Me: What's the hardest part of being a big brother?
Little Jay: Trying to protect my sister.
Me: What's the best part of being a big brother?
Little Jay: Protecting my sister.
LOVE. THESE. KIDS.
Other
than having gems of conversations like these with the kids, it was a
relatively quiet day. We ended up not meeting the transplant team today,
so we spent most of the time wandering the halls of the unit from
Jade's room to the art room, where she painted and puppeteered. She is
so full of life -- she has been without a nap for the whole week and
today was no exception.
By bedtime, however, her
pulse was accelerated and she was running a low-grade fever. Fever is
one of the potential side effects of the GCSF that Jade is taking to
stimulate neutrophil growth and the recovery of her ANC. Fever can also
be a sign of infection that Jade's immune system could potentially not
be able to fight. The nurse immediately reminded me that if her temp did
not drop within an hour, they would have to draw blood cultures to try
to identify the cause of the fever, replace the caps on her broviac to
reduce any bacteria or germs that may be present, and put Jade on IV
antibiotics and contact isolation for at least 24 hours for her safety
and that of the other children on the floor. Luckily, Jade's temperature
dropped just enough within an hour to avoid this. Yes. As a matter
of fact, I did strip her pajamas off, lower the room temperature, give
her something cold to drink, and say a prayer. She toed the fever line for most of the night, accounting for my wakefulness and 2am typing of this post.
As always, thank you for keeping Jade in your prayers.
Today's Counts
Hemoglobin: 9.8 (down from yesterday's 10.5)
Platelets: 22 (down from yesterday's 34)
ANC: 0
Monocytes: 0
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