Thursday, April 15, 2010

.....More Hospital, please mommy.....

I never thought I would hear my 3 yr old ask for another trip to the hospital. I never thought my 3 year would be in the hospital to want to go back. I never thought my 3 yr old would know about needles, doctors office, stethoscope and could quote you the whole routine we go through. But he did and he does.

(Kyle said the telephone cord was his Stethoscope)
On Monday April 5th right as Kyle's chemo was getting done he had another reaction to his meds. This was his second time. He started shaking, got a fever and high blood pressure dropped. Thankfully this time they had not taken his needle out yet. So they drew more blood for labs and cultures. We thought we would be there a few more extra hours like last time this happened. So I think Bennett and I were in complete shock when the doctor said she was admitting him to Phoenix Children's.

His regular chemo doc was doing rounds in the hospital but came right over once she got the news. All I could keep thinking was we made it so close with no hospital stay. We were 4 treatments away from being done with chemo. We almost made it, but not quite. Our doctor was so nice and reassuring. She thought if all the blood work came back ok we would be out by Wednesday. We ended up waiting 5 hours for a room to open on the Oncology floor at Phoenix Children's.

We finally got settled and I left for home to pack Kyle and Bennett a bag. My dad went back to the hospital and when I got there our Home Teacher Brother Chapman from church was there. I finally got home around 11pm that night. The house was so quite and still. So this would be the way I spent my first night away from my precious boy in his 3 years. Bennett took the first 2 nights. I could see in his eyes that he couldn't leave his boy. He needed to be there to make sure he was ok.

The next day we found out that they had put him on triple antibiotics so that extended our stay at least till Friday. And he would indeed be getting a blood transfusion. Another thing we came close to not needing. But I am glad it happened in the hospital. He did just fine. His red blood cells had dipped to the high 7's. They really like them to be in the 10's or 9's. 8's are ok if the dont have any other symptoms. Both of our work were very understanding. I went in Wednesday to get the critical stuff done. I couldn't wait to get back to the hospital. While I was at work our driver brought me a colored construction paper "book" I found out that his mom works at the daycare Kyle goes to. His class had made him a get well book and all the teachers wrote notes. It brought tears to my eyes. It was the most beautiful book I have ever seen.

We can not say enough wonderful things about Phoenix Children's Hospital! From the moment we made it to the room people were there to make sure we had what we needed. They brought Kyle his very own pillowcase. It was Baseball, boy was he excited!!! The nurses were quick and efficient with everything they needed to do. And then Kathy from Child Life Services came by. They had a playroom and it was open for the evening. Kyle LOVED that place. He would open it up and close it down. More than once we had drag him crying from the playroom. Dad holding Kyle and Mommy pushing the pole behind them. Bennett's birthday was spent in the hospital. Our wonderful social worker Gina arranged for a cake since I had no idea how I was going to sneak out to get one. Annie, Kyle's favorite nurse came to see him. I missed it but I am sure he was thrilled. Bridget and a couple other nice ladies came from HopeKids to see Kyle. He was sleeping but the visit did me a world of good and I got the family next to us introduced to HopeKids. Kyle might even be on TV!! Channel 12 came through filming some kids for a fundraiser for Phoenix Children's.

The little boy next to us (shared room) was Angel. He was 5 1/2 and just had surgery to put his port in. He has Leukemia and will be on chemo for 3 years. His prognosis is good but our hearts go out to the family. We wish Kyle's little roomie and his family all the best. I still think of them often and hope they will be ok.

Kyle was excited to come home as was Bennett and I. It felt weird like we were just going home from a normal treatment. Just as quickly as the ordeal happened it was over. It felt strange. I felt as though I was suffering from Jet lag but I never left the state. I told Bennett "We came, We saw, We conquered. Now lets go home".

They don't know why Kyle is having these reactions. His blood work comes back normal and the cultures dont grow anything. Next time he has chemo they will give him benadryl and hope that helps.

Kyle is doing great! In fact like the title says the other night he asked to go back to the hospital to play. I told him no mommy and daddy wouldn't take him back to the hospital. He started fussing so I told him maybe later. He said "Yater?" I said maybe. That seemed to be enough for him because he ran off to play.

If you ask him about the hospital or the "stethoscope" he will tell you all about it. He will show you were the doctor listens with the stethoscope and what his heart says "Boom, Boom". His favorite part of his weekly exam is when the doctor checks his reflexes.

Things are finally getting back to "chemo" normal life. I keep thinking this time last week we were doing this, or that in the hospital. But it is over now and I conquered 3 fears last week. 2 chemo related, 1 mom related. I conquered Kyle getting a blood transfusion, a hospital stay and spending the night away from him.

I know there were many prayers said on our behalf. We cant tell you how much this means to us and that truly our Saviors love helped us through the hard times last week.

Kyle goes back for chemo on April 26th with only 4 more scheduled chemo appointments at this time. After that we get another MRI and if it shows the tumor is stable we will get the port removed from his chest. At that point we will be on mri's every 3 months for the first year. Sadly the tumor has not shrunk as much as we would have liked. It really hasn't shrunk at all but it is stable and the doctors remain to be happy with it.

This ended up very long and I thank you if have made it all the way through.

We love you all!!

The Odens

5 comments:

  1. i think it's great you took the time to post about this, and the pictures are great, he looks so happy- at a difficult time. I love the fact they got a cake there, the hospital sounds wonderful, I am sorry I have not been keep in touch, I hate to hear that April 26th is more chemo- I have so many questions but I feel like it's private. Keep your chin up

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  2. Lisa, I have been wondering about you and your little guy! How are you doing? Phoenix Childrens is just amazing!! I am a pretty open person. Especially when it comes to NF. Please ask anything you want. You can email me on facebook. No worries. :-) I hope all is well for you guys!

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  3. It's night time on the 26th here so I imagine you guys will be waking up soon.
    Praying for Kyle's chemo today and that is all goes smoothly.
    He is adorable.All power to your little champ.
    I love your attitude. (hugs)

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  4. Thanks Trish. We did end up in the ER that night. About 11pm AZ time. It was a "routine" ER Visit. Blood work, antibiotics. Got home about 2am and to sleep about 3 am. Heres to only 3 more treatments!! Thanks for the prayers.

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