Abdominal Pain + A High Sed Rate + A Low Creatinine level = what?

Question

A little boy I know is sick and we're not sure what's wrong with him. He was first diagnosed with Lymphoma and now the doctors say it's some kind of infection. Abdominal Pain, High Sed Rate, Low Creatinine, Normal red and white blood cell count, a high fever, and 3 lumps on his body. Please we need some answers thank you for your time.

Answer 1

Very difficult to answer this question with what you have given, but hopefully I can address a few things.

1) A low creatinine is no big deal at all. It is a waste product of muscle metabolism. Therefore, this just tells us that his kidneys are working well to get rid of stuff his body doesn't need.

2) A high sedimentation rate is very non-specific. In other words, all it tells us is that there is some sort of "inflammatory" response going on in his body...which could be caused by tons of things. Lyphoma and other malignancies (cancers) could do this, but so could an infection, or some vascular disease...

3) Normal white blood count - this is suspicious if doctors are thinking that there is an infection going on. White blood cells fight infection. Therefore, if there were a serious infection in this boy, than the white blood cell count would likely be HIGH...?

4) High fever - question is...how high? Fever is most often due to an infection...whether bacterial or viral or fungal, etc. But could be do to malignancy, too...

5) 3 lumps on his body - where, how big, etc? Are these swollen lymph nodes? Perhaps it is lymphoma. Or else, a bacterial infection. When you get a bacterial infection, your body makes a bunch of white blood cells...in lymph nodes...that swell up - "reactive" lymph nodes...that go back to normal after the infection is fought off.

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And there are many other questions that would need to be answered...how old is this kid? Where is this kid? In area of the world where HIV is rampant, and perhaps he got HIV from his infected mother at birth? Perhaps he has HIV-AIDS, then...

Abdominal pain could be tons of different things...especially in a "little boy"...but how old? How severe is the pain? If severe and in the lower right part of his abdomen...perhaps this is appendicitis...and he needs surgery to take out his appendix...?

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I am sorry I can't be more specific...but from what you have given, this could be over a hundred different things...from not serious at all to life threatening.

But, hopefully...I have answered some of your questions and helped you to understand some of what is going on...

If the doctors think it is an infection, then they are giving him some heavy antibiotics now...probably in an IV at a hospital...
Depending on where you are, perhaps a bone marrow biopsy will be done...and more blood lab tests to figure out what is going on.

In any event, I hope it is just an easily curable infection...and that the antibiotics work to heal the boy quickly.

God bless.