I was fixing the washing machine and Tammy was washing dishes. It was pushing midnight. I heard Havyn crying a bit which isn’t too abnormal. I went in to check on her and the heat was radiating from her sweet little body. I was sure she had a fever but thought maybe she was just hot from her Santa Claus footy PJs (her favorite) and her thick Minnie Mouse blanket. But sure enough, the thermometer read 102.
We jumped in the van and headed down to Kosair Children’s Hospital. Because chemo can cause her immune system to be compromised, it’s important to get her on antibiotics right away just in case she has a bacterial infection. It could run wild without some help.
And so here we are. Havyn is currently hooked up and receiving those antibiotics. The sweet girl was traumatized by all the commotion. All she wanted was for mommy to come into her room and console her — next thing you know she’s being rushed to the hospital to get poked and prodded. Drawing blood, checking vitals, turning on bright lights — she hated every minute of it but is resting well now.
When Havyn started chemo, the oncologist told us to expect this to happen a time or two. We feel very fortunate to have made it three months fever free! With three other young kids at home and germs coming home from school, she’s been incredibly strong.
As we understand it she’ll be staying here for at least 48 hours as they wait for blood cultures to come back. According to the doctor, 90% of the time the cultures show that the cause of the fever is viral. I guess there’s not much they can do in those cases other than let it run its course. The reason for the antibiotics is just in case it is bacterial.
The good news is that her blood counts were GREAT this morning at her chemo appointment. She had a couple weeks off of chemo. Her counts had come up considerably (they never got terribly bad) and her body is prepared to fight this. We don’t want to be here, but the timing for it is good.
Thanks for your continued prayers. I’m going to go move the car so I don’t get another parking ticket (you can ask me about that sometime) and maybe make my way home to get some clothes, etc. We’ll post again tomorrow with any new details. Also we’ll post a photo of her new “bones.” She got her new scoliosis brace and she looks adorable in it.