Mom saw unusual spots in son’s mouth—when she rushed him to ER, doctors made a life-altering discovery
A mother’s intuition has its own power when it comes to the safety of a child. When this intuition is combined with quick and smart thinking, it can become life-saving. A young man named Philip Raglin had just graduated from school and his mother, Leslie Holts, had many hopes for him like any other mom would, per Dakota News Now. Her son happened to show her unusual spots inside his mouth and Holts quickly went into mom mode. Her intuition prompted her to take quick action and rush him to the ER, which changed the course of events.
The mom was delighted to see her son start a fresh chapter in his life. “You know, he’s finally done with school and he was getting ready to start his life,” Holts said. She was also proud of her son's passion for football. However, she was taken aback when her son showed her blood spots in his mouth. She didn’t waste time and quickly booked a doctor’s appointment. As a mother, her heart was worried and on the lookout for her son. As Raglin was getting tests done shortly after, she noticed something more distressing.
“At the time that he had the lab work done, I happened to notice a bruise on his arm. So along with the bleeding in his mouth and then the bruise, that kind of, like, alarmed me,” she recalled, according to KHOU11. Her worries got even more persistent, and she rushed her son to the ER. That very decision became a stroke of life-saving luck in Raglin’s life. The young man was diagnosed with an advanced case of leukemia. “Basically, if we hadn’t brought him in when we did, then he would have bumped his head or even something as small as a papercut and he could’ve bled out,” Holts said.
Thanks to the immediate diagnosis, Raglin was able to move to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and begin treatment and chemotherapy. With the support of his mom, teammates, and others, the young man made it through. “They just told me to keep fighting. And I was like I got it,” he recounted. Texas player John Mitchie, who also battled the same condition, dropped in to check on Raglin. He is now in remission and still receiving treatment. Ever since his diagnosis, Holts has been grateful for having been able to use her mom instinct at the right time and then act on it.
Her timely intervention gave her son a chance to live. Learning from her own story, she shared a message for all parents. “Don’t ignore any signs of, whenever your kids come and tell you, like even something as small as a bruise,” she said. She added that the consequences of being careless can be brutal. Considering her own son’s scenario, she noted that had she not gotten him checked out, it would have led to an unimaginably distressing conclusion. “It would’ve cost me my son,” she said. Fortunately, her astuteness has given her son a chance to recover within months and get back to his life as usual.
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