Unexpected Ups and Downs

Chemo number 6 went off without a hitch. Dr. Whitlock said that Clara Jean is doing well, her counts were good and we were in and out of there in no time. I can't even tell you how excited I was that we were down with our six consecutive treatments and that we were going to have two weeks off. No chemo, no steroids. We had one trip to Vandy planned to have a follow up MRI. Routine, no big deal.

We are still dealing with some side effects. The biggest one being that she is tired and that leads to her being cranky. She isn't staying at school all day. I go pick her up a little early and on most days she crashes when we get home. Her appetite has gone down some and I think that she has already lost some of the weight that she gained. The swelling is starting go down on her face.

So, two weeks off, right?? Umm...not to be. Saturday we went to Holiday World. We had been trying to go all summer but we just couldn't pull it off. So we had the chance on Saturday and we took it. We had a ball! It looks like Della Jane is going to follow in Emma and Clara's footsteps and be a "ride dare devil." Last year Clara wasn't tall enough for the roller coasters but this year she was and she wanted to ride them over and over. After one of the rides Tom told me that, "Clara isn't afraid of anything." And she proved that again, on Sunday night when we had to go to the ER.

So, Sunday Clara was kind of blah. She didn't eat well and she just laid around a lot. Tom and I thought that it was because she was tired from the trip. And we weren't really worried about her eating either. Dr. Whitlock had told us that after she stopped her steroids she wouldn't have an appetite. So we just assumed that was the reason she wasn't eating much. Well, we were wrong. Right before bed I just didn't like the way she was acting, so I told her to take her temp. It was 100.6. No big deal if you are an otherwise healthy child but a big deal if you have a port and you are on medication that suppresses your immune system. I called the on call number and we were told to take her to the ER to have her counts checked and to also check for infection.

When we got to the ER we saw that the waiting room was full of people and I was a little nervous that we would have to wait. As soon as I told them that Clara was a chemo patient they put a mask on her and whisked us back. We were quickly surrounded by people with masks and gowns on. They had IV antibiotics started in about 15 minutes. It was pretty overwhelming. Clara's eyes were huge, but she didn't complain once.

Remember a few weeks ago when Clara couldn't start school because her counts were low. Well when we say counts, in this case, we mean neutrophils. Neutrophils are a vital part of her immune system, fighter cells. Well, when they were low before they were 650. They have to be 750 to have chemo and to be allowed to go to school. Last night, they were 220. At about 2:30 a.m. we were given a room on a floor in the hospital that is sterile. They pipe in their own air. Right now we are just waiting. She continues to get antibiotics. Her fever is down, so that is good news. But the results from the other blood work is not. They are looking for bacteria, either in the form of an infection or bacteria in her line. They also did a flu swab. They will check her neutrophils again this afternoon.

Thanks for all the prayers and offers to help. I have already gotten phone calls and emails from so many people offering to help. I appreciate it more than you can imagine. Please pray for her counts to go up, way up. Please pray for the antibiotics that she is getting will wipe out whatever the problem is. Please pray for us to get some rest. Please pray for Lillie and Emma to feel peace.