Vacation Post Break...for a Cami Update!

I know this is a little late, but I want to post it so I can keep track.  The day after we got home from our trip, Cami had clinic.  We had to get in there ASAP because she is supposed to get chemo every 4 weeks.  That 4th week fell right while we were in Florida, so they pushed her chemo to week 5.  Other than a little sun rash she got on her face, everything looked great! 

Clinic stats 3/10/11:

Height: 108

Weight: 18.4kg (40.5 lbs.)

ANC: 3,100

WBC: 3.6

Hematocrit: 32.3%

Platelets: 205

That was a few weeks ago, now on to the present...

Little Cami has had a pretty rough weekend.  Thursday was Pats birthday (Happy Birthday Pat!) so we went out with some friends to celebrate.

  

 When we got home, Cami had a temperature of 99.8.  I knew what was coming so I started checking her temperature every 30 minutes.  Sure enough a couple hours later her fever had spiked to 102.8.  So at 1AM we packed up and headed to the (dreaded) ER.  They rushed us back, accessed her port, took a blood sample, started fluids and rocephin (an antibiotic), and made sure to collect our $200 co-pay (eeek!).  This is the standard drill with EVERY fever she gets.  Lucky for us her blood levels came back high enough so after 4 hours in the ER they let us come home, where we'd be allowed to give her tylenol for 24 hours.  If her ANC (ability to fight infection) would have been too low, they would have admitted her. 

   

3/25/11 CBC results:

WBC: 4.1

HCT: 32.2%

PLTS: 239

ANC: 3,400

Here she is getting her fluids and antibiotic.

We got home that night at 5AM and after catching up on sleep all of Friday and Saturday she seemed to be feeling better (except for a cough).  Saturday when we thought she was playing in the playroom, we found her just laying there with all her stuffed animals.  We started to realize she still wasn't feeling so hot, but we were able to keep her comfortable for the next 24 hours with some tylenol.

 Sure enough, as that Tylenol wore off that fever was back!  

So... Saturday night it was back to the ER for us.  This time they did more tests to try and figure out exactly why she was getting a fever.  They did the "cancer-kid fever protocol" CBC, IV fluids and rocephin (antibiotic).  They also did a chest X-ray, and a VRP (nose swab to test for virus).  

Cami has become a pro at playing Doctor.  She took care of sick Froggy all night.  

Although her levels had dropped by almost half (her ANC was 1,300), they were still high enough to let us go home...YAY!

The last 2 days her fever has stayed away (thank heavens).  Today clinic called and told me that her nose swab came back positive for metapneumovirus.  It is basically the common cold, but it is closely related to RSV and can easily turn into pneumonia especially in immunocompromised kids.  They want us to watch her temperature as a spike can mean pneumonia.  

So far, her temperature is only going down and her cough is sounding better.  Im hopeful that she will be back to normal soon.  It is just another reminder how fragile she is.  It is amazing how something as insignificant as a cold can cause so much distress and panic, but then again there is no such thing as insignificant when it comes to cancer.