Last night was hysterical, with Zack moving in next door. He wanted to make sure that Peyton was well taken care of, so he made sure to call room service and get her food ordered. Our hospital has no set meal schedule, you just call down whenever your child needs something and they send it up, but it’s only for the patient. Zack ordered Peyton some pancakes with extra syrup and milk, and she was pretty impressed with his skills. When she was all done she wanted a milkshake, but she wanted ZACK to order it for her. Because he felt she’d eaten a good dinner he called down to the kitchen and ordered 1 vanilla milkshake…then improvised by ordering some fish nuggets with mustard…two things Peyton wouldn’t touch if her life depended on it…so the kitchen lady questioned who he was ordering for, thinking he was ordering food for the parents, which is a no-no. It was a riot!
Rob, Zack’s dad, brought in some walkie-talkies so the two of them could chit chat back and forth. It’s a really good thing neither of them has a roommate because there’s an extraordinary amount of hollering from room to room going on.
That excitement aside, Peyton woke up in a good mood this morning. Her color looks good, she said her mouth felt better but her chest still hurts. She’ll be going down for a chest x-ray sometime today and hopefully we’ll see that the pneumonia is clearing up.
This virus is still taking an aggressive swipe at her counts. I was really crossing my fingers that today would see a rise in numbers, but everything dropped again. Her ANC was a staggering 10 today…yes, that isn’t missing a 0, it’s actually just 10! Her hemoglobin dropped to 8.2 and her platelets took a dip to 53. I do believe that my fantasy of us leaving this weekend is exactly that, a fantasy. But as long as she’s so dangerously suppressed, this is the best place for her, and she can get the rest and care she needs.
The blood cultures they took because of her high fever Tuesday night are all clear. The cultures they took because of the pneumonia diagnosis have stayed clear so far, nothing growing in there. That’s a huge relief.
They have upped the amount of stool softener and mag citrate to get her bowels moving, nothing’s happened since Wednesday. As Dr. K put it, we are anticipating a “code BROWN” any time now.
I’m not sure how long Peter will be able to stay here, so we are going to work on figuring out what to do with the kids that keep them pretty stable if he can’t be here. I was told that this virus could take weeks to clear out of her system, and I’m praying that it doesn’t suppress her counts the entire time, or it could be a VERY long May.
Please keep Sierra Kesler in faithful prayers. So many are need of God’s strength, Connor, Jimmy, Matt, Presley, Brooke, too many to name here.
f.r.o.G….fully relying on God
–Anissa
on May 3rd, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Hi Anissa & Pete!
We are so happy to hear that there is no cancer in Peyton's marrow! We continue to pray for her comfort and healing from the herpes and pneumonia. Aunt Eileen and Roberta are praying too.
If some similar hospitalization should occur during the summer break from school, would you consider allowing Nathaniel and Rachael to go spend the time with Pete in Alabama once it is clear it is not a life threatening issue of course? Or perhaps visiting other relatives, such as grandparents, or aunts? We would love to have you all visit us, but realize it is pretty much impossible while Peyton is in maintenance. We would love to have any and all come visit when you can. Grandpa Bob would love to go fishing with Nathaniel and Pete sometime. Keep in touch. We are praying daily for you all.
Love,
Grandpa Bob & Grandma Pat Mayhew
on May 3rd, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Anissa, Sounds like everything is going as well as it can be. I'm glad she's having fun talking with her friend next door via walkie-talkies…ha!
on May 3rd, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Anissa,
Now why didn't I think of that? Of course visiting relatives would be great for Nathaniel and Rachael. Just start a list and we could have'um visit by the week(s). I could even take them to Pete for the weekends.
Praying for all. On our end, Tom is really hurting tonight, hopefully he will be able to rest while we go to church tomorrow. Katie stepped on a nail last night. It was old, it was nasty, about 1 1/2 inches, shots up to date, but she cannot put any pressure on her foot today. Know anything about puncture wounds?
Angela
on May 3rd, 2008 at 10:41 pm
I'm glad Peyton has a friend to keep her company and continues to feel a little better. Praying for her counts to come up and for you to be able to go home soon.
PS The title of this post makes me want to vomit.
Love, Karalyn