The Nose Knows

so.


yesterday Moosey had his (belated) 18-month well check. I wasn't too concerned about him going in. CURIOUS, if anything, how big he's gotten, but overall just another appointment in my book. ok, well.. if I'm being REALLY honest.. I DID have some questions for my pediatrician about his penis and his nose.


I've said from the beginning that I'm no expert on little boys' parts.. but in the past few weeks of babysitting, I've lended a hand with potty training and diaper changes for some little boys. Let's just say that getting a look at other junk made me concerned about Danny's Donut Shop. DONUT SHOP, you say? well.. yes. In the past, we were told that his lack of 'protrudement" was a result of an oversized 'fat-pad'. (uh... he didn't get the nickname Moosey for nothing, ya know?)

Now, I will admit that in the past year he's upgraded from a doughnut-shape to a mini-muffin.... so I KNOW he's thinning out a little... but still. poor kid! He definitely is not looking like the eclairs I've seen on some of the other local boys. So.. I just wanted our Doc to check his junk to make sure he's ok down there.

As for his nose... again.. nothing MAJOR, but the Moo-Moo has been producing these dark brown (almost dried-blood color) boogies in his right nostril. I've noticed it within the past few months (maybe 2?) and chalked it up to him bonking his face on something. I mean.. the way Rhena has bloody noses, a little brown boogie every other day is NOTHING in our book. but still. I figured I'd ask about it.

In terms of his 'stats'.. Doo-Doo did just great. just under 34 inches, so he IS starting to lengthen out. (between 75-90th percentile on the charts) WEIGHT clocked in at 28 pounds (a mere 3 pounds lighter than his sister, who is 2 years older and 8 inches taller!) I was surprised that his weight was only at the 75th percentile. he just seems so damn HEAVY! His noggin was right in the middle on the charts. so yeah.. all is good.


The Doc checked his goods, and she quelled my concerns saying it's still a fat-pad issue. This made me wonder about how fat men have sex.. but that's SUCH an aside right now that I won't go there.

As for the nose... well... this is where things kinda came to a screeching halt. I SHOULD have suspected something was up because she was looking up his nose for a LONG time. I figured it was because danny did NOT like this type of probing and was kicking and screaming like a mule. BUT.. I did have him restrained, and my Doc is GOOD, (like catch-a-fly-with-chopsticks-and-take-a-temp-of-a-passing-train-in-the-dark-GOOD) so her extra time up his nose was a result of concern.

Daniel has a growth in his nostril. This growth, or Polyp, can be caused by a variety of things.

Multiple polyps can occur in children with chronic sinusitis, allergic rhinitis,
cystic fibrosis (CF), or allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS). An individual polyp
could be an antral-choanal polyp, a benign massive polyp, or any of a number of
benign or malignant tumors (eg, encephaloceles, gliomas, hemangiomas,
papillomas, juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibromas, rhabdomyosarcoma, lymphoma, neuroblastoma, sarcoma, chordoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, inverting papilloma). Evaluate all children with benign multiple nasal polyposis for CF and asthma.

hang on a second. BLEURGH! ok. sorry. just had to go throw up again.

so. yeah.


The go forward plan is to not stress. ( I've failed that plan already.) BUT. We KNOW danny doesn't have cystic fibrosis. so that's good. and there IS a possibility that my son just has a very odd-shaped membrane that you know... looks like a tumor. (stress stress stress)

I mean, we've never had anyone do a detailed exam of his nostril before. so is this a growth? is this normal for Danny? True, the new symptom of blood-tinged boogies is prompting concern, but lack of other symptoms (heavy bleeding, trouble breathing, other allergic reactions) are keeping danny out of the HIGH CONCERN category, and placing him in the 'raised awareness/watch' category.

So yesterday when this was told to me, with Danny kicking and screaming and my thoughts EVERYWHERE except in a calm and rational place... The Doc said we could wait it out and check again come his 2 yr appointment (or soon should any new symptoms occur) or we could seek advice from an ENT specialist. I believe my auto-pilot said we would just watch it. (at least that's what I saw my body saying when I was mentally running around in circles in the air puking and crying and screaming at the body to keep my shit together and pay attention)


As of this morning, I've put a call into my doc's office to request a specialist referral and one more review of my Doc's prognosis. I think just the blunt shock of what she was saying really prevented me from HEARING all she said and understanding what we're up against and how concerned I should REALLY be. cause this is my child. and I'm ALWAYS going to have more concern than what is probably necessary.

anyways.. that's where we're at. more to come as I know it. until then, my sanity shall continue to leave me about as fast as the tears have been.


__________

edited to add: Danny's appointment with the specialist is set for Wednesday morning, July 16th. The constant-need-to-puke feeling has been downgraded to a slightly unsettled ill feeling. Glad to have him scheduled, and I'm off the ledge in many ways.... just think good thoughts, ok?