The F Word!

Just so you know my original plan of my blog was to start from the beginning and go until present. However the F word has messed that up for me. I do not mean the word you think! I mean fevers, as a cancer mom that is the worst word in the dictionary. Well that and the N word aka Neutropenia. Well guess what? Kin has both this week.

What started as bronchitis and ear infection did not seem to be getting better. Then the F word came. The first time her counts were decent enough she did not have to be admitted. That did not last long after a Sunday full of a lethargic child and a fever popping up in the evening, a trip to the ER it was.

I debated going to urgent care with her but since I was just there the night before and was not highly impressed. After being there an hour or so and throwing a fit the Dr. came in. I was then told she needed blood work and I explained she had a port could they use that. I was then told that they could. However, the nurse still brought in all the stuff to draw from the arm. I had to explain again she had a port and she needed that to be used.

Yeah there idea of accessing a port = no numbing cream.
They also don't have a pediatric needle, and the needle they do have looks huge and scary!
Anyway after about 30 minutes of me calming down my kid in hysterics it got done very painfully! GRR!

They leave it taped in away she can't really move because they don't know what the hell they are doing obviously. Moving on, I asked if they needed a new chest x-ray and they never did one so I guess they didn't see fit and started her on another antibiotic and sent us home.

That means Sunday I drove the hour to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles(CHLA). We get checked in and tylenol for her fever immediately. They immediately put us in a room and add some numbing cream to her port area. It is such a different experience. These nurses and doctors here really do try to make things as comfortable for kids as possible. So they started an IV and did all their cultures and checked her counts and they said her counts were too low, she would be admitted.

To most people this would be bad news. Don't get me wrong I HATE that she is in the hospital but relieved that they are able to monitor her here. My nerves are not so on edge about things. I feel like for the last week or so all I have been doing is debating a trip to the Dr. or taking her to urgent care. So yeah while I hate being here I am glad they know what they are doing.

So we got to our room at 4:00 in the morning. At about 4:45 a.m. I left and went to work for the day. Another dilemma of a cancer-mom. We need to keep our jobs and pay our bills and take care of our kids at the same time. Today I took off half from feeling bad for leaving her yesterday and half from pure exhaustion. Didn't really sleep last night and well Sunday night that was pretty much impossible, though I tried to grab a nap in the ER. Today is a day of just waiting and watching. I totally could have gone to work. So tomorrow I will stop hovering and go to work. Just pray I get a couple hours of sleep tonight!

She keeps spiking random fevers, breaking them as quick as they come on. She for sure has RSV and waiting on a few other things to come back I believe. Hoping that when it happens its negative and she beats this soon! I called the school for all her work for the week it may end up being 2 weeks if these fevers don't stop.