Journal entry by Mariya Shcheglyuk —
A little about me: My name is David I am 6 years and going to 2nd grade. I love to play with my big sister, paint, draw, and most of all build with legos!! Best of all I love doing things with my Dad, mom, and sister.
David a previously healthy child with no previous medical condition began complaining of back pain. First we thought it had to do with being pushed on the playground we visited a chiropractor to be sure that his spine was aligned who confirmed that it was fine but also referred us to get an x-ray of his spine. We went into Cooks Children urgent care an x-rat was taken and cleared we were sent home and advised to take children’s Motrin and Tylenol for pain if it persisted to give them a call. In the next month my previous active boy was no longer able to run around bend down to pick up his toys with out crying out in pain. At this point we have tried everything we were recommended and David was getting worse not better. I finally took him to the emergency room where an MRI has been done which revealed an abnormal cell growth in his T-8 vertebrae that caused a fracture. David was admitted the following day we had blood tests, labs, and a biopsy of his vertebrae.
We were sent home a week later we had a follow up with his treating physician who informed us that it could be an infection or Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH). The first biopsy was inconclusive so another one was scheduled which also was inconclusive. So our next move was to schedule a spinal surgery to get a bigger piece to biopsy had high risks involved, two weeks before our surgery consult David began to limp. I reached out to his treating physician who suggested we get an appointment with his pediatrician who then sent us to the emergency room once more. David had a CAT scan and an MRI which revealed additional abnormal cell growth in his hips and leg bones which caused a fracture in his left femur. By now we had quite an army of Drs who all agreed that the risks of spinal surgery was high and recovery time longer that it would be best to get that piece from his left leg.
Upon getting discharged the diagnosis was confirmed to Chronic Osteomyelitis- it is an infection of the bone that causes fractures. The treatment is getting monthly infusions running labs and MRIs to make sure that there are no new infected areas. At this time David can not put any weight on his left leg his activities have quite a bit of restriction.
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