An Unexpected Trip Back to the Hospital

On Friday February 7^th, we went to the hospital for Jaxsen’s weekly appointment. He needed a lumbar puncture to get chemo in his spinal column and also a bone marrow aspiration. After he woke up from the anesthesia, Jax wanted to be carried around and didn't seem to want to walk anywhere on his own. He didn't complain of any pain, but seemed to stumble whenever he walked. The doctor said that this was a side effect of his spinal tap, and that it should not last more than a few hours.

The next day, Jaxsen was having trouble walking and balancing on his own. Alarmed, we called the clinic, and Dr. Wiley instructed us to get Jaxsen over to the ER so he could be checked out. He said that it was probably nothing serious. This relieved us a bit, but it was still hard to see Jax regress and stumble around like a toddler learning to walk for the first time. Although mommy and daddy were upset, as  usual, Jaxsen made the best of the situation and said, “It's ok, I just have silly legs!”  Sometimes he’s the one keeping US straight.

We arrived at the ER shortly after we got off the phone with Dr. Wiley. The ER was unusually quiet that morning; I could count the number of people waiting with a single hand. It didn’t matter though, because they were expecting the little man, so we had an express ticket to get our own room. We were greeted promptly by the nurses and as usual, Jaxsen received brand new toys to play with and to help take his mind off of things.

The ER doc came in and did an initial evaluation. She didn’t find anything concerning, but ordered Jaxsen to have x-rays done of his hips, spine, and legs, just to be sure. They took a ton of pictures of his insides from many different angles. I stood with Jax, wearing a silly lead apron while Megan was watching with the x-ray technician behind the barrier wall. The x-ray machine was large and intimidating, with wires running from wall to ceiling, but Jax was a brave boy and didn’t even flinch.

After Jaxsen's internal photo shoot, Dr. Wiley came in to assess the photos. To our surprise, he didn’t notice any problems with his bones or muscles, but he did see that Jaxsen was extremely constipated. We saw the pictures for ourselves and the constipation definitely wasn't hard to miss!

It turned out that Jax had a sacroliliac strain as a result of the earlier procedures and a case of constipation. This was nothing to be worried about. He was discharged with a recommendation to relax and try to get more fiber in his diet.