arms, and just broke down. Within the hour, Ali was taken to Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City where they did more blood work and confirmed her diagnosis of high risk b-cell ALL (Acute lymphoblastic leukemia).
These pictures are at the Brigham City ER awaiting her blood results. Looking at these pictures, you can see the dark circles under her eyes. She looks so pale and sick. It still haunts me that it took me so long to see it.
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