LabER Day Weekend

We had a free week with Brock's vacation over Labor Day weekend and decided to take the opportunity to head up to Choteau to see Brock's side of the family.  Grandma Susan had just finished up her full course of chemotherapy so we were excited to spend some time with her while she had some of her energy back!  When the time came to leave Billings we were unsure about going because Isaac had a fever.  He had just had tubes put in his ears the week before and hadn't really been acting as if he was any better (still grouchy and not sleeping well).  So I took him in to the doc before we left to make sure we were good to go.  He couldn't see any infection in his ears so we decided just to go and watch his temperature.  About 30 minutes before we got to Great Falls (about 90 minutes from Choteau) we noticed Kaelyn was acting unusually tired and sad.  I jumped to the back of the van to check Isaac's temperature and he was back to normal, but Kaelyn was 103! That's pretty high for someone on chemotherapy.  In Billings, protocol is to take your child in to the Pediatric Oncology office if they have a temp over 101.  But, we weren't in Billings, and of course, by the time we saw she had a fever it was after 5 o'clock so I couldn't get a hold of Kaelyn's doctor or nurses (doesn't this stuff usually happen at the most inconvenient times?!).  Also, my reception was in and out as we drove.  Luckily I had the number of one of Kaelyn's nurses.  We stopped at Walmart in Great Falls to try to find some form of Tylenol we could get Kaelyn to take to get her fever down (she is very anti medicine!).  We had spent about 2 hours in Great Falls and still hadn't been able to reach anyone in Billings.  Her temp had come down to about 101.5 and we started to head back to the farm because we didn't know what else to do.

 Not feeling so good on the drive.

About 30 minutes into our hour drive out to the farm we finally heard back from a nurse who told us to take Kaelyn to the ER for fluids and and IV antibiotic for preventative measures.  So we headed back to Great Falls and got to the ER at about 10.  As per the oncology nurses orders over the phone, we were to go the nurses station immediately and ask for some numbing cream so they could access Kaelyn's port for the blood they would need to draw and for the IV.  Well, they insisted they needed to access blood from a site other than the port.  It ended up being a bit of a fight between us (well, Brock) and the charge nurse.  And we lost!  After 4 attempts at getting access to a vein, they finally succeeded, but Kaelyn was VERY unhappy.  We had been through getting IVs going before this so we knew it wasn't going to be good.  It was hard not to be upset about feeling like the nurses didn't listen to us, or to Kaelyn's doctor, but it was apparent that it was more important to comfort Kaelyn at the time than to be upset.  So, Kaelyn got her bag of saline and antibiotic and her temp was back to normal and we could finally head back to the farm and get some much needed sleep (it is now 3:00 a.m.).  An hour later Kaelyn wakes up puking and she's back to a fever of 102.  We headed back to the ER later that morning, after we got a little more sleep.  Low and behold when we got back to the ER the same charge nurse was working, but this time Brock put his foot down and said "you are using her port or we are leaving!"  Needless to say, they finally used her port :)

Her eye is a little droopy from the neuropathy side effects of her chemo.  The neuropathy will go away when she finished chemo, thankfully!

  

The wait in the ER on the second day was pretty interesting.  Most of the time, though, was just that, waiting, and getting lots of fluids.  We had a friendly ER neighbor.  I was trying to avoid eye contact with him because whenever I looked at him he would pull a funny face.  Now imagine, this guy is like 50.  I look over and he is sticking his tongue out at me while his thumbs are in his ears and he's wiggling his fingers!  Now that's entertainment!  Awkward entertainment though, because I didn't know what reaction to that was appropriate!  Anyway, her fever wasn't going down this time so they decided to admit her.  Long story shortened, we stayed until Sunday afternoon when her fever had finally gone down and stayed down.  So in all that time we were only able to spend a day with family in Choteau since we had to leave Monday.  We were grateful though that everything turned out OK.  The whole reason we had to stay in the hospital was just so she could be on constant fluids, have her fever monitored, and have antibiotics administered by IV every 12 hours just in case whatever was causing her fever was bacterial.

Always the best part of a hospital stay!

Thankfully we still had Labor Day to spend with family to make this trip worthwhile!  It was so nice to see everyone and for Kaelyn to get some time to play with cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandpa and grandmas!

Playing outside with family

Yep. She's a warrior!

T-Shirts! T-Shirts! Get Your T-Shirts!

We are so excited to see that so many of you want a shirt to support Kaelyn in her fight, and the many other children and families facing the challenges of childhood cancer.  They are printed in gold, the color representing childhood cancer.  These shirts started as way to show support from Kaelyn's family, but we've had a lot of requests for shirts from others.  So, here's how it's going to go.  The shirts will be available for purchase from today, September 10^th through Saturday, September 15^th.  The following week the shirts will be made and shipped to everyone.

The prices are as follows:

 Adult - $20

Men's S, M, L, XL

Women's S, M, L, XL

(all shirts are only available in crew neck)

Youth - $10

S, M, L, XL

12 months, 18 months, 24 months, 2T

If multiple shirts are purchased, the price will go down.  For 2 shirts including an adult size, the price will drop from $20 to $17.50.  For 3 or more, adult shirts drop to $15.  Child sizes remain at $10.  Just to clarify, the prices of the adult shirts drop paired with both adult and/or child sizes.

Also, the prices listed include shipping.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PURCHASE:

-Shirt sizes and styles can be found in the sidebar to the right.
-Each shirt ordered must be added to the cart individually to ensure correct size and price.

-For adult shirts, select the appropriate option that applies to your order.  For example:

-If you are ordering 1 shirt total, select the option for "1 Men's/Women's shirt." 

-If you are ordering 2 shirts total, select the option for "1 Men's/Women's shirt + 1 other shirt," then proceed to select the second shirt.  If the second is an adult shirt, you would select the same option, "1 Men's/Women's shirt + 1 other shirt," or if the second is a youth, simply select the youth size desired. 

-If you are purchasing 3 or more shirts, an adult shirt should be purchased as "1 Men's/Women's shirt + 2 or more other shirts." Then proceed to select the remainder of the shirts individually, specifying gender (if applicable) and size.

-As you add shirts to your cart, a separate window will appear showing the totals in your cart.  If you are not finished, select continue shopping to add more.

-When you are finished, you can choose to pay with debit or credit or with your PayPal account.  You will also be asked to provide a shipping address.

-Please allow us a couple of weeks before you receive your shirts.  We will be doing 1 bulk order so the shirts will not be shipped until the week following the sale of the shirts.

For any questions regarding the purchasing process, please contact Chelsey at chelserster@gmail.com.

  

Thank you so much to everyone willing to give to help with Kaelyn's medical bills as well as to give to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  Kaelyn's wish to visit Disney World will be fulfilled in January 2013.

Catching Up

I suppose it's time for an update!  Let's see, I last posted about Kaelyn's shaved head.  Let me say, this girl loves it.  I hope she is OK with growing her hair back when she is done with chemo!

As far as Kaelyn's health goes (side effect wise), she is still doing really well.  The last 3 treatments she has gotten sicker than usual, with a little more nausea and vomiting and a lot of fatigue.  Also, we've really noticed the neuropathy setting in.  You can tell just by looking at Kaelyn.  You can see that her left eyelid droops a little bit.  Other neuropathies that you can't see in the picture include difficulty using her fingers and loss of balance and reflexes.  For example, a couple of weeks ago we took a trip to Utah.  We had been holding her, and we set her down because she wanted to see grandma.  She started to run, tripped, and landed face-first on the cement sidewalk without even attempting to catch herself.  Sadly that was when I first realized I needed to watch her better.  Since, I've been paranoid with slides, swings, and anything else that could pose a fall risk.  But luckily we haven't had any injuries since.  Just that one nice big bruise and scab for Durrant family pictures!

A couple of weeks ago we had routine x-rays and ultrasounds to make sure the cancer hadn't spread.  I can't remember the last time I felt so anxious.  Normally I don't have a difficult time going with the flow and trusting that everything will turn out OK.  I still knew it would be OK, but I still couldn't stop thinking about the negative possibilities.  Granted, the chance of the cancer spreading was rare.  15% chance to be exact.  So why would I be so worried about such a small number?  Because rare isn't so rare anymore.  You know, it's rare to have a child with cancer, but it doesn't seem so rare to me!  I know longer feel protected by anything prefaced by "rare."  To me, the meaning of rare has changed.  That's why I was so nervous.  That darn tiny possibility was still a possibility.  But again, we are so incredibly blessed and do not have to worry about any spreading cancer this time around!  I know that will still be a concern in the future, so hopefully I can learn to take things one day, even one minute at a time and live my life in the present instead of wasting moments fearing the future possibilities that are out of my control.

As for Isaac, our little side note, he got tubes put in his ears so we are hoping he will be a much happier camper and not have to worry about any more ear pain.  My kids make cute patients.  I won't deny it!

I still have more catching up to do.  I'll fill you on on Kaelyn's latest hospital stay in the next post.