The Palm of His Hand

***I feel it on my heart to express our complete faith in our staff of pediatricians. What Eric had is so rare and difficult to diagnose. They have never taken our children's health lightly, and I believe where the blanks of information were, He was there to fill them. ***

"Mom, is this a scab?" Five words that could've led to two very different outcomes. The palm of His hand carried Eric all the way to the only outcome I could've survived.

Monday, a week ago today, my cell phone rang at work and it was Noah: "Mom, Eric doesn't feel good and he has a fever." No parent enjoys those words, but for the next 24 hours I thought he had a typical virus. Then, things began to change...

Tuesday: fever 102.3 and a rash appeared all over his body. Was he getting chicken pox? Heat rash from the fever? These were the questions I asked myself. I called the doctor...we were told to bring him to the office in the morning if he wasn't getting better. 

Wednesday: woke up with 103.7..called doctor and was told to bring him in now. Chris was at Kalahari with my car, so I threw him into the Graduate Roofing Company truck which I've never driven past our driveway and off we went. Here is where the real story begins...

On the way to the doctor, out of the blue, I thought, "This couldn't possibly have anything to do with that tick, could it?!...

[You see, those five words written at the beginning of this post were spoken nine days prior--the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend. Eric was watching television and just resting his head on his fist while moving his thumb around and felt something behind his ear. He asked if it was a scab, I peeled back his ear and discovered a tick. We removed it like we've done with Noah no less than 7 times in his life and thought nothing of it.]

... So, to remember the tick was evidence of His palm. I just didn't know it as clearly, at the time.

Doctor's office (still Wednesday): I explained to the nurse that I fear this could have something to do with a tick bite and she unmovingly said she'd document it. I texted Chris, while waiting for the doctor to come in, and asked if he thought this could be tick related. He immediately sent back, "YES! Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever!" Really, I thought..what's that and how does he know anything about it? He remembered his parents talking about it when he was a kid. ( His palm... I just didn't know it as clearly at the time.)

Doctor arrives and examines him. No obvious origin of symptoms...tick timing is worth treating...amoxicillan 3x a day for 14 days ...treatment for Lyme Disease.We took him home and began treatment. This is now day 3 since first symptom began. He has since added...severe headache, pain when he walks, and he's crying from it all. Eric doesn't complain. Something is wrong.

Wednesday night: Chris said, "Audrey, he doesn't have Lyme Disease. I know it. I *know* he has Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. (RMSF) We looked at the rash on the computer for both diseases and Eric's clearly looked *exactly* like RMSP and *nothing* like Lyme Disease. I googled the question. "Will Amoxicillan treat RMSF and the answer was a clear and alarming...No! Further, if not treated within first five days, severe illness or death may occur and without any treatment...death. This information..(His palm, I just didn't know it as clearly at the time.)

Chris took Eric to the ER at 10:20 pm, Wednesday night. He arrived with the deliberate intention of pleading that we think Eric has RMSF and he's on the wrong antibiotic. Of course, the admitting person and the nurse thought he was crazy--patronizingly dismissed him and told him the doctor would be in. The doctor came in and she said her sister had Lyme Disease when they were kids (His palm)... and this wasn't it. Chris told her he thought he had RMSF and the doctor concurred.

After consults and bloodwork, it was determined that he would be treated with Doxycycline and they gave the first dose at 3am...nearly four days after the first symptom outbreak. While relieved, I was not anywhere near peace with his condition. They were going to send him home with Doxycycline treatment and a list of things to watch for. I further researched and found 6 cases of children who died from this and read their treatment history. Each child died within 7-9 days after first symptoms were repeated. The symptoms and the 'track' they took...identical.

I was hysterical and it's now 3am. I called Chris and told him of the cases I read and that they can *not* send him home! The ER doctor got on the phone and 'reassured' me that he was clinically ok, he'd been there for 4 hours and his vitals were good, his fever was down, and he'd had his first treatment, but if I felt strongly about this--they'd call the Toledo Children's Hospital to see what they said. I told her very confidently, "I DO feel very strongly about this. You don't know enough about this illness to tell me to watch for symptoms at home. Send him home when he DOESN'T display those symptoms, I pleaded." My inability to accept that he was ok...(His palm.)

 Ninety minutes later,  they called me back to tell me Eric had a room at TCH. They would assess him, the pediatrician who we LOVE (and who wasn't in the office on Wednesday) was on call (His palm) and would come to the hospital. They assured Chris and I that everyone would see him to develop a medical plan with which we'd all be comfortable.  When he arrived he was severely dehydrated, had an enlarged and tender liver, his platelets were down and his liver enzymes were up. We were told he wouldn't be going home, today. He was started on IV fluids and IV antibiotics and most people are aware of the circumstances following that decision.

Eric has recovery time ahead of him, but he is getting better each day. I have cried more since he has been home than I was able to do in the hospital. He had a potentially fatal illness in his body and it was the palm of God's hand that led us to the place we are right now, and away from the place we might have been. We are shaken, but we are strengthened.

God, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for holding Eric. It was the palm of your hand that made all the difference, and I see it so clearly at this time.

*** Final thought: The rash on Eric's body had one defining marker that set it apart from all other rashes and pointed to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever...it was on the palms of Eric's hands.