Trip to ER

After Chemo, later during the day she was complaining about her tummy more than usual.  I thought this was odd.  Last night Taylor left the dinner table and laid down on the couch and fell asleep.  I checked her after a while and realized she was starting to get a fever.  So I kept a watch on it.  Of course she kept waking up fussing.   I moved her to my bed after the rest of the kids went to sleep.  Her fever was slowly rising and she still kept waking.  When I went to bed around midnight or so her fever was hard to read.  I kept trying to get an accurate reading over the next 45 min.  I DID NOT want to have to go to the hospital.  It ranged anywhere from 99.8-102.  So, I was like, ugh!  I called the oncall Dr and they called back right away.  They said we had to bring her into the ER.  So, at 1:15am we were on the road.

It is amazing how fast you can get to Vanderbilt at 1am in the morning!  They were ready for us when we got there.  But this trip to the ER was different than any I have had before.  They didn't do things in the normal way I have experienced before.  They did not get her stats right away.  They actually never got her weight the whole time we were there.  They gave me a thermometer and had ME take her temperature.  That was odd.  Then a Dr came and talked to us, but I was not that impressed with the conversation.  Then a nurse asked if Taylor just had chemo.  I said she had and then he came in with a mask for her to put on and they moved us to a special room with glass doors and all the staff would come in with coverings and masks on.

Then, really long story short, she had fever and since she has a port we had to go to get her checked to see if there is a bacterial infection going on.  So they drew blood work and ran tests on it and also took a flu test.  (She did good when the accessed her port this time by the way, WAY better than earlier at Chemo) She started getting some sort of hives, so they gave her some Benadryl.  They needed a urine sample and Taylor didn't want to go.  I told the Dr's she would go if I took her and so off we went.  Weird that she didn't even want to get up to potty.  Later, one Dr (or nurse, not sure) came back and said Taylor's WBC count was down to 2.3 which is bad (normal is 4-12) and she said she had Neutropenia.  Which is when the immune system is very compromised and she is at risk for infections.   Which is weird because her number was 4.2 or something earlier when we were at the chemo appt. (before chemo her # was 10)  She then told me that they were checking with the oncology dept on what they want to do.  Later, the original Dr that we saw when we first came into the ER came in and said Taylor was fine.  That her counts were still safe.  ???  Now, I am really confused.  She said the cells that they worry about still have a good enough number so she is not at risk; she is just like any other kid and does not need to wear a mask or anything like that.  She is not neutropenic.  Then, they gave her an antibiotic just to be safe and gave her some tylenol as well.  When that was over we were all done.  They never mentioned anything about a bacteria test.  They never came back with any flu test results or urine results.  There was a lot more things that happened during this visit that bothered me, worried me, confused me etc.  I was NOT impressed at all.  I was pretty disappointed in the whole experience.  I was surprised to have that from Vanderbilt.  I even had to correct one of the "students" when she was doing something because she did it wrong... and I was not sure how dangerous that was... not cool.

Anyway, so we left and got home around 7am when the rest of my family was up and getting ready to take their brother to school.  Caught up with the family and got Taylor situated on the couch.  O looked at her and she looked pale.  I didn't notice that before.  I was dead tired, had not slept a wink.  So I laid down to take a nap.  The hubs took the kids out to school stuff and Taylor stayed home with me watching tv and sleeping.  After 2-3 hrs of a nap, I got up and contacted our oncologist about last night and wanted some real answers.  I am no longer confused.  The nurse was very helpful and informative.  They are waiting on the bacteria culture to see if there is an infection.  That takes 48 hrs.  The antibiotic they gave her was preventative, to protect her just case the test is positive.  So, no she is not neutropenic, no she doesn't need a mask, yes watch the fever but do not give her any tylenol or anything without talking to Dr., her neutrophil count is 2400 which is fine (below 1000 is where they get worried).  They still are not sure why the fever until the test comes back.   Nobody has mentioned anything about why the hives still.  We are to call back if her fever gets back to 100.4 or higher or anything else happens that we are worried about.  At that point they will guide us on what to do.  We have till 5am tmrw till the antibiotic wears off.  At that point, if fever is up, we need to call and will have to go back to hospital for another dose to protect her for the next 24 hrs until we get the bacteria test results.  So it is a wait and see type thing right now.

Since we have been home, Taylor has slept a lot.  She only slept off and on throughout the night.  So she was catching up.  But I finally had to get her up and make her awake and see how she is doing.  I needed to check her energy level, her desire to play, her temp, her desire to eat or drink, etc.  I had to force her to drink some water.  She was really whiney.  She still has fever but low enough.  I was able to get her to eat a few goldfish crackers.  I also got out a pediasure for her.  She did not like the 1.5 kind they want her to have.  So I switched to a strawberry flavored regular one.  She still didn't really like it or want it but I got her to drink some as she watched tv.  She still doesn't want to eat or drink.  She doesn't want to play or take a bath or anything.  She is still complaining about her tummy.  She was sitting there and started whining and saying the peepee was coming out.  I said well hurry let's go to the potty.  Again she didn't really want to.  While she was going she said it was hurting her tummy when she went potty.  I think I remember reading somewhere that this was a bad sign???  I will watch this from now on as well.  Then, I got her to sit and play with the kindle aps for a bit just now.  So, we will see how the rest of the day goes.  I think that is all for now, I will update important info as I can.