Tuesday, April 12

I have mentioned our friend and fellow cancer warrior Caiden a few times in past blog posts. We met him and his wonderful mother in the hospital, as we were often there at the same time. Caiden, who is almost two years old, has undergone multiple rounds of chemo, as well as two rounds of high dose chemo with stem cell rescues. His poor little body has been through so much, but he was finally able to go home recently, where he has been getting more chemo, much like Collin. Yesterday, both Collin and Caiden had clinic appointments, and we went to say hi to Caiden and his mom. We found out that Caiden had been to the ER the night before because fevers (that had gone as high as 106.3) and he was receiving IV antibiotics in the clinic. He was admitted back to the hospital yesterday from the clinic because he was so sick. I just learned that the blood cultures revealed today a nasty bacterial infection called pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic bacteria commonly found in soil and water. For most healthy people, this bacteria seldom poses a problem. Unfortunately, it is much more dangerous to certain populations, including those who have weak immune systems, the elderly, patients with severe burns, and in cancer and AIDS patients who are immunosuppressed. It causes urinary tract infections, respiratory system infections, dermatitis, soft tissue infections, bacteremia, bone and joint infections, gastrointestinal infections and a variety of systemic infections. Because this bacteria is relatively resistant to most antibacterial medications, infection can be deadly, particularly when it becomes an infection of the lungs or bloodstream. In patients hospitalized with cancer, cystic fibrosis, full-blown AIDS, and burns, the case fatality rate in these patients is near 50 percent.

I am asking all of you who have prayed so hard for Collin's recovery to please pray for Caiden's as well. I will do my best to keep you updated as I get information. You can read more about Caiden at his mom's blog: http://fortheloveofcaiden.blogspot.com.