Cameron's Journey: Day +8

It's been quite a stressful few days! Cameron has been the sickest that I have ever seen him, with fevers of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) that haven't been responding to medication that's meant to reduce them. His mucositis got worse and started to bleed so he has been drooling blood EVERYWHERE!

After being on a strong antibiotic for several days, with no sign of improvement, the doctors decided to do a CT scan to see if there was a form of fungus, or something else that they might be able to treat, that has been the root cause of the fevers. I found myself hoping that the CT scan would show something, because then there would be something to treat, but at the same time I hoped that the scan would be clear because these fungal infections terrify me. The scan showed that there is some inflammation in his esophagus but the doctors are not sure if it's caused by a fungus, a bacteria, a type of Candida (Thrush) or if it's simply the mucositis. He is being treated with a new anti-fungal medication just to be on the safe side, but at least there was no evidence of fungus in his lungs or any major infections.

They have also increased his morphine dose and that has definitely helped. He even drank a small amount of formula last night and then woke up at 2am this morning and asked for water. It's the first time in 7 days that he has swallowed anything - so it's a big step in the right direction. His white blood cell counts are slowly starting to creep up, another good sign. So, all things considered, he is improving and his body is doing what the doctors expected it to do.

Last week after being home with James, the doctor placed Cameron on isolation, in the event that I had brought some of James's germs into the hospital. I was originally told that he would be on isolation for 5 days while they waited for the cultures to grow and that they were looking specifically for Adeno Virus (Adeno Virus can cause both Strep and Pink Eye, but usually also causes diarrhea and respiratory infection). I agreed at the time, because I felt like Cameron would be too sick to leave his room anyway for the next 5 days and that I would rather be safe than sorry. Well, yesterday marked the end of 5 days and I waited expectantly for them to take down the big yellow sticker posted on his door that identifies him as being isolated. The nurse called the lab and his culture results were negative - but the stupid yellow sticker stayed put. When I questioned the doctor about it, I was told that the isolation time was, in fact, 14 days - not 5 as I had originally been told!! After a bit of convincing (AKA nagging), I managed to get the doctor to agree that he could leave his room - BUT it was on the condition that he wore a bright yellow gown that the nurses have to wear when they go into an isolated room and that he was not allowed to go into the playroom or touch anything at all. As soon as he woke up from his nap, he started pointing at the door and shouting, so I got him wrapped in the enormous gown and took him for a little walk - naturally, he wanted to go into the playroom and a massive tantrum ensued. Today the doctors changed shifts and I grabbed the opportunity to plead my case as to why I felt Cameron should be taken off isolation. I must have been pretty convincing (or sounded pretty desperate), because it worked and the doctor has taken him off isolation!! YAY!

I am so glad that we are starting to see an improvement in his condition, I know that he still has a lot of recovering to do, but I feel like we have finally turned a corner and he is on the mend - even the tantrums are a good sign!

Here are a few photos from the last week...