July 2002, Tyson started to complain about leg pains. He woke up one morning and could not stand on his legs; they hurt him so bad. I called his doctor that afternoon, the office was closed, left a message for the on call doctor, but never heard back from them. I asked around to other mothers, and everyone said "growing pains". Two days later, his legs were fine.
Sept 2002, his legs started to bother him again. His father was living in Hawaii and Tyson was due to go visit in the beginning of October. So, I decided to take Tyson to his pediatrician to get checked out. Sept 25, 2002 - First visit to the pediatrician. Not sure what was wrong; thought Tyson might have some fluid on his hips, making them sore. Sept 26, 2002 - Went to lab for blood work. Oct 2, 2002 - Follow-up visit with pediatrician. Found out the lab did not draw enough blood for tests. Sent to orthopedic doctor. Oct 3, 2003 - Went to orthopedic doctor. They did x- rays and found nothing wrong. By this point, Tyson had a terrible cold and was completely miserable. The doctors ordered more bloodwork. We went to the in- house lab so we would get the results that day.
Oct 4, 2002 - D Day for us - Got a call from the orthopedic doctor. The lab sent the bloodwork off for testing (per my insurance company). We needed the results because Tyson was due to get on a plane on Oct 7 to fly to Hawaii. We were sent to the lab at the Children's Hospital, and we were told to wait for the results. Two hours later, we were sent to the emergency room. The emergency room doctor told us that Tyson was anemic - not so bad. 15 minutes later, he came back and told us they were moving us to a room upstairs, the hematologist was waiting to talk to us and she was probably going to tell us that he had leukemia. We were admitted that night and spent our first night in ICU - extremely low counts. When admitted - Hemoglobin: 3, Platelets: 10,000, WBC: 2.1, ANC: 21. They transfused him the entire night.
Tyson was originally diagnosed at standard risk. BMA at day 7 still showed over 90% blasts. BMA at day 14 also still showed over 90% blasts. At this point, they bumped him up to high risk and we followed POG 9906.
Tyson finished treatment in June 2005, and is currently doing wonderful (except catching every virus running through his school).
Elizabeth Tyson's mom, dx 10/02, OT 6/05