He stayed in the bed or sitting up in a chair the entire day. He took 2 Oxycodone tablets for the headache but he said they really didn't help.
I was busy doing homework after taking out youngest daughter to volleyball photos. I came in with my laptop and sit with him a while, until it was time for my online class meeting. I worked on assignments after that til after 10:30 pm. He was ready for me to flush his catheter lumens a little after 11:00 pm. While flushing his lines I made him take his temperature. I noticed he had a folded up cold washcloth near his bed he was using as a headache compress. I got very concerned then. Sure enough he had a fever of 101.3. We both looked at each other and decided to take it again. This time it was 101.4.
I grabbed my phone and had his local oncologist paged. I rushed around and started packing bags for both of us. I knew the protocol: any fever over 101 means a trip to the ER. After 25 minutes went by with no call back from the doctor, I had him paged a second time. This time the got him on the line while I waited. I explained the situation. He asked me what his counts were last Monday. And then he said to head out to the ER at Miami Valley Hospital and have the Fellow on call, Dr "C" paged so that Todd could be admitted.
The girls helped me finish packing and we drove out. We arrived about 1:00 am and they took us back to a room after getting his vitals.
They started the routine tests looking for infection: urinalysis, blood cultures, and a CBC to get blood counts. They gave him some Tylenol to lower his fever and started him on IV fluids, and an IV drop of antibiotics. They closed off his room and hung signs that anyone entering needed to wear a gown and mask. Even me and my dad, who came out for a few hours, had to wear masks.
When it came time to do the chest X-rays, he didn't do so well. The doctor really wanted him to go have the X-rays done in the lab instead of having a portable X-ray machine brought to his room. Apparently, they can get better X-rays if he stands. So they wheeled him down to X-ray, but he ended up passing out and falling during the X-rays. They got him back onto the bed and back to his room in the ER. They took his blood pressure which was the lowest I had ever seen it: 101/48. He was broke out in a cold sweat, with beads of sweat all over. He was exhausted and started to fall asleep, which would cause his oxygen saturation to drop so they put him on oxygen. The ER doctor had a hard time getting the Fellow on Call, Dr. "C" to come in. So, he had to ask me questions and then call Todd's local oncologist. This was a bit frustrating.
His blood counts were low: Hemoglobin 6.3; whites .7; and platelets around 13,000. His ANCs were about .5 making him neutropenic. This spoke volumes. Needless to say, Todd will be preemptive in the future to not let his counts go too low without having them checked in a timely manor.
They did a type and screen for his transfusion and we made our way to his room on the Bone Marrow Transplant unit on the 5th floor about 4:00 am. I have to pause here and tell you the overwhelming sense of dread that came over me as they wheeled Todd up to his room. Just the smell of the sterile environment and feel of the halls brought back memories of long days and nights at the Cleveland Clinic. The Blood and Marrow unit at Miami Valley is so small in comparison. This unit probably only has 10 rooms or less. They don't do any allogeneic transplants here, just autogolious. However, the same hand washing and sanitation protocols are in place.
They had to change his dressing and caps on his Hickman Catheter. He had sweated through his shirt and even his catheter dressing (bandage) . They started his blood, which came up as O+ instead of his typical B+ They had to use a universal blood type because that was all they had available. The nurse said they throw away B type blood, because they don't use it that much. It took all night to get the 2 units of blood. They had the drip on slow for the first 15 minutes to make sure he didn't have a reaction to it, but they were supposed to turn it up after that. I'm not sure they ever did.
At first they put an alarm on his bed, since he was now classified as a "Fall risk." But, after some time, they turned it off. He couldn't get up to go to the bathroom, so they had to give him a urinal by his to measure to his output. It was the longest night. I tried to fall asleep in the recliner chair next to his bed. They brought me some heated towels which helped, but I don't think I slept more than an hour or so. I had to set my alarm at 6:45, 7:00, and 7:15 to call home and make sure the girls got up for school. I was so tired that I texted Hannah some kind of cryptic Emjois of faces and monkeys and misspelled words! Freaked her out a bit I think. I had the nurse get me a cup of coffee around 8:30 am and tried to rouse myself awake. We had an appointment that day to meet with the Social Security Administrator at the Xenia office at 11:30, which Todd was adamant I keep. The appointment was made months ago and it was to sign me and the girls up to receive benefits as part of Todd's Social Security Disability.
I drove home and cleaned up and made it to the appointment on time. I got everything filed. Even though they don't want to pay Todd the maximum he is due (because someone in Columbus, OH figures these percentage out!), we are signed up and should receive our first benefit payments on April 8, 2015. That's still 2 months away! It is days like this that reminds me how stupid it is for me to look for full-time job. We still are living day-to-day without knowing what the next day, next week, or even next month holds. I was supposed to teach 3 days this week, but had to cancel those days with everything going on. I am also going to be restricted to how much money I can make and still receive Todd's social security benefits. So, this needs to be taken into consideration too.
Let me thank everyone who his still sending us anonymous gas cards and making deposits into the Todd Cade Care Fund. Our church, Hillside Chapel has also stepped up this past month and helped us with some of our expenses. God is good.
I took a nap and then went back to the hospital early in the evening. My parents brought me and the girls some food and then I went back to the hospital early in the evening. Our oldest daughter Abby had to come back into town, so she picked up Hannah and Ellie and brought them out to the hospital. After a good visit, I drove home with Hannah and Ellie and Abby headed back to UC. It was one long continuous day!
At first they put an alarm on his bed, since he was now classified as a "Fall risk." But, after some time, they turned it off. He couldn't get up to go to the bathroom, so they had to give him a urinal by his to measure to his output. It was the longest night. I tried to fall asleep in the recliner chair next to his bed. They brought me some heated towels which helped, but I don't think I slept more than an hour or so. I had to set my alarm at 6:45, 7:00, and 7:15 to call home and make sure the girls got up for school. I was so tired that I texted Hannah some kind of cryptic Emjois of faces and monkeys and misspelled words! Freaked her out a bit I think. I had the nurse get me a cup of coffee around 8:30 am and tried to rouse myself awake. We had an appointment that day to meet with the Social Security Administrator at the Xenia office at 11:30, which Todd was adamant I keep. The appointment was made months ago and it was to sign me and the girls up to receive benefits as part of Todd's Social Security Disability.
I drove home and cleaned up and made it to the appointment on time. I got everything filed. Even though they don't want to pay Todd the maximum he is due (because someone in Columbus, OH figures these percentage out!), we are signed up and should receive our first benefit payments on April 8, 2015. That's still 2 months away! It is days like this that reminds me how stupid it is for me to look for full-time job. We still are living day-to-day without knowing what the next day, next week, or even next month holds. I was supposed to teach 3 days this week, but had to cancel those days with everything going on. I am also going to be restricted to how much money I can make and still receive Todd's social security benefits. So, this needs to be taken into consideration too.
Let me thank everyone who his still sending us anonymous gas cards and making deposits into the Todd Cade Care Fund. Our church, Hillside Chapel has also stepped up this past month and helped us with some of our expenses. God is good.
I took a nap and then went back to the hospital early in the evening. My parents brought me and the girls some food and then I went back to the hospital early in the evening. Our oldest daughter Abby had to come back into town, so she picked up Hannah and Ellie and brought them out to the hospital. After a good visit, I drove home with Hannah and Ellie and Abby headed back to UC. It was one long continuous day!
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