It Got Worse

We found out the "what's next".

Jackson is in the hospital.

We went to the orthopedic specialist at 2:05 yesterday and I could tell from his demeanor that he was looking at something far beyond what he expected. From his simple observation, and probably what he smelled (more on that later), he said he suspected that Jackson might have an infection in his C1 and C2 vertabrae or a peritonsillar abscess. He left the room to consult with our family doctor about next steps. Good to note here that while he was gone Jackson mentioned that he'd had a lot of trouble breathing at lunch that day.

When he returned, after overhearing several muffled phone calls, he said they were "waiting for us" at Akron Children's Hospital up the road as they needed to run a CTscan to determine what was happening. Word from the wise; when they tell you the hospital is waiting for you, it's never a good sign!

They ran the scan and did bloodwork, which he handled fabulously. Right after the USAirways plane crashed into the Hudson they came to the waiting room, "the test was positive..."

The Radiologist came to speak to me separately. "This abscess is a large mass, touching his airway. Do you understand how extremely lucky you are that you came today? This would have blocked his airway within a matter of days...and we wouldn't have been able to do anything at that point. What in the world made you come today? He doesn't show ANY symptoms of this."

My answer, "God, and an incredibly brilliant Orthopedic Specialist who hadn't had to look into a throat since he was an intern".

The cause? A strep throat infection that no one noticed because he has an incredibly high pain tolerance (Aspergers) and he doesn't get fevers (a genetic flaw inherited from his Dad). We thought we were dealing with a a muscle spasm, at the back of his neck no less, when all along it was an abscess at the front that was pushing on the muscle in the back and causing his loss of motion.

And the smell? (which I had noticed and thought it was from his meds). A strep infection has a very particular smell that comes out through the pores - now we know.

The prognosis? He's on heavy I.V. antibiotics and steroids to reduce the mass (we hope). They will do another scan on Sunday morning. If all is well he will come home on oral antibiotics. If not, we will be driving to Akron (the main hospital) for surgery to drain the puss from the mass...

John and I are doing rotating shifts. I had last night, tonight is his night...and I'm going to bed.