Short-Lived Trip Home

10/13/2011: 9:59 AM

At around 7:45 PM last night, Davis spiked a fever of 101.3.  He convinced me that it was because he had taken a shower, so I repeated the reading 15 minutes later. 101.7.  Since he is neutropenic (low counts, ANC below 500) and has fever, St. Louis had to be notified immediately.  We were advised to go to the local ER and wait for transfer.

I think we arrived to the hospital at about 8:30 PM. Sarah Bush was so kind to us. Our nurse and ER doctor were fantastic. Davis' port was accessed and blood was drawn for cultures.  He was given a bolus of fluids. They later did a peripheral draw from his arm to test against his port draw.  The idea is that if his port blood draw is positive for infection and his arm draw is negative, it will point the doctors to a compromised port or port infection. After the draw, an IV antibiotic was started. 

The ICU transport team from Children's arrived a bit after midnight. After some paperwork and a quick examination, we were loaded into a hulk of an ambulance and driven to St. Louis.  For safety reasons, I was not allowed to ride in the back with Davis, but there was an opening between the cab and the back that allowed me to see what was going on. The ride was pretty uneventful. Davis slept the entire way. He didn't wake up for any of the experience.

We arrived on the 9th floor a little after 3 AM.  There was a steady stream of visitors -vitals techs, nurses, doctors- when we arrived. Another blood draw was done to test his blood for a fungal infection. A bit after 4 AM, it was lights out. They repeated the IV antibiotics this morning, and Davis was given another bag of nutrients with potassium because his potassium count had dropped. No word on the need for blood or platelet transfusions yet.

A quick briefing this morning let us know that Davis will stay here in the hospital until his fever has been gone for 24 hours and until his counts start to recover. The doctors are hoping to have more information as some of the cultures start revealing information. They will be making rounds soon.

Davis is sleeping peacefully. He has only been awake for about 8 hours of the last 24. Yesterday, he ate a cheese stick and two baked Lays potato chips. That's it.

We appreciate your prayers. We are praying that whatever this is, it is minor and Davis will be well soon. We thank you in advance for doing the same.

I will keep you posted.