Stormy Seas

Treatment #2

It all started with treatment #2. Archer was admitted on Tuesday (9/2) to undergo his second round of chemotherapy. Upon admittance, the decision was made to only give him one type of antiemetic, rather than the three that they alternated with the week prior. A short ways into the treatments, Archer started vomiting. At this point, they switched to alternating the three different antiemetics, but the damage had already been done. The doctor told us the week prior that once he starts throwing up, it is very difficult to stop it from happening so prevention is the key. Well, she was right. 

At work on Wednesday I got a phone call from Aubrey. She was in tears. She was frustrated that the nursing staff didn't give him the proper medications to begin with to prevent him from vomiting and that one of the techs lost her patience with Archer while trying to get his vitals. Aubrey told her to wait ten minutes until he calmed down from his tantrum. They had just given him some oral medication that he detests. She insisted on getting it right then and ended up forcing the various instruments on him and getting an inaccurate result, all the while telling him to calm down in a harsh tone. It didn't make matters better. 

Discharge and More Discharge

On Thursday, we were discharged from the hospital. He came home vomiting but happy to be out of the hospital. He kept little down on Thursday and on Friday, he got worse. Aubrey called PCH and spoke with the Fellow (Allison Ast) that we have been working with. She suggested a clear liquids only diet for 24 hours and instructed Aubrey to call her back if it was still happening at that time. She also prescribed Benedryl to be taken in addition to the Zofran that he already was. Several baths, dirty towels and a lot of cleanup later, we let Allison know that it was still happening. 

He needed antiemetics to keep from throwing up but everything we gave him, including the medications, was being thrown up within 10 to 15 minutes. She suggested giving him small amounts of liquid through a syringe every few minutes and if he hadn't had at least 2 more wet diapers by the evening, we needed to call and readmit him for rehydration. As you can probably guess, we ended up having to admit him. 

The Longest Night

We got to the ER at PCH just before 11. Apparently they were very busy and it took what felt like an eternity to get him in a room and start fluids. His blood sugar was low so they administered Dextrose along with the fluids. After a few hours hanging out there, we were admitted to our room a little after 5am. They had made a bed for us, which just seemed to taunt us as we still had to go over a few things before collapsing onto it. We finally got to bed around 6am, but I wasn't able to get much sleep. In fact, that is why I'm writing this.

Iced Cake

One of the things that made this week so difficult is that I am back in school now so I have been little help to Aubrey. She has been remarkable through all of this! I always knew that she was amazing but I had no idea she was this amazing. She has remained so positive and collected through all of this, even when a lot of the time, she has to handle it all on her own.

I have gone to school full time and worked full time for four and a half years now. It has been challenging but never really overwhelming. However, this semester (thankfully my last) has indeed been overwhelming. I haven't had more than 5 hours of sleep in a day for over two weeks. Most of time it's around 3.  I feel guilty that I am always gone when Aubrey, Archer and Kaesia are going through all of this at home and at the hospital. It is difficult to focus on anything for an extended period of time. And I feel like I am losing control of this well-oiled machine that we had tuned to near perfection. 

A Child's Outlook

Archer is the most good natured child I have ever seen in my life. I may be biased, I realize this. However, Friday, after throwing up 5 times within an hour, he smiled for Aubrey as she took his picture. He has been out of this world sick for the last few days and he has never cried. He is such an incredible example of patience!

We have missed Kaesia immensely as she is with family during our hospital stays and she has missed us as well. All of this is hard on her as well. She asks Heavenly Father to bless Archer in pretty much every prayer she gives and she has been so sweet to him, but you can tell that she is having a rough time with all of it.