Day 27, Chemo Round 1 :: Fever, Be Gone!

Jade shakes up the dice while
Lil Jay contemplates his empire-building strategy.

The weekend started off rocky, but ended gloriously.  The fevers that surfaced on Thursday decided to stick around for most of the weekend and asked vomiting and diarrhea to tag along.  This landed Jade on contact isolation, which meant that she remained confined to her room and all personnel who entered had to put on gowns, masks, and gloves before crossing the threshold - at first, an upsetting sight for Jade. It also meant blood cultures and stool samples, as well as Jade's first wheelchair ride down to X-Ray. Thankfully, her x-ray was "unremarkable" - the only context in which Jade will ever be described as such, I declare. And the preliminary reads of the blood cultures and stool samples that were taken are negative for bacterial growth. So, Jade is likely just experiencing side effects of one (or some) of the medications that she is on.

So, where is the glory referred to in the opening sentence? Today's ANC: 30!  Let's pray it's all up from here.

But, the entire weekend was truly glory-filled. When Friday morning rolled around, we realized that we didn't have solid overnight plans in place for Lil Jay while Dad worked a 7-7 shift at his hospital. I sent out a few messages and more quickly than I expected had arranged for Lil Jay to spend Friday night at a friend/classmate's home. He was super excited to be going to a "sleepover."  (Believe it or not, this was only his second time sleeping over a friend's home.)  He stayed up late and ended up spending most of Saturday with his friend... and away from the hospital. It was such a huge help, and with Jade's tummy issues, it was a relief for me.  My thank yous were met with this message from Ms. Ebony, "We were honored to be able to assist your family. Thank YOU for the opportunity."


On Sunday morning at 6am, while Jade and I -- and probably most of us -- were still asleep, our friends Michele and Monica came over so Lil Jay could continue to slumber while Dad went off to work. When we asked this seemingly huge favor, they let us know, "This is not a favor... we're friends." They headed over to the hospital with Lil Jay in tow (with the added drama of an emergency bathroom stop), and entertained the kids in Jade's room while I left the floor and ate lunch in the cafeteria. When  I got back, they gently insisted that I get out of the hospital for some fresh air, which I hadn't done for a week, and enjoy the weather. With Jade in playful spirits and her fever under control, I checked in with her nurse and ran home to straighten up Lil Jay's room and did a load of laundry so he could start the school week off on the right foot. Just wanted to do something for him other than supervise homework completion at the hospital. Then I even took a walk around a pond in our community and grabbed a slice of cake from a bakery. They don't seem to offer desserts in the hospital anymore, with good reason, I'm sure. I got back to Jade's room feeling like a new person... and just in time for an explosive poop.

We are so blessed to have people like you in our lives to help us navigate this storm.  Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Today's Counts:
Hemoglobin: 9.4
Platelets: 37
ANC: 30