Another trip to the ER

After feeling pretty great recently, Wes’ energy and appetite took a slow dive over the past week. With an spinal on Monday and the new chemo he’s been on lately, he’s been uncharacteristically nauseated, and gradually eating less quantity and variety, so when we saw his ANC (neutrophils) was down to 580 on Monday we expected they’d keep declining. Yesterday he was still doing OK, but not eating much, and around dinner time he was running a low fever that put us on watch. After a bath he was feeling good and the temp retreated, so we put him to bed to monitor him, hoping we could make it through the night and then just get a routine checkup today at clinic.

By 11:30pm he was suddenly running a high enough temperature that a trip to the ER in Philly was guaranteed. He was in good hands by 12:40, and by 2:30 or so it was clear he was neutropenic – his ANC was down to 10, getting him another in-patient stay. We finally got a room around 4:30 or 5am, and he’ll be here until his ANC comes back up enough to safely leave – usually a few days of fluids and antibiotics as a precaution while his body gets its wings back.

Wes was devastated last night – the drive, and then the arrival, was rough – sobbing to go home. He’s now seemingly adjusted to being here, but he desperately wants mommy and baby to be here. On top of the despair he’s fighting really bad constipation which brings frequent bouts of pain and discomfort to an already shitty (pun intended) situation.

I’m leaving on Sunday for a week, so Stephanie will be coming today and staying with him until he’s ready to go home, hopefully before the weekend. It’s about the 10th time we’ve been through this now and while it’s tiring and inconvenient and emotional, it’s not our first rodeo and should all be fine soon.