Pictures from the day

So today was crazy.  When you have a child that is receiving chemo, you are schooled thoroughly about infections.  Today I saw first hand why that subject is drilled into our heads because Rock Star got septic quickly.  One minute we were watching movies at the condo, the next he was chilling and shaking on the way to clinic.  On the ten minute drive to the hospital he slumped forward and starting shaking.

The nurses and doctors were ready for us and they got working on him quickly.  Once the antbiotic was pushed into his line where his infection was the bacteria was spread to his whole body.

His heart rate shot up to 220 and oxygen plummetted which meant that he was septic.  We still do  not know which type of infection he has but it takes a day or two for the culture to "grow"

Nurse Shannon and Gwen were with us all day in the clinic.  Notice that David is wearing his new UVA baseball shirt and is cuddled with his VT blanket.  Even die hard Hokies can root for Wahoos when they are getting such great care from this place.  He wanted to wear this shirt to clinic to show it off to Ms. Meghan and the other nurses.

He was pumped so full of fluid that his cheeks swelled up and got puffy.  We were joking that all the fluid made him look like his pre-cancer weight of 56:)

Mike got here in record time.  My heart breaks that Mike had to drive here so quickly under such stressful circumstances.  It is a long drive here, it is even a longer drive when you are worried and want to snuggle your boy.  It was stressful here with David when he was going septic, but I was surrounded by two awesome doctors and nurses that were keeping me calm.  Mike was driving a long road solo with nothing but time to worry and think.

After three different antibiotics he felt like sitting up and playing iPad....

calling Jeff and Pops on the phone....

and getting a visit from the hospital clown.  All our prayers for him to stabilize were answered.  Thank you dear friends and prayer warriors for helping us through a tough afternoon.  Fighting cancer is hard and infections are definitely the enemy.  We are beyond thankful for you, the amazing and quick care we received today, and our Jesus who comforted us with His peace. 

Sick buddy

So this day has not quite gone like we thought it would. David was holding his own this morning u til I got into the shower. When I came out of the shower, he was chilling and cold. I took his temperature and it was at the magic number of 101. We headed to the clinic and on the quick drive he really started shaking and his teeth were chattering.

When we arrived at clinic the doctors and nurses assessed that he had a fever and was dehydrated. Because of his fever his port was accessed, and an antibiotic was started. The antibiotic busted up the infection In his line which meant that the bacteria spread quickly throughout his body. His fever spiked, his heart rate went high, and his oxygen went down. I asked his two doctors if they were nervous and they responded that they were. Amazingly I did not fall apart and I felt Gods peace. They were scurrying around him and his doctor stood by his bed for over an hour watching his stats and I felt the peace that can only come from the Lord. I called mike and a few others and I was calm and cool.

Today was very scary. Amazingly he stale now and snoozing in the PICU. He has received two antibiotics, platelets, and blood to help him fight this infection. His latest chest X-ray showed some haziest in his lungs which means that they are suspicious of pneumonia setting in.

We are settled here in the PICU. Mike should be here soon and my other two are in good hands. David's stats have stabilized and we are being closely monitored here in the PICU. Sadly this is what we were afraid of after this last dose of chemo, but I am so thankful for the care that we received today. It was crazy in clinic today but we were in good hands with the clinic staff and of course our Heavenly Father has us in the palm of His hand. My heart is so full of gratitude that we were here when this happened, for our wonderful and compassionate care, and for our Jesus who covered me with His peace today when my baby took a turn for the worse.

Holding steady

The good news is that we are still here at the condo. He had a fever all night but blessedly it stayed between 100 and 100.5 and never got over the magic number of 101 which would have warranted a trip to the ER. Every time I got up in the middle of the night to check his temp I would pray a prayer of gratitude for the Pendletons. If we would have been home we would have been so stressed and probably would have ended up in our local ER. Instead I am at peace that I am close and we are going into clinic later this morning to get more syringes for our shots and to let them check David out. I hate being away from home, but I am so thankful to be close to our amazing doctors. I will update later after our clinic visit. I am pushing Gatorade on him because dehydration is another concern that could end him up in the hospital. Thanks for the emails and texts-they have been sol encouraging!