We've Hit Another Bump in the Road

Happy New Year!  It is only January 1, 2012 and we have already met our deductible thanks to an ER visit, an ambulance ride, and what is looking like a four to five day stay at the beautiful Huntsman Suites.  Let's back up a few hours...

Yesterday was a mildly difficult day.  We have had worse, but it wasn't great either.  Trent has had some difficulty getting enough fluids to stay down for a long enough time to do him any good.  By 11:00 am yesterday I knew he needed IV fluids.  His blood pressure was  a little high, he had a touch of a fever, he was vomiting, and his heart rate was about 122-125 and climbing.   Being dehydrated can cause all of these symptoms.  I called Home Health and by 2:00 Trent was hooked up to IV fluids and trying to rest.  He got one liter of fluids before we decided he also needed IV Zofran (anti-nausea medicine).  We were hoping that after a bit of hydration the fever would come down and his heart rate would stabilize.  Not so.   Trent and I rang in the New Year by putting up another liter of fluid for his IV.  All night long I kept waking up to take his temperature and check his pulse.  After two and a half liters of fluid his heart rate was at 133 and he had a temperature of 100.9.  Anything over 100.5 for a chemo patient is not good.  We had Home Health come back and check Trent out.  Shortly after the nurse left she called back and said the on call physician at the Huntsman wanted Trent in the ER asap.  So we packed up and took him to BCCH hoping to get a few IV antibiotics and be on our way home.

In the ER they took some blood cultures, gave Trent some antibiotics and did a chest x-ray.  The ER doc came in and said he thought he had cracked the code.  Great!  This surely would mean that we could take a prescription and go home right?  Again, not so.  Turns out the doc really didn't have a very clear understanding of Trent's condition.  He thought the problem was that Trent had pneumonia.  Really all the density on the x-ray was the tumor.  After that little mix up he decided Trent needed another ambulance ride to SLC.  Wheee! 

Doug, Trent's dad, and I ran home to get the kids so they could see Trent before he left.  I had mixed emotions doing that.  On the one hand I didn't want them to get the impression that Daddy was not coming home, and on the other, I didn't want to take the chance.  Jonathan marched right into the ER and said, "Hey Dad, are you sick?  Are the doctors making you better?  Do you have owies?"  He was just chattering away like nothing was too big of a deal.  Trent hugged all the kids and was pretty emotional.  Zach and Mallory were crying.  Mallory kept saying, "I am getting tears on my cute little cheeks!"  Funny girl!  Jarom and Megan were pretty stoic through it all.  The rest of us had a good cry and then huddled up for a cheer for Team Trent.  Mallory ripped off her coat to show us that she was wearing her Team Trent shirt!  She was pretty proud of herself.  Then we said a prayer together.  We prayed for continued faith and courage and then turned it over to the Lord.  We are completely in His hands and we just have to ride out this storm. 

The EMTs came to get Trent but wanted to give the kids a little something before they took their daddy away. They pulled out little Teddy Bears for all of us. One EMT explained to the kids that they could hug those bears as much as they needed when they were scared or wanted to send a little extra love to mommy and daddy. Another EMT was a guy who went to school with my older sister. He was going to hand the bears to the kids but at the last second he gave them to the other EMT then he slipped around the corner and cried. I could see some of the other nurses tearing up too. Ugh. We must have been a real sight.

As Trent was being wheeled out, Jonathan said, "You are going to be all better Daddy!  The doctors are going to make you all better!"  I love the sound of that!  One of the nurses took all the kids to get a soda before they left.  That was very sweet and I think the kids thought they were in heaven. On the way home Jonathan was singing the tune of The Nutcracker. His version went like this, "da da dada Dad will get better, da da dada Dad will get better." We all had a much needed laugh about that. 

Josh drove down to SLC with me while his wife followed in her car.  By the time we arrived Trent was already resting in his room.  They have pulled out the big gun antibiotics for him once again.  He will be on Vancomycin, Meropenum, and a few others for the next 10 days or so.  After talking to our nurse I am guessing it will be at least four or five days in the hospital.  Trent has probably not even gotten as bad as he is going to get yet.  That point won't come for a few more days and they will probably want to keep him here until everything starts trending in the right direction.  I am totally okay with that.  I feel much better knowing that there is a team of people working to keep Trent alive instead of just me.