Today I ended up at a doctor's office, but it wasn't with my normal patient. Egypt has been having leg pain every morning when she wakes up for about a week or so. It usually goes away, so I didn't think anything of it. I thought it was a leg cramp. But this morning, super-hero dad noticed that her knee was swollen. After dropping Romania at school, I called our pediatrician to get in as soon as possible. They had an opening at 10.
After the doctor looked at her swollen knee, I knew something wasn't right. Egypt hasn't taken any falls recently and there was no bruising. She gave me several possibilities and the main one was juvenile arthritis! Her symptoms are consistent with an arthritic joint because there is no external bruising and the pain goes away after she's been on it for awhile. She asked if Egypt had been sick recently and I told her she'd had a high fever 3 weeks ago that lasted for 3 days. She said it's not uncommon for a viral infection to bring on arthritis. Her x-rays were normal; no fractures. She also had blood work done and we'll know the results in a few days. The doctor wants us to get in with a pediatric rheumatologist as soon as possible. Then we'll know for sure what to do from there. Meanwhile, she's on Motrin three times a day and I have to make sure she doesn't get stiff and do some movement exercises with her.
Luckily, the new doctor will be at the same hospital that Holland's been at. I totally know how to navigate my way around!
1 comment:
OH my poor friend! I hope she gets something to ease her pain. Give her my kiss.
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