It’s Not Pancreatitis

Tate gave us a little scare. He has been been having abdominal pain, and it got to the point he couldn’t find a comfortable position, even laying down. Eating and moving make it worse. We know that by the time Tate tells us something doesn’t feel right he has taken a few days let it sort itself out or advance to a pain level he can’t ignore.

The on-call HemOnc doctor instructed us to take him to the Emergency Room since it could be something that couldn’t wait for his Monday morning appointment. She said she would call ahead to let them know we were coming. No one seemed to expect our arrival, but Tate has essentially what is a Disneyland Fast Pass for the ER, and he gets to move to the head of the line. Phoenix Children’s Hospital doesn’t want their immunocompromised patients sitting in the waiting room, especially during flu season, so they get moved to triage really fast.

Pancreatitis is the first condition they screened him for. His blood work came back very re-assuring, actually. It isn’t Pancreatitis.

Typhlitis is the second condition they tested him for. Alone in the ER room with Google, we looked it up, and it’s such a scary thing that can happen to Leukemia patients. Fortunately they were able to rule out Typhlitis as well.

Scott came to the hospital as soon as he could. Tate is still very into trolling me with fake yawns when I try to take his and Scott’s picture together, but Scott missed his cue and smiled.

Six hours later, we headed home. The ER doctors said they checked for the biggest threats and that he should be safe until he sees his oncologist Monday morning. It’s the first time we have brought Tate to the hospital that he didn’t have to stay.

Tate’s stomach still hurts today. Greg is making him chicken and dumplings, which is very comforting. We hope he can eat a little bit. We are also so grateful that whatever is bothering him, it isn’t the two big things it could have been.

We have a lot to talk to the doctor about at Tate’s appointment tomorrow before he gets his chemo. We’re looking forward to seeing Dr. Williams, and we’re anxious to learn how to navigate through this new pain.