Gianni presented with a fever on Monday night (> 102-deg F) although she's was not neutrapenic we were still a bit alarmed and called the on-call pediatric oncologist and were told to head directly to the Emergency Department (ED), do not pass Go. So Gianni and I spent Monday night thru early Tuesday morning at the ED, she suffered through the required pokes and prods while spiking in and out of fever. Once the initial results of her ED blood draw came back (still not neutrapenic!) we were sent home to await the final results (what was causing the infection).
We spent Tuesday morning at home waiting for the blood cultures to grow . . . and grow they did. Turns out she has an infection (most probably staph) in her line (medi-port) which means . . . an admission (up to 10 days +!) for IV antibiotics and further cultures to determine exactly what she's got. Needless to say, chemo has been delayed again, we are looking to tag it on to the end of this stay (maybe early next week?) we shall see.
Bruno is in good hands with Uncle David and Aunt Patricia for the time being - he has been quoted as stating, "Mommy, who?".
One great bit of luck is that we were given a private room at Stanford . . . all the difference in the world! The privacy gives a good deal of comfort to both Gianni and dad.
All in all she is in good spirits. The antibiotic (Vancomycin) has kicked in and she seems to be feeling pretty good. Speaking of antibiotics . . . Gianni has, so far, had no unexpected reactions to the meds she's been administered . . . that is until Tuesday afternoon and whoo boy did she have a doozy! One of the potential side-effects of "Vanco" is something called "red man syndrome". Truly a case of "say it in the name"; about 5 minutes into the treatment Gianni's whole body just turned bright red and she started screaming and scratching everywhere at once. Tony and I virtually freaked! The nurses gave her some Benadryl and the symptoms cleared up in about 15 - 20 minutes, but for that time she looked just like "Jack-Jack" from the Incredibles! She has received several more doses (now infused over two hours vs. one and in conjunction with Benadryl) and has not had a similar reaction. Whew, cancer is exciting.
The next day, Wednesday was a good day for Gianni. During the day, she and dad terrorized the halls with a toy lawn mower borrowed from the playroom - too funny. That night at the playroom Gianni got to visit with SF Giants second baseman Kevin Frandsen. He was so great with the kids and his visit was obviously a highlight for many of the patients and parents. He brought t-shirts and hats to sign for the kids and when he asked Gianni if he could sign hers, she said, "No, I want to color yours.". He laughed, gave her the marker and let her sign his shirt! Over the next hour or so all the kids had an opportunity to "color" on Kevin's shirt... very nice. Of course all this is much more exciting for Grandma Walker than Gianni but she had a really good time.
Todays news is all good. The infection is under control, we still need to continue the course of antibiotics but her blood cultures are all coming back negative. If all goes well we will be able to take her home tomorrow or Saturday. A home health nurse will come on Friday and teach us how to prepare and administer the antibiotic infusion ourselves (one more qualification to add to our resumes). We are so ready for that! We will monitor her progress and for now chemo cycle 7 is scheduled for the week of 16 Jun.
