Health Scare

When Blake last had pneumonia, in Dec/Jan, our pediatrician wondered if Blake might have asthma.  But because of the pneumonia, we needed to wait until his lungs were clear to re-test him.  Fast forward a few months and I finally decided to take him in again, as he's had this nagging cough for the past few months - mostly at bedtime but sometimes throughout the day as well.  It was so bad a few times, that we kept him home from school.  The cough had been going on for so long that I thought it warranted a trip to the doctor.  Dr. Radisic had him do a lung function test and due to his low numbers, referred him to the pediatric pulmonary specialist who he shares an office with.  He also said that he suspected that Blake had asthma.  Dr. R was willing to give Blake a puffer to trial until we saw Dr. Z. but I thought we could wait.  Our appointment was in two weeks.  Well, after a few nights and days of Blake hacking, I changed mind and decided we couldn't wait.  I was especially worried because I was going away for the weekend and Blake had a lacrosse tournament coming up and I didn't want Cal to be burdened with 3 kids and having to take Blake to the emerg!  Luckily, Dr. Z had a cancellation and we were able to get into him that week.  When Dr. Z's nurse did the lung function test, Blake scored 80%.  After 5 minutes of ventolin he scored 90%. Big improvement and a clear sign that he had asthma.  Dr. Z wanted to run a variety of tests - blood work for allergies and to check his immune system, urinalysis to check protein levels, a chest x-ray and a sinus x-ray.  It was a long afternoon of appointments and blood work and at the end of the day we found out he wanted Blake to do a sweat test, to rule out Cystic Fibrosis.  Apparently Blake has not had a clear chest x-ray in the past 3 years.  All 3 x-rays from the past 3 years (taken when he had pneumonia) showed the same black spot in the lower lobe of his right lung.  This was certainly alarming and raised a lot of questions for both myself and Dr.Z.  Always trying to find the positive, I mentioned that Blake had been screened for CF at birth, to which I was told the screening can often miss something.  I then said, "I'm sure not very many patients are diagnosed with CF at this age, aren't they mostly diagnosed in the first years of life?" To which I was told that no, in fact just a few weeks ago a 30 yo man was diagnosed.  And then Dr. Z remarked that CF patients are often tall and skinny ... yikes.  So I spent the next two weeks worrying (off and on) about the possibility of Blake having CF.  During those two weeks Blake was prescribed a twice daily does of a steroid and an inhaler for before and after strenuous exercise and for as needed.  I was very glad when Thursday June 16th arrived and we would have the sweat test results that afternoon.  The sweat test was painless, they stimulate sweat glands in your arm with electrodes and chemicals (to put it simply), then attach a coil to collect the sweat. That test was at the Stollery and then we were off to Dr. Z's office downtown.  To make the afternoon a little more fun, Blake and I took the LRT to the UofA, then back downtown and enjoyed a quick lunch in between appointments (my Mom watched the girls). When we got to Dr. Z's office, he had good news for us.  The immune system tests were excellent and although Dr. Z didn't have the sweat test results yet, he felt very strongly that Blake did not have CF because if he did, his immune system would be weakened.  He also told us that the allergy tests showed that he was allergic to dust, mold and pollen - which explained his sinus x-ray results, which weren't great.  He said that Spring will always be tough for Blake, much like a large majority of the rest of the world!!  Plugged sinus' during Spring!  Next Spring he will prescribe a med for the allergies to ease the discomfort of the sinus problems that come with those seasonal allergies.  For now, we're heading out of allergy season and Blake's sinus' should clear.  Finally the sweat test results were in and as expected, Blake's numbers were great!!! I was so happy to hear this. The next questions I had, had to do with the spot on the lung.  Dr. Z is a very funny, personable man and when I asked, "So about that spot on his lung ..." he interrupted me with, "The spot I wish I never would have told you about?" lol!!!  Yes, I brought that spot up a lot during the last 2 appointments!!  So what Dr. Z said was that considering his immune system was excellent, the sweat test came back negative and the spot has not changed in the past few years, he will keep an eye on it with follow up x-rays twice a year and concluded that it is likely scarring due to a previous pneumonia.  Also, after two weeks of the asthma medication, Blake's numbers were up to 100% which is the best news possible!!  So as it stands, Blake is on the asthma meds for the time being and will see Dr. Z again in October to re-evalute.  Blake has noticed a huge difference with the meds, noting that running during lacrosse is a lot easier and less painful (less coughing and less chest pain).  I've noticed that he is not coughing at night anymore.  All around good news :)  I'd prefer that he did not have asthma but as it is, we are grateful to have excellent medical care and medication to treat it!

Appt #1, 5 min of ventolin followed by a long afternoon of poking and prodding.  Of course, he took it like the champ he is!!

Appt #2 on June 16th, Dr. Z has rubber chickens in all his rooms ;) All smiles because the CF test was negative and his lungs are functioning at 100%!!