Inpatient at the Big House (AKA Loyola)

K and her new bald barbie

We were sent to the hospital on Monday night.  Kennedy had a 102.7 fever and instead of being directed to the emergency room, doc told us to have her admitted.  We are still here.

For the most part, outside of the cough and fever, Kennedy was feeling chipper for the first 2 days but has been feeling icky the last two, likely because she has been up coughing all night with an intermittent fever.  Her viral culture came back as Rhinovirus, which is a cold and no bacteria has grown on her blood cultures to say it is anything but that but they still have her on an antibiotic.

Warning Signs on her door

Her liver enzymes are 30 times the upper limit of normal so she is officially on chemo hold for at least 1 week until they go down to normal range.  Her ANC dropped from 19,000 last week at clinic after steroids to 300 which means she is neutropenic.  Her hemoglobin is low and she will be getting a blood transfusion today.  I’m not sure where all of this is coming from; it seems scary that a cold could cause this much distress on her body.

  

We escaped the room - shh don't tell

There are hazard signs on her door advising all nurses and visitors to be dressed in masks, gowns and gloves before visiting because she is contagious.   This also means Kennedy cannot leave her room and go to the playroom or for walks. I like the extra precaution taken by docs and nurses; I am especially grateful for the signs since she is neutropenic.  I can’t even tell you how many times docs and nurses didn’t wear gloves when the signs weren’t up.

Arts and Crafts

Last night, to prevent K from going stir crazy, we broke out (dressed in a mask and gloves) and went for a walk down the hall.  I also learned that dad did the same during the day.  It’s funny how breaking the rules makes her so happy!  It’s tough being in solitary.

We are hoping to go home on Saturday.  We need to be fever free for 24 hours and her white blood cells need to go up to be sent home.  So far, no such luck.  So we wait.  Praying her liver counts to down, her hemoglobin goes up and her fever stays away.