Holding Pattern

Tate is on day 2 with no fever, but his ANC dropped to 8. Today he got a platelets transfusion and Erwinia injections. Erwinia does not have an impact on his ANC, so the doctors were comfortable proceeding with treatment. Tate looks great today; he has been awake a lot; his color has improved, and he has eaten two tiny meals.

Tate is still getting fluids, antibiotics, and hydrocortisone through his port. The cultures taken show he has no viral or bacterial infections. Test results from yesterday showed his pancreatic function is within normal range. It is likely his abdominal pain is the result of the nurses not giving him one of his daily medications since we got here. That problem has been resolved. It is frustrating because the day we arrived Greg went over Tate’s meds in detail with the nurses, yet they got it wrong. Despite the prescription being from Phoenix Children’s Hospital and therefore already in their system, they got it wrong. An avoidable mistake, but fortunately not a big one.

A very positive thing that came out of this hospital stay is that Tate inadvertently weaned himself off pain medication while fighting the fever. Greg and I had him down to less than 50% of the dose left the hospital with in August, and Tate was consciously choosing to take less. After sleeping for two days straight he woke up not needing it. It will still be available to him when needed but not as part of his daily routine.

Scott stopped by between classes to visit Tate and eat all our food. He teased Tate in typical big brother fashion and then had a good laugh about it.

Then Scott and Tate started talking about music concepts beyond my comprehension.

The days at the hospital are very quiet. Tate is where he needs to be, and we look forward to him being strong enough to go home. We are so grateful a place like this exists and is an easy drive from our house. Thank you to everyone that emailed pictures to Tate’s digital frame. He enjoys seeing new pictures appear in the rotation.