Invasion

So after Blake had been feeling pretty well for a couple of days, yesterday he started to have a fever to 101 and chills with some nausea. Must have been caused by his zealous patriotism from Fort McHenry. We had planned to see a friend from college, but unfortunately, B's body had other plans for the day. So, we hiked it back to the clinic and he got a whole slew of tests including another CT scan, blood cultures, and started some heavy duty antibiotics (vanc and zosyn). I got caught up on every fashion do and don't during this time. Red plaid is apparently the IT thing now. Personally, reminds me of my jumper from when I was 5 years old. I suppose I was ahead of my time.

We returned home with IV antibiotics to give at home through his port, and watched the new batman movie, which was pretty good. He continued to have a worsening fever, so I called the doctor and they said to continue to keep an eye on how he was doing. But by halfway through the movie and after the second dose of antibiotics, his fever was trending downward, which was a relief. By the morning, he did not have a fever, but we did receive a phone call saying his blood cultures grew gram negative rods bacteria, which can be pretty serious. So, back to the clinic we went, but he's continuing to feel well without a fever, so the antibiotics appear to be covering him. The doctor came by and although he hadn't bothered to speak directly with us before (through the nurse practitioner prior to this), accused us of under-reporting his symptoms. Excuse me? We didn't so much as move without letting them know and I was taking his temp and pulse like every few minutes. He just kept talking about endotoxins repeatedly, which, yes, I understand are very bad. So, our egos bumped a bit, although I know he's just trying to keep Blake as safe as possible and is just probably upset that the nurse practitioner didn't give him the full picture. Now that that's off my chest.... They admitted him to the hospital and are going to take his port out to prevent the infection from restarting. He'll have to have a few extra pokes, but most of the medications that required a port have been finished. He can likely have a different kind of IV access in a day or two that will allow him to return home. He's still doing well and has not had a fever all day- yea! Although he is sleepy from staying up so late watching the movie.

All of this has kind of scared us, although, again, we got to it very quickly and the antibiotics seem to be making quick work of the infection- all excellent things. His white count plummeted last night and he's officially neutropenic, with a WBC at 400 and ANC of 350. Tomorrow, he will probably hit zero, which is our target. He'll get the factor probably tomorrow that will make his immune system come back faster than it would left on its own.

Thankfully, Blake's mom arrived yesterday to relieve my parents as this would be an impossible journey without the help. Another big thanks to everyone!