December 12, 2005- Part II

I seem to have a knack for blogging too early, or perhaps my blogging is what stirs up trouble. Almost immediately after I finished my earlier post, I decided to take Leah's temperature. Her day was not going very well, and when I took her temp. this morning it was 99.9. They don't consider anything a fever until it is 100.1. If it is between 100.1 - 100.9 it needs to be that way 2 times in 24 hours and then we would need to come back to Iowa City. If it is 101 or above, we automatically come in to the hospital. So, I knew 99.9 was rather borderline, but Mary suggested Tylenol when I talked with her earlier, and Leah did perk up. By 5 or 6 tonight I knew she was warm, but procrastinated a bit with taking her temperature. When I did check it, it was 102 in one ear, so I checked again and it was 101.7 in the other ear. This means we threw some clothes in bags and headed back to Iowa City. Since we have done this a few times now it would seem we could be a bit more prepared. Chris claims he is in fine shape since he never unpacked anything from the last time we were here. I have the most random set of clothes ever. I did manage to pack everything crucial to Leah-her Dora pillow, Dora blanket, Dora pajamas, Dora pull-ups, and her puppy. As soon as she knew we were coming back to Iowa City she sobbed. I am sure she does not want to be here, but her lack of sleep and feeling sick have exacerbated this dread of returning.

I was feeling pretty good about remembering her Emla cream (it numbs the port site and I should administer it when we are halfway here), but after getting to Raymond realized I had forgotten the Tigoderm (probably spelled incorrectly. It is the sticky clear band-aid thing to keep her Emla and port site clean). So, we pulled into the St. Luke's Emergency parking lot when we got to Cedar Rapids and they gave us the supplies we needed before we continued our trip.

Once we arrived we saw several people we knew from our last visit. Clayton, the boy who showed Leah his port, is back again, too. We are also enjoying the resident, Nancy, since Leah seems to have a strong aversion to her. (At this point she is not a fan of anyone who works here). Our one stressful moment was when they had to stick Leah four times to access her port. We are learning, and now know that she needs to be sitting up when they access it so they have a better angle on things. Of course, everyone's port is different, so it is a bit of trial and error.

Even though Leah does not want to be here, she actually adjusted quite quickly and had Chris hook up the DVD player immediately. She watched Max and Ruby before falling asleep, and Chris is now at Wal-Mart getting a few things for tomorrow-instant oatmeal (Leah only eats Brown Sugar and Maple Syrup) and white grape juice.

By the time we got in to the hospital and got her coat off and had them take her temperature, her fever was gone. However, because she did have a fever we are now here for 72 hours. They took a blood sample and will culture it during that time. We are happy the fever is gone for now, and have heard several theories about why she may have had a fever in the first place. The theory we both like the best is that her tumor is causing it; the chemotherapy is causing her tumor to be inflamed right now, which means the chemo. is doing it's job. The inflammation is causing her tummy to be more tender and sore than normal (which it is). There were many more technical/medical terms that were tossed around, but that is the general idea.

So, tomorrow we expect Leah may feel just fine and we will have activities to take part in. Chris may leave by mid-afternoon and work until we get to come home on Thursday. Chloe is once again with Grandma Kathy. She has been quite flexible with our constant running (this could apply to both Grandma Kathy and Chloe, I guess). I will update you more on Leah's condition tomorrow, and hope we will be back in Denver by the weekend.