Hope wasn't feeling well all last weekend. She didn't eat much of anything, had that sick kid breath and was generally low energy. Quinn was feeling even more rotten, including a fever starting on Saturday morning. By Sunday he felt so bad we took him to an after-hours doc and found he had strep. So... Monday afternoon Hope and I visited the ER for a strep test (negative) and to make sure she wasn't getting dehydrated because by then her lack of enthusiasm for food had been extended to refusing to drink.
Tuesday we had a regular clinic visit. The plan was to do blood counts and discuss the next phase of treatment, Interim Maintenance, which includes four 2-3 day hospital stays. She took an early nap because her appointment was at 1:30, and when Greg picked her up after nap she felt hot. We waited a few minutes and then took her temp: 100.5. At clinic her blood counts came back with an absolute neutrophil count, or ANC, of 0, and that combination wins you a one-way ticket to 11South, the inpatient unit for pediatric oncology. Any temperature over 100.4 requires a call to the doctor, and if you are neutropenic (have an ANC of under 500) you have to get checked in while they do a blood culture, rule out and/or treat infection, and wait until your ANC is 200 and rising.
Could be 2 days, could be a week, could be more. Sigh. But the good news is, she feels pretty good. She spent Wednesday exploring the playroom and chatting up the nurses. In the afternoon she got moved to a general medical unit because they needed our oncology room for someone else. It's always good news when you are the most boring patient in oncology, so we are trying not to complain about missing the free coffee and familiar faces of 11South...
Cultures are all negative so it was probably a virus. And more good news: She finally ate something this morning. Her first food since Saturday! Good old Cheerios.
Now we wait. Her ANC finally cracked double digits today: 20! More soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment