When Three Days Turns Into Twelve

Almost two weeks ago we were admitted to the hospital for routine chemo.  Things were going along as planned.  This chemo causes Ori to have very high fevers, so we weren't surprised when those began to appear.  But after a short time, the fevers became very high (104) and then his blood pressure began to drop, his heart rate jumped and he began to retain fluids.  Then in the middle of the night they asked us to pack our things and they wheeled Ori down to the ICU.

It wasn't until later that we realized the severity of the situation.  Of course we knew that being admitted to the ICU meant that his body wasn't responding as it normally did, but everyone was so calm and not frantic that we just assumed this was somewhat routine.  We thought we were just moved because the ICU was better equipped to address his needs at the time.

It turns out that Ori was experiencing sepsis.  If you really want to freak out (and yes I did as I sat alone in the ICU with Ori and read about it on my phone) then do a little google search for sepsis.  It is scary.  And I had heard Ori's doctor talk about blood infections before.  She and I discussed switching one of his medications so that his body could better fight off fungi, bacteria and the like.  In her words, those were the illnesses that  took the lives of kids with cancer.

So you can imagine how frightening the situation was for us.  Justin and I reassured ourselves that he wasn't experiencing full-blown septic shock.  All of his organs were functioning normally.  He was alert and talking to us.  He was slowly responding to the medications.  We kept focusing on what was going well.

And after spending only two days in the ICU, Ori was beginning to recover.  His body was maintaining regular blood pressure and his heart rate was normal.  We were moved  back up to our regular seventh floor.  I was so relieved to be back in our "normal" place!

We spent the next week in the hospital with Ori receiving a dose of antibiotics every eight hours.  As each day passed, he  felt more and  more like himself.  First his appetite came back, then he was awake and alert more, then he got out of bed a  few times, and finally he was up and making his way through the halls to the playroom.  The last few days at the hospital Ori was his normal happy self.

We have three more hospital stays left to go.  I must say that after this experience I will be a bit more on edge as we proceed.  Ori will be receiving this same chemo again during one of those hospital stays in about two months.   Hopefully we can work with his doctor to try some other medications to limit the high fevers and  keep him safe.  I will be relieved when we are  done with this chemo.

So we are home.  Happy, recovered and home.