So Cutler is back in the hospital.  After a successful Sunday of no vomiting, Cutler woke with a fever around 6:30 am and started to vomit.  We were in the hospital by 9:30 and the fun had just begun.  Cutler was quickly put on antibiotics and was given platelets as they were very low.  Prior to being put on the platelets he coughed up some blood, but the doctor says that the platelets would resolve this by allowing the blood to clot. 

When they started the platelets his temperature was back to normal and within ten minutes his fever had shot to 104.9.  This is where the day really turned scary for us.  I had never seen a fever this high and so inside I started to freak a bit, but we quickly undressed him and started to apply cold compresses all over.  This helped bring the fever down and at the same time helped bring our panic level down. 

Eventually over the next hour or so his temperature did return to normal and at one time was even back to his playful self.  While blood cultures are underway, we won’t know for sure what type of infection he has until possibly tomorrow, but the doctor explained that this is definitely something to be expected and that he has some of the strongest antibiotics possibly running through his system.  It will just take longer than normal to fight off the infection because in the end it is the white cells that have to kill the infection and thanks to chemo Cutler’s white cells are very low, fortunately they were at 800 when the doctor was expecting them to be around zero.  He did say to expect the fever to continue to spike over the next several days until this is resolved, so we will be full of anxiety and stress until this is resolved.

Melanie is spending the night with him and just called to let me know that after keeping a few bottles down his fever is back up to 101 and he just vomited a bit more.  However she was able to get him back to sleep, so let’s hope for a good night of sleep for both as he needs his energy to fight this infection.

Unfortunately in all of this we didn’t get a chance to talk to the doctor about next steps and understandably so as we need to focus on the current before worrying about the future.  One day at a time right now.