When Phoebe turned two we got the lab slip from the pediatrician to do the routine two year blood work. Having two older children, we knew that this was just a normal CBC and lead check and we were not worried at all. After all, Phoebe had this blood test when she turned one and everything was fine.
I still remember the day I got the phone call with her results. My heart sunk. Phoebe's white blood cell count was very low.
We were told this could be for a number of reasons, but the best thing to do was to not panic, and to repeat the blood work in a month. Not panic? That was easier said than done. Her first year was rough on all of us, but she had been fine. There was nothing indicating that something was wrong. With nothing we could do, we waited the month.
When the second round of results came in we heard the words no parent wants to hear. "I'm sorry, but her white counts are still really low. We need to refer you to a pediatric hematologist/oncologist."
Oncologist? As in cancer? Could my daughter have cancer?