A Child Who Continued To Bleed All Through Lent And Was Healed

One day I was shopping with my son 4 weeks before Easter and I noticed he seemed very pale to me. He told me he was not feeling well and seemed to have flu like symptoms. I figured it was winter so maybe he was coming down with something. He was fourteen at the time. We came home and he was sick with a fever that night. Two days went by and my husband had taken him to the Doctors. The Doctor did a workup and had taken his blood and sent him home with an antibiotic. Two days later I received a phone call at work. The Doctor had called and said that he needed to be rushed to the hospital that his blood count was only 6 and he was very anemic. I left work and my husband and I had taken him to Children's Hospital. I was so terrified not knowing why he was anemic.

At this point I had no idea my son was this sick. His body was tolerating the anemia and he was going to school everyday but there were signs. The first sign I noticed was he was taking naps after school and sometimes he would be sleeping on the couch when I would get home from work. This concerned me but he was a growing teenager, my husband would tell me. I also noticed he was getting pale. My husband and daughter thought at the time, I was overreacting and they thought he looked fine. Let me tell you, a mother knows and I knew but did not listen to my inner self telling me something wasn't right. I just kept thinking about this while waiting for tests to come back.

We waited for several hours for my son to get admitted. The Doctor had come in and asked my son to give a urine sample. I was sick to my stomach his urine was a dark red. I had to leave and hold myself from crying and having a breakdown in the bathroom. All I could think of was cancer. I had to wipe my face and I didn't want my son to see the tears. I had to listen to the doctors explanations. They asked my son how long he was urinating the blood he could not recall.

The doctors formed a time line they had thought about 6 months. I was mortified that I did not know and that my son had never told me or my husband. How could I not notice. I never saw any blood on laundry or the toilet. I just kept blaming my self for not noticing.

Two days went by a team of Doctors thought my son may have a kidney problem or Lupus. The tests would come back negative. We were on the floor where children had kidney problems. There was a mom with her son next to us. He was only 8. This was her life coming to the hospital at least 20 times a year. Her son was sick since birth with a rare kidney disease. She worked like me and I thought Wow!!! She would stay the night, her husband and she would take turns and go to work. This was their life. She knew everything about the hospital telling me where I could shower. Get morning coffee and a bagel. I thought to my self I was so blessed to have children who were never really sick. This experience enlightened me to appreciate the blessings of health and to appreciate it.

I felt like I was in hell not knowing my son's urine became darker. More tests MRI, Blood work ect....... So many tests so many Ultrasounds nothing???? I felt like i was going through a twilight zone and someone would wake me from a bad dream. I would stay the night and have to go to work the next day. My husband and I took turns to be with my son. I pulled myself together and told my son we had to pray and have faith that God would heal him. My son had to let go of the sin, which was not telling us that he was bleeding. I told him not telling us was a sin and we went to the hospital Chapel to pray everyday. I had to pull myself together and be strong and God was actually giving me strength. We would go down to the children's game room and play Sorry. Watch videos. I wanted my son to free his mind of worry. I was not going to let the Devil take us down with worry. We laughed had fun. My son looked forward to it. He eventually had to have a blood transfusion due to the loss of blood and low count. A week went by and he was feeling better but still bleeding. The Doctors still had no idea, They thought maybe he had injured his kidney and scheduled a scope and biopsy of the Kidney. They guaranteed me it was not cancer. All tests coming back normal I think they had never seen this case before. He was the talk of the hospital. My son went and had the Biopsy done and the Doctors sent us home with Iron pills. There was nothing more that they could do at this point until the Biopsy tests results came back. Finally a week went by and his doctor called me and said they thought he had "Thin Basement membrane" of the Kidney but did not think the amount of blood loss was to extreme with this diagnosis but needed to do a scope which is a tube that goes up the penis and sometimes can stimulate a natural healing.

My son had to go back and be admitted for this procedure but he was able to come home that evening. He was still bleeding when he got home. Good friday my son was in extreme pain and by morning he wanted me to take him back to the hospital. He had another Kidney ultrasound and results were normal. The Doctor came back with his current urine tests and said that the bleeding had stopped. My son was just fighting an infection caused by the scope and was placed on an antibiotic. My son was certain that he would not be able to come home for Easter. I told him nonsense he was coming home and that we would be going to church the next day. My faith was so strong at this point. I will never ever forget The Easter of 2011 my son was healed and we went to church that morning. If anyone reading this has or is going through an ordeal the pain of a child being sick is like no other. Keep the faith and do not let worry and frustration make you lose sight of what is important in your life. I realized it was the time we spent is what mattered most. I don't take it for granted anymore. If your child wants to play games make the time. If he wants you to read a book to him read it. Don't let the everyday routine make you lose sight of what is really important. My son is well now. Doctors still have no diagnosis. Maybe God's plan was to bring my family closer and we are more now than ever!

Sincerely,

Sandy