Reesie-Roo
Mid to end of February we noticed some bumps on Reesie-Roo: one next to her left ear lobe and one on her neck. Due to the location we assumed they were swollen lymph nodes and her body was just fighting and infection and they would go away.
Early in May we visited her pediatrician since they had not gone away. Her pediatrician ran some blood tests to check for a few things which came back normal so she sent us to an ENT specialist. The following Thursday we saw Dr. Christiansen who gave us a diagnosis of Atypical Mycobacterium (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
The next day (Friday) we saw Dr. Soumekh. He was fantastic. Dr. Christiansen had called Dr. Soumekh to tell him we would be coming. These people are so kind! Anyway, Dr. Soumekh did confirm the diagnosis, ordered and CT scan and an appointment for us to see and infectious disease doctor. He wanted to see how deep the one by her ear was. If it was too deep then we would run a risk of it being in the Parotid gland and having to remove that or scrap out the area, as well as nerve issues in the face. If it was not too deep then they can remove both spots.
Reese had a physical/pre-op that following Monday (9:00) to give her an otherwise clean bill of health for the CT scan later in the day (12:00) at Children's. She will be sedated for the CT scan. Then her appointment with the infectious disease doctor at 3:30. Full day of appointments but Kyle and I thought it would be better to get them all in on one day then drag them out over the course of 3. Dr. Soumekh has been great and is really pushing for urgency with this. If they can catch it before it grows into the gland all the better.
Dr. Soumekh called us that same day to inform us the CT scan couldn't guarantee the growth wasn't going into the gland. He recommended removing the lump on her neck (sending it for testing) and scraping out the one by her ear). I trust his recommendation so we're moving forward with it.
Tuesday, May 26th at 12:00 Reese will have her surgery at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. She will be there overnight to monitor her and will have a follow up appointment with Dr. Soumekh a week after the procedure. We've been told they will likely monitor her for a year but this won't cause any long term health issues for her. She may have to go back if there are cosmetic issues but honestly it would only add to the Reesie-Roo roughness.
Reese was great for her CT scan and for all the appointments she's had. She's remained her sassy self and we know she'll do just fine with her surgery. Most of you have experienced this. If you tell Reesie she is a goof or funny or, really and adjective, her response is pretty much always, "No I not, I Reesie-Roo." Yes you are girl. There is no other way to describe her but "Reesie-Roo." She's been excellent through this so far. We are so grateful for the speed of the doctors and that this hasn't been something worse. We have definitely felt humility for those whose lives revolve around doctors appointment and constant questions.
Thanks for all your prayers. We'll update after surgery next week.
Please pray she continues to be brave and that everything goes well during surgery. We know she's in good hands.
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