2008-02-19

Still waiting for blood cultures

Today we moved rooms again. We are still in total isolation, but we are now in an isolation room with its own bathroom, so that does make it a little easier with Bianca. She is back on her Mercaptopurine (daily chemo) (even though the spot is still there) and also had her 2 doses of Dexamethasone today as well. Apart from that she is also still getting loads of IV antibiotics and an anti-viral for the suspected chickenpox. Tonight she was complaining of tummy ache and so she also had some Omeprazole.

This morning Bianca was pretty grumpy, didn't have an appetite and didn't want to do anything. This was the first morning where Bianca seemed unwell since we first noticed the spot on the side of her head.

It is a red spot slightly smaller than or approximately the size of a New Zealand 10c coin and has now got blistery things inside it. That makes them think it is possibly chickenpox or shingles, but of course could still be a bacterial infection. Something like chickenpox stays in your system your whole life but gets triggered when your immune system is down like in Bianca's case, so it is easy to flare up again. In my mind the only place she could have caught something like this was a random "contact" at the shopping centre. There is mention that at some point she can be discharged with the oral anti-viral meds. I'm hoping it can be soon! And of course we will then need fortnightly check-ups and blood tests until they are happy with her and the next visit will be isolated so that we do not pose a risk to the other cancer kids.

I also discussed with the doctor this morning about possibly taking Bianca to the dentist at some point in time for a checkup and basically we will need to make sure her neutrophils and platelets are high enough, she will need an antibiotic prior to the visit and then after again. So once again, nothing is simple in this game.

It is a bit tough on us all at the moment. I see Terence each evening when he arrives at the hospital after work for approximately 5, maybe 10 minutes and then we just quickly chat about any updates on Bianca. Then when I get home I see Caitlyn very briefly before it is her bedtime and then in the morning when I get up again until I leave at 7:30 to go to the hospital. I am so glad that we have Sanna here to help out otherwise I would have still had to try and make a plan with Caitlyn.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

HELLO, sending Lot's of prayers : ). From WV, USA

www.caringbridge.org/visit/ethanperkins