Tuesday, October 19 - Day +6

Well, not long after last night's entry, my hopes for a peaceful night were dashed. Collin's fever went up to 104.4 despite a dose of Tylenol an hour earlier, and his nurse got him an ice pack to lay on to help bring the fever down. Later, he started rubbing his nose and eyes, and wouldn't stop. I wondered if he was very dry because of the dry hospital air and the Benadryl, so we hung a makeshift humidifier over his bed, and gave him lubricating eye drops and saline nasal spray to try to make him less itchy, but they didn't seem to help. His eyes were red and puffy, and he ended up with some bruising between the inside of his right eye and the bridge of his nose. As it turns out, his platelet count had plumeted, which caused him to bruise very easily, so he had another platelet transfusion this morning. I requested a few doses of Morphine throughout the night so that he wasn't too uncomfortable, and this morning he was put on a Morphine pump. I also learned this morning that stool cultures came back positive for C-Diff, so he was started on another antibiotic to treat that infection.

Today, Collin's fevers continued, and he was also given an antifungal drug called Abelcet. The drug was given via IV infusion over two hours. During the two hour infusion, his blood pressure was taken every fifteen minutes. About halfway through the infusion, he developed extreme shivering/shaking called rigors, and was given four doses of Demerol to get the reaction under control. If he gets the drug again tomorrow, he will be given Demerol before and during the infusion to hopefully prevent the reaction; I am hoping that his blood counts will miraculously increase over night so that maybe he doesn't need to get another dose of the drug. Then shortly after the infusion was complete and the rigors stopped, his temperature went up to 104.7, and he started to shiver and shake once again. Another dose of Tylenol and cold washcloths on his forehead and the back of his neck helped get the fever under control.

I haven't slept well since we were admitted, and the last twenty four hours were no different. I'm utterly exhausted. While it is very hard seeing Collin so sick after he's been doing so well, I know that in a few days he will start to turn around again, just like he's done every time before this. He is such a fighter, and he is stronger than I will ever be.