Category: Leukemia

Finally Serenity is asleep! I thought this moment would never come. She alternates between feeling fine and being bored in her hospital room and looking sick. She’s been fever free for most of the day but she did spike a low grade fever at one point. Her cough comes and goes. It will be interesting to see what the morning brings since she has been sicker in the mornings the past few days.

I hope that the antibiotics they are giving her kick in and that she’s feeling better quickly and that we can go home. But I am glad we are here because I’d be worried about her every minute at home and wondering if she was about to take a turn for the worst.

Originally the clinic did not want me to make the 1 1/2 hour drive to the hospital when I called about her fever. With an ANC under 500 the nurse said kids can get very sick very fast. But I pushed to come up here, because if we’re going to be inpatient with low ANC I want to be on the immune compromised ward.

Because she feels alright much of the time, Serenity doesn’t understand why we can’t just go home. She keeps asking to leave, and was determined not to fall asleep here at the hospital. I’ve made up my mind that I need to pack another hospital bag that is always ready, and loaded with fun things to do when we’re stuck in a hospital room.

Well, the clinic decided to admit Serenity once we got up here. Her fever stayed at 101 for 2 hours, but dropped to 100 on the drive. It’s gone down to 99 since, but when they did a CBC her ANC had dropped to 100. ANC is a measurement of her immunity, so when it’s below 500 she is at risk for infection.

This means that even though she doesn’t appear to be very sick, it’s safest to keep her here for a day or two for observation. Since we’ve been here she has developed a little bit of a cough, so there is some speculation that it could be the flu. The nurse said that the resident will probably want to stick the suction tube up her nose to collect a sample to test for the flu. It is NOT a pleasant experience, so I am desperately hoping that Serenity won’t have to undergo it.

On the upside, I have plenty of time now to finish my novel. 😉

Yesterday Serenity woke with a small fever (101). It didn’t last and she felt ok through the day. This morning she woke feeling warm again, and looking sick, so we are biding our time until she’s had it for an hour and we call the clinic.

Last week her ANC was 400 and the doctor told us to hold her chemo for 2 weeks. In light of that, I think if her fever stays they will probably have her come in.

She’s had a sibling with a cough and cold, so it’s probably the same virus.

I just wanted to post a quick update to let you know that we are home and our wish trip was amazing. I feel bad we didn’t keep up with the daily posts but there was so much to do and we were exhausted every single day.

Give Kids The World is an incredible organization, as is Make A Wish. We had the time of our lives and the kids begged to be able to stay. They never wanted to come home!

We will post some photos and write more about our trip soon.